Shady Hill School Trains World Class Teachers
Koyen Parik Shah TTC '95 Profile
Shady Hill School is a pre-k to 8 independent school in Cambridge, MA. It serves a population of 509 students who represent diverse cultures and backgrounds from 30 different communities. This progressive elementary and middle school is also a national leader in teacher preparation. For almost eighty years, Shady Hill School has trained 1,300 teachers who have played significant leadership roles in public and independent schools and classrooms across the U.S. as well as abroad. Teachers who are trained at Shady Hill stand out. Their dedication, passion, and ability to “think outside of the box” about solutions to many schools’ challenges makes the program unique. Apprentice teachers who have worked alongside these innovative teachers are trained to do the same – think creatively. So, it’s no surprise that graduates of the Teacher Training Course become leaders in the field. They take what they have learned at Shady Hill, apply it to the classroom, and often are inspired to lead. Koyen Parikh Shah, TTC ‘95 is such an educator.
About her experience in the TTC, Koyen said, “ I saw so many things at Shady Hill that illustrated a beautiful learning environment. It is as it should be, but it is not how it is everywhere else. Shady Hill made me aware of education at its best. I came to learn the value of reflection and mentorship in creating a good school.” Koyen’s drive to provide positive learning environments for all students led her to co-found the Aspire Program at Hathaway Brown, an independent school in Cleveland, OH. “I think there’s an alarming inequity in access to education and Aspire was created to help level the playing field and empower a whole group of bright students and new teachers with information about high quality learning environments. I had my own questions about achievement and teaching. I ended up feeling that they could only be answered by embarking on a project like this,” said Koyen. Fortunately, Cammy Dubie, a co-teacher at Hathaway Brown had similar ideas, and together she and Koyen worked in their spare to develop a program for middle school girls. They received the funding they needed to launch what is called the Aspire program. Six years later, the program is still going strong.
Aspire is a leadership program. It brings together adolescent girls who attend under-resourced public schools in the Cleveland area with new aspiring teachers from top colleges in the country. For some middle school girls, Aspire provides a source of hope and inspiration through academic enrichment and leadership opportunities. Erica Walker is one person who has benefited from her experience with Aspire. Erica came to Aspire in 2001 as a 5th grade student from East Cleveland. She lives with her grandparents and two younger brothers and no one in her family has been to college. After three years of achieving straight A’s at the Aspire program, Erica now attends high school where she was ranked fourth in her class. According to Erica, "Being at Hathaway Brown for three summers taught me so much about becoming a strong female as well as leader. I feel the best way to be a leader is to pass the things you know onto someone else because the things you teach and the advice you give will help someone else in the long run.” Erica is one of three Aspire alumnae who has returned to the program to mentor other middle school girls.
Graduates of the Aspire program go on to pursue challenging coursework in high school and consider attending college. In addition to providing such opportunities for middle school girls, the Aspire program gives high school and college students the opportunity to learn more about teaching through direct experience as apprentice teachers.
In addition to serving girls in the Cleveland area, Koyen and the Aspire program has inspired several college students working with Aspire to participate in the TTC. Both Charlotte Jacobs, TTC ‘06 and Jessie Lenox, TTC ’06 were college students mentoring middle school girls at Aspire. They spent a year learning more about teaching at Shady Hill School, Lesley University and Tufts University. Today Charlotte teaches middle school humanities at the University of Chicago Lab School and Jessie teaches language arts at the Charles River School in Dover, MA. Koyen recommended the TTC because “Shady Hill is a place where teaching is practiced like an art form, which I thought Charlotte and Jessie would both love as much as I did.”
- Mary Spaulding, TTC ‘08
Katherine Taylor Fellow
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