Dr. Dana Jackson

I've been an educator for 17 years, and I'm now in my fourth year as a principal. My mom was a teacher for more than 30 years, so I've always been around educators. I graduated with a degree in literature and creative writing, and I was lost at what to do next. I started looking into teaching because I love reading and I love writing, and I wanted to share that with children. So I became a secondary English teacher, and then I went on to be an instructional coach where I was supporting elementary teachers with instruction. Then I went on to be an assistant principal, and then I became a principal. This is my second principalship that I have had. I'm responsible for the safety of all in my building, adults and children. I walk and be visible, greet people, say hello, try to be proactive about any behavioral concerns. I have meetings, a lot of meetings. I'm looking at data to see if we're going in the right direction, if what we chose to focus on seems to be effective. I'm in classrooms, I'm co-teaching with teachers, sometimes I'm just in to help out with whatever they're doing. My favorite part of the day is when I can get into classrooms with my teachers and my students. I have always been someone who had data that moved in the right direction. When I go into a school, things change. Behavior changes, improves, test scores change, improve. I have a very high standard that I live by. I am a writer too, and I was the first historic Black historical romance writer for Harlequin. I founded a private school called Wonderlab Academy that's going to start in fall of 27. I would like to transition into seeking and really being a voice for education, because I really feel like there are a lot of things that need to change right now, because some of our kids are the ones that are suffering the most from us not being more innovative as educators, and us still doing school the way we've done it for over a century.