HARLEM KINDERGARTEN TEACHER TO RECEIVE $20K MARGARET C. WRIGHT MEMORIAL ALUMNI AWARD FOR TEACHING IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES
**For Immediate Release October 1, 2021**
Ann Powell, 646-894-6407
Ann.Powell@successacademies.
HARLEM KINDERGARTEN TEACHER TO RECEIVE $20K MARGARET C. WRIGHT MEMORIAL ALUMNI AWARD FOR TEACHING IN UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES
Half of Awarded Money Will Benefit Her Harlem School Via Diverse Book Fund, Community Garden, and Culturally Enriching Class Trips
Aleah Tarnoviski with her SA Harlem 6 kindergarteners
New York, NY — Success Academy Harlem 6 kindergarten teacher Aleah Tarnoviski will be honored this evening as the 2021 Margaret C. Wright Memorial Alumni Awardee by her alma mater, Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. The $20,000 award recognizes “a Gordon graduate who strives to live out his or her faith in Jesus while teaching in underserved communities.” It memorializes the life of the late Margaret C. Wright, Gordon College class of 2017, a beloved kindergarten teacher at the Cornerstone Schools of Washington, D.C., who died in 2018.
Half of the money will be awarded to Ms.Tarnoviski, and the other half to her school, which, at her direction, will provide a book fund for teachers to purchase books by diverse authors, featuring diverse characters. The rest of the money will go toward a community garden, and culturally enriching class trips to museums, theaters, and zoos for scholars and their families.
Ms. Tarnoviski is in her tenth year at Success Academy. She began her career as third grade lead teacher at SA Bronx 2 where she worked for six years. She was selected from the top 1% of SA’s nearly 2,500 teachers to act as a mentor and model teacher for the network as a “Labsite” kindergarten teacher at SA Harlem 6, the position she currently holds. In 2020, Ms. Tarnoviski was awarded the Success Academy Excellence in Teaching Award for Academic Achievement. Tarnoviski’s students regularly rank in the top 10% of all kindergarten students in the SA network of 30 elementary schools.
“It is a great honor to receive this year’s Margaret C. Wright Award, which memorializes the life of a beloved teacher who touched the lives of many,” said Ms. Tarnoviski. “I am so grateful to Gordon College, whose professors inspired me to explore teaching in urban settings and propelled me to where I am in my teaching career today. Everyday I am proud to work at Success Academy — our scholars are from some of the most challenged neighborhoods in New York City, and they are proving what is possible when kids and families are provided with the education that they deserve.”
“Aleah is truly an exemplary teacher and is so deserving of this award. She instills joy and rigor in her classroom and her scholars are learning and growing as a result. We are so lucky to have her at Harlem 6,” said Emily Reilly, SA Harlem 6 Principal.
As customary at SA schools, classrooms are named after teachers’ alma maters. Ms. Tarnoviski’s classroom is no exception; it is called “Gordon College.” However, she took it a step further: A picture of her most influential professor, Dr. Nelson, hangs on her wall.
ABOUT SUCCESS ACADEMY
Founded in 2006, Success Academy Charter Schools are free public K-12 schools open to all children in the state through a random lottery. With 47 schools across Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, and Queens, Success Academy enrolls 22,000 students, primarily children of color from low-income households in disadvantaged neighborhoods: 74% receive free or reduced-price lunch, 94% are students of color, 16% have disabilities, and 8% are English language learners. This year, 100% of SA’s fourth and largest class of 129 graduating seniors were accepted to college, two thirds of them to selective institutions, with robust financial aid packages; 75% of the class will be the first in their families to attend college. For more information about Success Academy, visit successacademies.org.
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