


Dacia Toll and Doug McCurry who founded Amistad Academy Middle in New Haven, Connecticut in 1999, are a dynamic charter teacher duo who exemplify the credo that “behind every extraordinary teacher stands another extraordinary teacher.” Together they built a lasting legacy and one of the nation’s most respected charter management organizations.
Years after founding Amistad Academy Middle, the organization is known as Achievement First, one the nation’s most respected charter management organizations operating 41 schools and serving 15,000 students in three states. Dacia and Doug shared leadership of the organization for two decades, starting off performing every task imaginable for their students and for one another – assembling furniture, serving as bus drivers, dishing up food, working on their team-teaching plans – all the way through to the day when they handed leadership over to Achievement First’s next remarkable generation of leadership.
Read more dynamic teaching duo stories!
It’s the same spirit of having each other’s backs you see in Washington D.C. where Dominique Foster and Jada Chase bring learning to life daily for preschoolers at Friendship Public Charter School Blow Pierce Academy. Read the story of Dominique and Jada and how their relationship, built on trust, inspires them to be creative in the classroom.
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Celebrate 30 years of chartering with us!
Stay tuned as we continue to celebrate 30 years of charter schools transforming public education. Follow along with us on Twitter @CharterLibrary and share your stories contact@charterlibrary.org.