Staff Celebrations
For the first time ever, two principals to receive the Alliance for Education’s annual Thomas B. Foster Award for Excellence
Left photo: Aki Kurose Principal Mia Williams holds a check presented to her by Michael Tolley, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, and Sara Morris, president and CEO of Alliance for Education.
Right photo: Franklin High School Principal Jennifer Wiley holds a check presented to her by Sara Morris, president and CEO of Alliance for Education and Jon Bridge, board chairman of Alliance for Education.
Award includes $50,000 cash grant to schools
The Alliance for Education and Seattle Public Schools March 22 announced that Principal Mia Williams (Aki Kurose Middle School) and Principal Jennifer Wiley (Franklin High School) will both receive the 2013 Thomas B. Foster Award for Excellence for their outstanding leadership. The award includes a $50,000 cash grant to each principal’s school in their honor.
Thomas B. Foster was a prominent Seattle attorney who exemplified excellence in both his professional life and his role as civic leader. To honor his legacy, his family and friends established this award to honor outstanding secondary school principals in Seattle.
This is the first time in the history of the award – a partnership between the Alliance for Education, Seattle Public Schools, and the family and friends of Thomas B. Foster – that two principals have received the honor in the same year.
“The award committee felt both Mia and Jennifer deserved to be recognized for their outstanding accomplishments this year. Rather than split the award between them and diminish the impact on each school, we decided to award each the full $50,000,” said Jody Foster, a key member of the committee.
This afternoon, Aki Kurose Middle School and Franklin High School students and families joined representatives of the Alliance for Education and Seattle Public Schools to surprise Principal Williams and Principal Wiley with their respective awards.
Principal Mia Williams, Aki Kurose Middle School:
• Principal Williams is in her fifth year as a leader at Aki Kurose.
• She is known for working tirelessly, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year.
• She has created a school culture of high expectations, inclusiveness, equity and mutual respect among staff, students, families and community members.
• Test scores have consistently improved under her leadership.
• She has built numerous relationships to bring innovative practices to her school.
• She shares her building with Rainier Scholars and hosts nearly 20 community partnerships.
Principal Jennifer Wiley, Franklin High School
• Dr. Wiley is in her 10th year at Franklin High School.
• Franklin had the highest wait-list of all 10 comprehensive high schools in the fall of 2012 due to Dr. Wiley’s strong leadership.
• Franklin has had notable test scores in Writing, Math and particularly high English Language Learner (ELL) performance. It has the best disaggregated results across the state and this success has been sustained as the population served has become more challenging.
• The school has a number of community partners and in addition to a strong athletic program, the school also has extracurricular groups that have been recognized at a state and national level including the mock trial and chess team.
For more information
• Sara Circelli, Alliance for Education, 206-205-0324, or saracircelli@alliance4ed.org
• Lesley Rogers, Seattle Public Schools, 206-252-0198, or larogers1@seattleschools.org
Alliance for Education
The Alliance for Education is an independent non-profit supporting Seattle Public Schools. Since 1995, the Alliance has raised and invested over $140 million to address systematic needs in the district. Through fundraising, advocacy and civic engagement, the Alliance acts as a strategic partner and “critical friend” to SPS. The Alliance cultivates the practice of charitable giving to education causes in Seattle and directs resources into three specific areas: building leadership capacity within the district, promoting excellence in teaching, and expanding rigorous academic offerings. For more information, visit http://www.alliance4ed.org.
Seattle Public Schools
As the largest K-12 public education school district in Washington State, Seattle Public Schools serves almost 50,000 students in 95 schools. For more information, visit www.seattleschools.org.