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It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2024-2025 academic year! I hope you enjoyed your summer and are gearing up for what promises to be a very busy academic year.

To our newly tenured and promoted faculty, congratulations! Dr. Marissa Matta in the Department of Educational and Community Programs received a Certificate of Continuous Employment (CCE), and Dr. Ted Kesler in the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education was promoted to Professor.

To our new colleagues, welcome! Prof. Ashley Zinnel will join the Department of Secondary Education and Youth Services as a Clinical Professor. I would like to extend my gratitude to Dr. David Laurenson, who has held this position for the past four semesters. Prof. Jessica Hernandez Fletcher will serve as a Substitute Assistant Professor in the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education, replacing Dr. Ann Ebe. Dr. Ebe will assume the role of Interim Director of the Office of Professional Practice and Community Partnerships in the Dean’s Office.

Over the summer, the School of Education hosted three successful professional learning opportunities. In June, we welcomed our school-based educators, clinical supervisors, and faculty to a one-day workshop titled Elevating Your Teaching Through Computing and Digital Literacy (CDL) Integration. Participants learned how to integrate computing and digital literacies into the curriculum and explored equity, digital citizenship, and AI in classrooms through breakout sessions.

We were thrilled to receive $150,000 in funding from the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation to create the Louis Armstrong Summer Teaching Institute. Held in July at both the Louis Armstrong House Museum and Queens College, this one-week Institute immersed local educators in the life and legacy of Louis Armstrong, helping them integrate his core values into educational practices and curriculum.

The TOC II program hosted its Summer Symposium in July, featuring Dr. Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz, who presented The Archeology of Self, and Dr. Mark Wilson, who presented Community-Engaged Teacher Preparation.

In addition to these inspiring professional learning opportunities, we have been diligently preparing for our upcoming accreditation year in 2025. As I’ve been drafting parts of the Self-Study Report, I am continually impressed by the School of Education/EPP’s efforts to improve our programs and our candidates’ experiences. Among the many accomplishments highlighted in the Self-Study Report are the development and full implementation of the Queens College Teacher Portfolio Assessment (QCTPA), a comprehensive 2024-2027 Recruitment Plan, and professional learning for school-based educators. We also re-engaged with our P-12 partners, hosting Districts 24, 29, and Queens North High School on campus last academic year. We plan to continue inviting our partners to campus to stay connected and discuss critical issues around jointly preparing the next generation of educators.

In the coming academic year, we will have a series of recruitment events, including Graduate Education Information Sessions and Lunch and Learn in collaboration with the Office of Graduate Admissions, Tea with the Dean for Queens College freshmen, and visits by local partner high schools. I hope that you will find an event that is most appropriate to you to learn more about our education programs.

I look forward to continuing our highly successful Next Steps into Teaching initiative, which aims to prepare our candidates for their educational careers. Our fall event will invite superintendents and principals to speak with our candidates and will include mock interviews and demo lesson preparation. These events provide a productive space for our P-12 partners to engage and mentor our candidates.

We have several new and upcoming programs in the School of Education. The MSED in Literacy (All Grades) accepted its first full cohort in fall 2024. This program works in tandem with the MS in Applied Literacy offered by the Department of Secondary Education and Youth Services. The Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education will submit proposals for two new undergraduate programs: one leading to dual certification in Early Childhood and Childhood Education, and another that will offer a bilingual certification through an integrated Bilingual Early Childhood and Childhood program. The Department of Educational and Community Programs will submit a proposal for a new 30-credit MSED program in Teaching Students with Disabilities (All Grades).

Lastly, 2024 marks the 60th anniversary of the Queens College chapter of Kappa Delta Pi (KDP). Under the leadership of KDP President Michelle Brown Regoso and Assistant to the Dean Marxia Jarvis, we are preparing a 60th anniversary induction ceremony and light dinner, sponsored by the School of Education. Whether you are a faculty member or KDP graduate, we hope you will attend to reunite with us in the School of Education.

I look forward to a productive 2024-2025 academic year!

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