I have five years of teaching experience in urban South Los Angeles and East San Jose. These experiences taught me how important it is that school personnel (teachers, coaches, and administrators) is both knowledgeable and thoughtful about how teaching and learning most effectively take place. I helped found a charter school (in East San Jose) in an effort to see if a teacher led, small school instructional model could help students succeed who were failing out of (or who had been expelled from) their neighborhood schools. Every student who entered in the school’s first two years (i.e., the years I was working there) graduated and went on to attend a two or four year college. In San Jose I learned a significant amount about the potential for an urban secondary school to provide students with high quality educations. I look forward to the opportunity to work with teachers and students to continue what I have been doing for the last eight years: 1) heading a mathematics department, teaching mathematics, and coordinating instruction and assessment with state standards across my department; 2) working with secondary teachers in their classrooms as a mathematics coach; 3) teaching courses for pre- and in-service teachers; and 4) working with teachers and students in research studies in which I have been involved. I believe my expertise and passion will be a resource within our school community.