Meet Elisa Aragon, Quest to Learn's School Leader

Q2L has been open for three weeks and the energy and excitement of the students and teachers is simply contagious. We thought it fitting to highlight one member of the Q2L team responsible for the success of these first weeks of school. Please meet Elisa Aragon, Executive Director of School.

Elisa brings twenty-four years of experience with the New York City Department of Education to her role as Executive Director of School, having received her principal certification in 1997. Originally from Maryland, Elisa moved to “the big city” after her sophomore year at the University of Maryland (Go Terps!) and graduated from City College of New York with a Bachelor of Science degree, Magna cum laude. Elisa started teaching in the New York Public Schools in 1984 at Park West High School and then transitioned to the CMSP Model School, teaching 7th and 8th grade Humanities. She believes that all these teaching experiences prepared her for the extraordinarily challenging work of teaching in the alternative high schools. Teaching the five subjects of the GED she worked in the basement of homeless shelters, working tirelessly to effect the cycle of poverty for the young mothers who were her students, and their babies, who are our future. “I learned the life changing lesson of resilience through watching my students tenaciously grow far beyond societal expectations, and even surpassing their own expectations.”

After obtaining a Master of Science in Education from Hunter College with a 4.0 average, Elisa continued her post-graduate studies at Fordham University, achieving a Professional Diploma in Education and earning her SAS. Elisa continued her work in the alternative high school district in the role of Assistant Principal Administration. For eight year Elisa focused her passion and talents as an instructional leader, supporting and honing the skills of classroom teachers who were teaching the most at-risk population of students in NYC. In June 2008 Elisa was selected to participate in the elite New York City Leadership Academy, the centerpiece of Chancellor Klein’s mission of transformation for our public education system. Elisa provided administrative support during the September 2008 roll out of the innovative NYC iSchool in Soho, a selective 9 – 12 fully integrating 21st century technology in a progressive model of interdisciplinary, real-world, problem-based instruction. Elisa left her administrative position at the highly successful and respected High School of Telecommunication Arts to accept a leadership position as principal with Quest to Learn. Her dynamic leadership style, experience and deep knowledge of instruction make her a perfect fit with the goals and mission of our school.