Najat Benaoussar

I never thought I would go into education. I was a physics researcher doing research in nuclear chemistry in France, where I was starting my master's degree. When I moved to the States with only $20 in my pocket, I wanted to learn about what my children were doing in school, about education standards and what was expected. I started helping my friend's children who were weak in math, and I realized I could help other kids too. That's how I started teaching. From 2007 to 2017, I taught math in middle school and high school, and my classrooms were doing great. I then moved to be an assistant principal at one of the schools, but my philosophy and the owner's philosophy did not match. I did this because I love it, and after 10 years, I decided to open my charter school in 2017-2018. I have been working in my charter school since then. I chose a place where it's a lower-income area, where children may not even have parents, and I took on my responsibility to be that advocate for them. My son graduated from high school when he was young, and my daughter did too, so I thought if my children can do it, other students can do it too. I have students who are nurses and engineers from that school, students who started not even believing in themselves. When they came to the States not speaking a word of English, I showed them that all I had was my education. I help in the classroom with mathematics, co-teaching with another teacher. I also serve as the administrator handling all the tasks that come with running a charter school. I put my students in college while they're in 11th and 12th grade, having them take placement tests. Many of my students graduate with English 101 and English 102, which is very hard even for native English speakers. My goal since day one has been to put their feet in the college, because once you're in college, 99% of the time you won't get out. Students at our school never pay anything, even for graduation we get them every single thing, and I even pay for some students if they can handle the college courses.