Uncommon Charter High School

Christine Algozo joined Uncommon Charter High School as its founding Physics teacher and College Development Coordinator. This year, Ms. Algozo will teach Chemistry, continue her duties as College Development Coordinator, and serve as 10th Grade Team Leader. Before joining Uncommon, Ms. Algozo spent seven years teaching middle school Science and high school Chemistry at Bronx Preparatory Charter School where she also served as Science Department Chair. Additionally, Ms. Algozo taught Chemistry at The Hotchkiss School, an independent boarding school in Lakeville, Connecticut, and committed six summers to teaching Biology and Chemistry at the (MS)2 Program (Math and Science for Minority Students) at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. A native of Princeton, New Jersey, Ms. Algozo received a B.A. in Chemistry and English from Mount Holyoke College and an Ed.M. from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.

Sarah Alper Social Worker

Sarah Alper is excited to join Uncommon Charter High School as the school’s Social Worker. Ms. Alper recently served as the Social Work Intern at Excellence Boys Charter School, an Uncommon elementary school in Brooklyn, NY. During this time, she also completed her Master’s in Social Work from Hunter College School of Social Work. A native of Rhode Island, Ms. Alper received her B.A. degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Rhode Island where she studied abroad in France and Belize.

Joseph Baker Spanish I and Spanish for Heritage Speakers I Teacher

Joseph Baker is thrilled to continue being a part of the Uncommon Charter High School family. As the founding Spanish teacher, Señor Baker developed curricula for Spanish I and Spanish for Heritage Speakers I. Additionally, he took part in World Savvy’s Media and Arts Program and worked with Ms. Cartwright to develop the school’s weekly assembly, Common Ground. Previously, he taught at LaGuardia Arts High School and Frederick Douglass Academy VII. Sr. Baker has also developed technology workshops for teachers, presented at NYU education classes and citywide conferences, coordinated mentoring programs, and trained new teachers through the NYC Teaching Fellows program. He fell in love with the Spanish language and Latin American culture by living and studying in Mexico, Chile, and Argentina. Sr. Baker received his undergraduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a master's in Adolescent Education from Pace University, and a master's in Education Policy & Management from Harvard University.

Daniel Bartz Geometry Teacher

Dan Bartz returns to Uncommon Charter High School as the Geometry teacher, armed with a compass and a passion for proofs. After graduating from the University of Michigan with a B.S.E in Mechanical Engineering, Mr. Bartz worked for a start-up material science company in the nanotechnology industry. In 2007, he joined Teach For America with a passion for inner-city students and a thorough knowledge of mathematics and its application in the world around us. Mr. Bartz earned his M.S. in Adolescent Education from Pace University in 2009.

Joshua Bobrow Global History II Teacher

Joshua Bobrow is delighted to join the Uncommon Charter High School as the Global History II teacher. Prior to Uncommon, Mr. Bobrow taught middle school Social Studies, as well as 11th grade US History in a Bronx public school. In addition, he served as Grade Leader of the 11th grade. Mr. Bobrow also taught Social Studies and English in South Africa and Kenya. Mr. Bobrow received his B.A. in History from Washington University in St. Louis and his M.A. in Secondary Social Studies Education from Lehman College.

Cliff Campbell Theater I and II Teacher

Cliff Campbell joined the staff of Uncommon Charter High School last year. He currently teaches Theater I and Theater II and serves as Theater Director for the Fall Drama and Spring Musical productions. Since graduating from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in Theater, Mr. Campbell has worked in New York and regionally as a professional stage actor with a focus on Shakespeare and contemporary comedies. He has toured nationally with Chamber Theatre Productions, one of the nation's leading educational theater companies, and worked as a Youth Leader for Travel Dynamics International, a company devoted to educational travel. Mr. Campbell is in his final leg of studies in the Masters Program in Educational Theatre at the City College of New York.

Gillian Cartwright English I Teacher and Grade Level Chair, 9th Grade

Gillian Cartwright is excited to start her second year at Uncommon Charter High School as the English I instructor and 9th grade team leader. After earning a B.A. in Public Policy and Sociology from Syracuse University, Ms. Cartwright taught high school English in Charlotte, North Carolina for two years. While in Charlotte, Ms. Cartwright became a certified facilitator of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens, which she currently uses to develop UCHS’s Collegiate Prep curriculum. During the summer, Ms. Cartwright has worked for Teach For America’s summer institute in New York City and Chicago training new teachers to enter the classroom. Ms. Cartwright is currently working toward her Masters in Education through Teacher U at Hunter College.

LaQuana Chambers Office Manager

LaQuana Chambers is excited to join the Uncommon Charter High School family as the Office Manager. Ms. Chambers previously worked at Teach For America as an Associate in the Human Assets team, which managed all logistical operations for centralized hiring throughout the organization. Ms. Chambers earned her B.S. at Virginia State University where she was also was a member of the Student Government Association as well as various student social and volunteer organizations.

Khushali Gala Algebra I and II Teacher

Khushali Gala is excited to join Uncommon Charter High School as the Algebra I and II Teacher. Ms. Gala earned a double degree in Applied Mathematics and Economics at UC Berkeley. She joined Teach For America and moved to Chicago to teach Algebra and Pre-Calculus at CICS Northtown Academy for three years. Ms. Gala then took a year to travel through the Pacific Northwest and India before moving to New York to be a part of the founding staff at Democracy Prep Charter High School in Harlem. She is looking forward to a wonderful year of teaching math at UCHS!

Paula Gordon Dean of Students

Paula Gordon is excited to join Uncommon Charter High School as the Dean of Students. Prior to coming to UCHS, Ms. Gordon was the Dean of Students, School Social Worker and middle school math teacher at North Star Academy Charter School in Newark, NJ. Ms. Gordon has spent over 15 years in urban education in both traditional and charter public schools and has taught at the upper elementary, middle school and college levels. She has also taught in the NYC Fellows program at Mercy College and in the urban education program at Rutgers University. She was awarded the New Jersey Governor’s Teacher of the Year in 1997 at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Ms. Gordon is a Teach for America alumna and was a part of the first group of corps members in New Jersey. Ms. Gordon received her BA in Psychology from Wesleyan University and her Masters in Social Work from Howard University. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Educational Policy - Urban Systems at Rutgers University.

Marissa Guzman Special Projects Coordinator

Marissa Guzmán is excited to join Uncommon Charter High School as the Special Projects Coordinator. Previously, Ms. Guzmán was a founding staff member at Excel Academy Charter School in East Boston, MA. She served as the Office Manager before becoming the Operations Manager and spent a total of seven years at Excel. A Massachusetts native, Ms. Guzmán attended Hofstra University and North Shore Community College.

Alicia Henriquez Spanish II and Spanish for Heritage Speakers II Teacher

Alicia Henríquez is thrilled to be a part of the Uncommon Charter High School community and an addition to the Modern Language Department. Señorita Henríquez was born in San Salvador, El Salvador and immigrated to Vancouver, Canada where she continued to develop her native language of Spanish. Soon after graduating with her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia, Srta. Henríquez travelled across the continent to obtain her Master of Education degree at Harvard University. Srta. Henríquez taught Spanish at a variety of levels at Beaver Country Day School in Boston. She was also a founding teacher for the Boston University Academy LEAD summer program where she developed the course curriculum.

Laura Lee McGovern Chief Operating Officer, Collegiate Charter Schools

Laura Lee McGovern is the Chief Operating Officer of the Collegiate Network of Uncommon Schools. Ms. Lee joined Uncommon Schools in 2007 as the Founding Co-Director of Operations at Kings Collegiate Charter School. Ms. Lee helped establish the systems, processes and cultural foundation that has led Kings to early outstanding achievement and parent/student satisfaction. Ms. Lee also worked as a Summer Fellow and Education Pioneer with Uncommon in 2006. In this capacity, she helped develop school inspection and performance measurement processes. Previously, Ms. Lee worked as a management consultant at Katzenbach Partners LLC, advising companies on strategic and organizational issues, and also served as the founding Director of Analytics in student enrollment at the New York City Department of Education. Ms. Lee received her MBA from Harvard Business School, where she was a Baker Scholar and co-leader of the Education Leadership Group. Ms. Lee earned her A.B. in Social Studies at Harvard College and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Elizabeth Old English II Teacher

Elizabeth Old is thrilled to be joining the UCHS team as the English II teacher. She graduated from the University of California, Davis in 2006 with a B.A. in English Literature, with an emphasis in Theater Arts. She began teaching English in the International Baccalaureate in 2007, where she spent three happy years.

Brett Peiser Founder

Brett Peiser is Founder and former Principal and Executive Director of Boston Collegiate Charter School. Boston Collegiate, a college preparatory middle and high school serving over 500 students, is one of Massachusetts’ highest performing schools. In 2005, Mr. Peiser founded Collegiate Charter Schools, an Uncommon Schools network of middle and high schools in Brooklyn, New York. The network's first and second schools – Williamsburg Collegiate and Kings Collegiate Charter Schools – were the #2 and #6 ranked middle schools in all of New York City on the Department of Education’s 2009 progress reports. Since those schools began, Mr. Peiser has also helped start two new middle schools, Bedford Stuyvesant and Brownsville Collegiate Charter Schools, as well as Uncommon Charter High School. In 2009, Mr. Peiser became Managing Director of Uncommon New York City, overseeing nearly 2,000 students across Uncommon’s 10 elementary and secondary schools in Brooklyn. Uncommon New York City will ultimately grow to serve 7,000 students across 20 schools. Mr. Peiser is a graduate of New York City Public Schools and a resident of Brooklyn where he taught History at Midwood High School and founded an after-school community basketball program for Midwood/Flatbush teenagers. Mr. Peiser received a BA from Brown University and a MPP degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he also earned the 2001 Rising Star award.

Kameelah Rasheed Global History I Teacher

Kameelah Rasheed is eager to join the Uncommon Charter High School team as the Global History I teacher. Before coming to UCHS, Ms. Rasheed taught Humanities for two years at East Palo Alto Academy, a Stanford New School. Prior to becoming a classroom teacher she worked with a range of young people including Hmong immigrants in Sacramento, previously incarcerated youth in Los Angeles county, and English Language Learners in the Bay Area. After graduating from college in 2006, Ms. Rasheed spent a year in Johannesburg, South Africa as an Amy Biehl U.S. Fulbright Scholar completing research in urban planning, working with youth, and photographing. A native of San Francisco Bay Area, Ms. Rasheed received a B.A. in Public Policy Analysis from Pomona College and an Ed.M from the Teacher Education Program at Stanford University.

Sarah Rose Music I and II Teacher

Sarah Rose is the founding music teacher at Uncommon Charter High School. She joined the Uncommon Schools network in 2008 as the music teacher at North Star Academy High School. Previously, Ms. Rose taught elementary orchestra for four years in Skokie, IL. As a violist, she has performed with the Chicago Civic Orchestra and the Tomorrow Music Orchestra. Ms. Rose earned her B.A. in Humanities from the University of Kansas, and her M.M. in Music Education and Viola Performance from Northwestern University. Ms. Rose is an alumnus of the Columbia Teachers College Summer Principals Academy and holds an EdM in School Leadership.

Maya Roth Co-Director of Curriculum and Instruction

Maya Roth, Co-Founder of Uncommon Charter High School, joined Uncommon Schools in 2008. Prior to founding Uncommon Charter High School, Dr. Roth taught English for ten years. She started her teaching career at Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem where she taught 7th grade English. Following that role, she became one of the founding English teachers at Brooklyn Preparatory High School. Dr. Roth received her B.A. in English with minors in Education and Music from Ithaca College and her M.A. in Educational Theatre from New York University. She recently earned her Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University in Curriculum and Teaching with a focus in Educational Policy.

Minnie Setty Co-Director of Operations

Minnie Setty, Co-Founder of Uncommon Charter High School, joined Uncommon Schools in 2006 as the Associate Director of Operations. Prior to joining Uncommon Schools, Ms. Setty worked as a management consultant at Bain & Company, advising companies on strategic and organizational issues. While at Bain & Company, she also started the San Francisco chapter of Inspire, a volunteer organization which provides consulting services to local nonprofits. Ms. Setty received a B.S. in Computer Science with a minor in Economics from Stanford University.

Eric Washington Physical Education Teacher

Before joining Uncommon Charter High School, Eric Washington served his country for six years in the United States Marine Corps and also obtained a B.A. in Business Administration. Instead of returning to his hometown of Washington D.C., Mr. Washington moved to New York to start his career. He found his calling with the Center for Family Life as a Sports Specialist which led to the creation of Full Court Fitness for children and teens. Mr. Washington is also a Certified Fitness Trainer, group fitness instructor and workshop facilitator who spends countless hours educating people on how to live a healthier lifestyle.

Erik Yazdani Physics Teacher

After receiving his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, Erik Yazdani worked for several years at startup software companies. He held various technical and business roles from software engineering to product management. Mr. Yazdani then returned to school and earned an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a Masters of Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. It was there that he rediscovered his passion for education and has been teaching ever since. Prior to joining the UCHS, Mr. Yazdani taught high school Physics, Psychology and Algebra at the Bronx Preparatory Charter School. He is committed to helping students see the real-world applications of science and engineering.