Dacia Toll, President, and Doug McCurry, Superintendent, Achievement First

Yale Law School graduate and Rhodes Scholar Dacia Toll sees education as a civil rights issue. One chilling statistic that puts the so-called achievement gap into perspective: the average black or Latino 12th grader now has lower basic skills than the average white 8th grader.

Toll spearheaded the founding team of Amistad Academy, the first Achievement First charter school in New Haven. Amistad Academy consistently produced student performance results that tripled the New Haven Public Schools' average and rivaled Greenwich and Westport averages.

As President of Achievement First, Toll has been instrumental in expanding the Achievement First model to Brooklyn. Superintendent McCurry oversaw the development of Amistad’s curriculum and assessment system. McCurry says, "Dacia and I both strongly believe if there are any heroes in this story, it’s the teachers and the students."

The success of Achievement First is best understood through the eyes of those who make it possible:

Fifth grader Asean Braswell arrived at the school convinced he was stupid and worthless. He failed all of his first-trimester classes. Now he’s in sixth grade. He’s a class leader, and he came up with the class motto, "It’s time to stop thinking ME, and start thinking WE."

Teacher Roseann Sheehan, formerly a consultant with Accenture, describes the team approach to improving student outcomes. "While the numbers at Achievement First couldn’t be more impressive," she says, "Asean’s smile is the greatest symbol of our success."

Derwin Hewitt, a corrections officer with twins in first grade at the Crown Heights Elementary, proudly states, "They’re six years old, and they already talk about where they’re going to college."

Achievement First received its first Robin Hood grant in 2005. Robin Hood is building two charter high schools for the middle school graduates of Achievement First and two other charter school networks, KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) and Uncommon Schools.