Director of Curriculum and Professional Development
“My esteem and respect for the teaching profession began quietly during my undergraduate study at the University of Kansas. I made the decision to volunteer a few hours a week in an Adult Learning Center. I had no idea what a powerful impact those students would have on my life! My students were extremely diverse, yet they shared a common and unifying desire: to achieve a better life for themselves and for their children. When I realized the critical role that a dedicated teacher could play in empowering a group of students to achieve their goals, I knew that I had found my life’s work. I knew early that I would become an educator and that I would work to be the best educator that I could be.”
Stefanie Rome, BA comes to the NUA with 14 years of varied educational experiences. The first 12 years of her teaching experience were spent working in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She started as an adult educator, where she facilitated a Reading Lab for beginning readers. She quickly learned from her adult students, that she could make an even greater impact working at the elementary level. Then, she earned her Elementary Teacher Certification through the Los Angeles Unified School District’s alternative certification program, known as the District Intern Program. Ms. Rome completed the program with the top honor, known as the Golden Apple Award. This is an annual award given to beginning teachers who “exemplify excellence in education and leadership”. After spending the next several years teaching in the third and fourth grades, The District Intern Program invited her to become one of their instructors. This experience helped her to develop a strong belief in the power of teacher collaboration and a strong conviction that “teachers, teaching teachers” has a remarkable impact on student achievement.
This leadership experience led Ms. Rome to pursue a fellowship at the University of California at Los Angeles. As a Project Fellow in the California Reading and Literature Project, the focus was on reading pedagogy and practice. At UCLA she learned that a model for facilitating professional development activities must be one which demands that research always meet practice. Ms. Rome was then selected to work as a Reading/Language Arts Coach/Consultant with UCLA and was able to share her experiences with teachers and district leaders in numerous local districts and throughout the state of California. Ultimately, Ms. Rome was selected to serve full-time as an Elementary Teacher Advisor to beginning teachers through the District Intern Program.
Marriage provided yet another opportunity for growth and led Ms. Rome to Indianapolis, Indiana. As an educator in Indianapolis, she served one year as an English as a Second Language teacher to a wonderful group of fifth-grade students and in her second year she had the opportunity to work as an Instructional Coach. As an Instructional Coach she was assigned to one school and was able to work collaboratively with a talented group of teachers to develop standards-based, data-driven, differentiated instructional experiences for their students. It was, again, as with others, an extremely powerful journey!
Ms. Rome is the Coordinator of Curriculum Development in NUA. She is especially excited to be a part of the NUA family! She sees the NUA as an organization that believes, without exception, in the ability, potential, and power of urban students. She is confident that the NUA will play a major role in her pursuit of becoming the best educator that she can be!
Stefanie Rome
s_rome@nuatc.org
