We are excited to announce that Dr. Corey Drake will be joining the Open Wings Learning Community as our new Head of School, starting June 1, 2021. Dr. Drake brings 20 years of experience teaching mathematics education courses to future elementary educators at the collegiate level. Most importantly, Dr. Drake is very familiar with Open Wings and our unique, personalized approach to learning. In fact, she and Dr. Kim Hufferd- Ackles worked together as graduate students on the Math Expressions curriculum that is in use today at the school.
“In her role as Head of School, Dr. Drake will use her experience to lead the Open Wings community through a major transformation as we expand to additional grade levels and additional locations,” explained Hufferd-Ackles. “We will also ask her to lead our new Teacher Learning Institute program for teacher development.”
“The first time I visited Open Wings,” recalled Dr. Drake, “I had never been in a school before where every student’s voice is heard. After one day, I left there knowing something about every student in the school.” It made such an impression that she began visiting regularly and also brought students from Michigan State to Kenosha to observe and learn how we operate.
Most recently, Dr. Drake was a Professor of Teacher Education and Mathematics Education at Michigan State University. For nine years, she was also the Director of Teacher Preparation at Michigan State. She received her PhD in Human Development and Social Policy from Northwestern University in 2000. Her research and teaching interests center on the roles of curriculum and teacher preparation in supporting teachers’ capacity to teach elementary mathematics to diverse groups of students in transformative and justice-oriented ways.
Open Wings School focuses on teaching every student to his or her fullest potential. The faculty’s individualized approach and belief in every child’s ability to learn has produced tremendous results for both complex and neuro-typical students. For more information, visit openwingslearning.org.
