Current Role: Director of Strategy, Operations, and Engagement for The Charter Schools Office, The School District of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)
Fellowship Role: Director of Strategy, Operations, and Engagement for The Charter Schools Office, The School District of Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA)
Essence Caleb is the Director of Strategy, Operations, and Engagement for The Charter Schools Office for The School District of Philadelphia.
Prior to joining the Fellowship, Essence served as the Assistant Director of Quality and Accountability for The Charter Schools Office, where she was responsible for leading charter school renewal efforts, including making recommendations of renewal and enhancing renewal processes and procedures. Previously, Essence served as the Director of Special Education at Summit Academy Charter School in New York City, where she led the school to be 100% in special education compliance, systematized data collection and progress reporting for middle and high school students with individualized education plans, created and implemented a response to intervention program, and instituted new classes targeting students more than three years below grade level. During her professional tenure in education, Essence also served as a middle school assistant principal, an English Language Arts teacher, and a Special Education teacher.
Essence holds an M.S.T. in Teaching Adolescence English and Special Education from Fordham University, an M.A. in English from Rutgers University, and a B.A. in English from Johnson C. Smith University, where she served as the 2007 class valedictorian. Essence also served as a Teach For America Corps member, is a Mellon Mays and Schomburg scholar, and is a fellow of the Institute Recruitment of Teachers.