The District is excited to announce the following additions to key leadership positions. All three appointments were approved by the Board of Education on May 22, 2023.

 

Isaiah Wyatt will be the next Assistant Principal of the Innovative Center (IC) for Personalized Learning. 

Mr. Wyatt emerged as the top candidate after a two-month search process that included input from teachers, staff, families and students.

 

Mr. Wyatt currently serves as Assistant Principal of Canton McKinley High School, where his duties include serving as a Team Principal responsible for evaluating teachers, leading the counseling department and overseeing 480 students. He also serves as Senior Class Principal and Freshman Academy Team Principal. He previously served the district as Dean of Students and as a school counselor.

 

Mr. Wyatt's abilities to develop relationships with staff, students and families and commitment to expanding personalized learning options in the Shaker Schools will help serve us well as we seek to connect more students to the benefits of this learning model and mindset. He succeeds Matthew Simon, Assistant Principal of the IC since 2020.

Dejunee M. Lawson will be the District’s new Early Childhood Coordinator. Ms. Lawson takes over this crucial role as the District plans to expand its Pre-K program. 

The addition of an Early Childhood Coordinator will provide administrative oversight for the planning, implementation and student support for the Early Childhood Classrooms. The coordinator will also help to plan the District’s PreK expansion at the Ludlow building site, and serve as a point person to collaborate with other local PreK providers.

Ms. Lawson presently serves as Assistant Principal in the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, where her duties include overseeing a 120-student preschool program. Previously, she was a classroom teacher for 10 years in the Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District. 

Ms. Lawson has a strong track-record of nurturing and developing young learners through collaboration with staff, students and families. She recognizes the importance of a high-quality early childhood program and its ability to drive equitable educational opportunities for all students.

 

Dr. Nicole Sherman Patterson, the District’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Learning Specialist for the past two years, will move into a new role as Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Professional Learning. Her deep background and experience will ensure that the District professional learning is provided through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion.

 

Dr. Patterson has been in education for the past 27 years. She has taught in primary through intermediate grades, first in the Cincinnati Public Schools and then in the Shaker Schools. While in Cincinnati, she also served as a literacy coach. She has been an adjunct instructor at Miami University, Notre Dame College and Baldwin Wallace University, where she has taught graduate and undergraduate courses on curriculum theory, diversity in education, educational research and teacher leadership. 

 

She has also provided professional learning on cultural proficiency, culturally relevant and responsive teaching, equity and anti-racist education. Her research interests include equity in education, culturally relevant education, culturally responsive teaching, anti-racist education, culturally proficient teaching strategies, critical race theory, critical race feminism and womanist theory as it relates to education, the community and higher education.