By Jennifer Ladner
When I decided to return to the classroom after working in education administration for eleven years, I knew it would be a huge shift.
I’ve always been extremely passionate about helping create an education system where all children are able to achieve success in the classroom; my previous role as the school director of an early childhood facility that served a predominantly African American population had involved partnering with families to eliminate achievement and opportunity gaps.
Walking away from the strong school culture I had cultivated there through years of building relationships and trust was a very difficult decision. But the demands of the job, which required long hours every day, had begun to take a toll and I knew it was time to be more present for my children. I hoped that I would be able to continue some of my important equity work in one form or another, however, once I was back in the classroom.
The school I had begun working at was a highly rated Spanish immersion public school that served pre-K through fifth grade. The majority of the teachers spoke Spanish, many of them as their first language. Nevertheless, I had a lot of prior experience working with a diverse population of both students and colleagues. This may have been why, in my first month on the job, my principal asked if I would like to lead the school’s new Justice, Inclusion, and Belonging (JIB) Committee. I was both surprised and delighted.
Jennifer Ladner has been in the early childhood profession since 2003, working a variety of roles—from teaching to administration. She holds a master’s degree in early childhood education.
