The Workforce

Currently I am a school psychologist within the Red Clay Consolidated school district, where I serve as a facilitator in the Racial Affinity Group program and a co-lead on the district’s school psychologist Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. Previously worked as a social worker in the state of Delaware, working with children (and their families) dealing with mental health issues, as well as within the state of
Pennsylvania, assisting families with accessing state benefit programs / resources. This experience guides my ability to use my voice to advocate for students, families,
and other educators within an equity framework. I am currently working to support the Office of Equity and Innovation, within the DE Department of Education on projects such as regulation 220, the DE Film Project, and the Speaking of Technology & Generation Gaps project. During my career within education, I have served as a participant of the educator Diversity Labs, the Educator on Loan program, and have attended the Black Male Educator Conference. These experiences guide my approach to addressing the challenges faced within the field of education, operating through an Equity Lens. My education experience includes a Bachelor of the Arts Degree in Psychology, from Ashford University, a Master of Science degree in Clinical Psychology, with an emphasis in Applied Research, and Master of Science and Education Specialist degrees in School Psychology from Fort Hays University.

Chantalle is an alumna of the College of William & Mary, a former Teach For America corps member, and an alum of the Relay Graduate School of Education. Over the course of her career, she has led in choral, special education, and English classrooms. Committed to pursuing educational leadership beyond the classroom, she has participated in the national Rural School Leaders Academy (2016-2018) and the Delaware Department of Education’s Educators as Catalyst Fellowship (2016). 

After completing her initial fellowship at the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE), Chantalle continued to contract with the DDOE as a teacher consultant specializing in equity. Specifically, Chantalle has supported the DDOE’s Diverse and Learner Ready Teacher’s Initiative through the Council of Chief State School Officers and helped to develop Delaware’s equity framework and guidance documents. Through these opportunities, Chantalle explored her ability to be an educational change agent, which led her to her current service as the Dean of Academic Excellence at the Bryan Allen Stevenson School of Excellence. She is pursuing her doctoral degree in Educational Leadership and Policy at American University. Chantalle is a Delawarean who is committed to educational excellence for all.

•  In 2004, as Executive Director, founded Breakthrough Fort Lauderdale, part of the National Breakthrough Collaborative, a nonprofit program that served 240 students and prepared middle school and high school students for college, and also gave high school and college students the opportunity to teach. Mr. Bass served as President for National
  Breakthrough Directors Association, and as Co-Chairman of the Fort Lauderdale Mayor’s Educational Board.
•  In 2007, Mr. Bass joined KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) and was awarded the prestigious Fisher Fellowship, given by the Fisher Family (owners of the GAP, Old Navy) to establish KIPP DuBois Collegiate Academy. KDCA was the only open enrollment school to have an ACT Average in the top 10 High Schools in Philadelphia. His first graduating class had a college matriculation of 95% – compared to Philadelphia’s average of 30%. In 2014, he became Chief of Staff and led advocacy efforts for KIPP’s expansion in Philadelphia. Under his leadership KIPP was the only school to obtain two new charters in 2014 (expanding KIPP’s 4 schools to 10 in the city).
•  In 2014 and 2015, Mr. Bass was tapped by the Philadelphia Eagles to be their Instructional Consultant. In this role, he provided Professional Development to the Eagles coaching staff and directly supported the Offensive Coordinator, Special Teams Coach, Running Backs Coach, Quarterbacks Coach and Inside Linebackers.
•  In 2016 Mr. Bass was selected as CEO for EastSide Charter School During his tenure EastSide has outperformed the state in growth on the state assessment. During the 2017-18 Academic year Aaron took on the role as principal of EastSide Charter School in addition to his role as CEO. EastSide went from the lowest performing school in the state to the second in student growth on the state assessment. In 2020 EastSide Middle School students beat the state average in all content areas. In 2021 EastSide was named a Top Place to Work by the News Journal and the top school in the state after retaining over 90% of staff. In 2021 and 2022 Aaron Bass was named as one of the most influential leaders in the state of Delaware by The News Journal.
•  Other highlights: repeat lecturer at UPENN, Temple, Franklin and Marshall College; Served as instructional consultant for the World Bank, Future Leaders of UK, US Dept. of Education, and other community organizations. Also serves on the Alumni Board for Franklin and Marshall College, YMCA and leadership for Black Male Educators Convening. Aaron Bass has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, CNN, Fox News, Washington Post, Inside Edition, New York Times,
  and many other news outlets for innovation and approach to education.

Marqueia Davis, currently the Supervisor of Equity & Culture in the Brandywine School District (BSD), has been recognized as a highly effective instructional leader at the elementary and secondary levels of public education in high needs schools. Ms. Davis has been successful with raising cultural awareness and coaching educators to shift instructional practices to produce increased academic student achievement. Ms. Davis exemplifies positive, professional leadership that makes a difference in the lives of the students and the staff. 

Marqueia has provided leadership and support to her students and colleagues over the years. Her steady approach and reflective nature make her approachable to all. As a seasoned educational leader in, Marqueia offers valued perspective and insight into various situations and will often provide voice to the discussions. 

A Brandywine School District employee for more than 20 years, Ms. Davis earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary and Special Education from the University of Delaware and her Master of Science degree in Educational Leadership from Wilmington University. Ms. Davis has been recognized nationally for training hundreds of teachers and administrators in implementing Culturally Relevant Teaching Practices. Ms. Davis has been the recipient of prestigious awards such as the Brandywine School District Equity Initiative of the Year (2004); the “Inspiring A Decade of College Dreams AVID Award” for Brandywine School District (2015); and the Markevic Johnson Education Award (2018).  

Dawn Mader is the Chief Education Office and founder of EPIC Consultative Services. Dawn is a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) expert who provides clients with easy, practical inclusionary concepts to support organizations in our increasingly diverse world. As a partner with the Delaware Department of Education’s Office of Equity and Innovation, Dawn supports the Equity and Justice Learning Network Professional Development continuum for K-12 educators, higher learning educators and community members. Dawn is also adjunct faculty at Neumann University in Aston, PA where she designs and teaches the course titled “Culturally Sustaining Teaching and Practices” at the graduate level. Additionally, Dawn is a freelance DEIB practitioner for the EC Council where she does training for their offices in India, United Kingdom and the United States. 

Dawn received her BA in History with a concentration in Secondary Education and minor in Geography from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. Dawn earned her Master’s degree in Education Administration from the University of Scranton. When entering the realm of public education, Dawn was intentional about seeking out places of employment that were deemed “difficult” or where “no one wanted to teach.” Dawn began her teaching career in Camden City Public Schools as a Social Studies teacher where she won “Teacher of the Year” honors in her second year of teaching – and with students who did not meet success in a traditional school setting. Dawn accepted other roles in Camden City and Palmyra Area School districts as a Learning and Emotional Support teacher, and worked as an elementary and middle school assistant principal in Delaware County, PA. Dawn was hired at the West Chester Area School District as its first Director of Equity and Assessment. In that role, Dawn supported a culturally balanced curriculum for all district students and managed the district’s 16 building and district level equity teams. Other tasks included the analysis of all assessment data to identify equity gaps and propose and guide strategies for closing those gaps.

After 20 years of experience in education focused on continuous school improvement and school turnaround – resulting in bridging gaps in education for urban and suburban school districts as well as in local communities, Dawn’s experiences came full circle with impact opportunities as an Educational Consultant.

Initiatives and Programs 

• Three Part Community Conversations Series – Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? Moderated community conversation – inspired by the final book of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. – with the goal of strengthening community.

• Strengthening Community 2022 (youtube.com) – Moderated conversation with the daughter of Civil Rights icons Dr. Bernice A. King is the youngest daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. Co-created the first annual strengthening community symposium in 2022.
• Community Book Discussion – Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson, The Melton Center, West Chester, PA.
• West Goshen Township/Police Community Meeting Presentations: The Perspective Series.

1. The History of Policing in the Black and Hispanic Communities.
2. Policing and the Special Needs Population.

Media

WCASD Expands Equity Mission with Hiring of First Director of Equity & Assessment

WHYY Article – Dawn Mader Interview with Dr. Bernice King

KYW News – Bringing People Together – Dawn Mader and Dr. Bernice King

Profiles

LinkediIn – Dawn Mader

Monique Martin maintains more than 20 years of experience in education, pre-school to post-secondary, focused on continuous school improvement and school turnaround, resulting in bridging gaps in education for urban and suburban school districts. While serving diverse school communities, her leadership supported increasing student achievement for underperforming student groups and intersecting categories, decreasing disproportionality, cultivating school culture and climate, increasing and sustaining caregiver and community engagement, improving educator effectiveness, and ensuring student agency. Monique’s service includes leading linguistically diverse, impoverished, marginalized, disenfranchised, and affluent school communities.

Prior to serving Delaware stakeholders, Monique fulfilled instrumental roles in Maryland, Ohio, and Virginia, including as an award-winning leader, principal, assistant principal, instructional leader, professional developer, academic coach, new teacher and urban principal mentor, collective bargaining team negotiator, team leader, teacher, child and family advocate, small business owner, community activist, and national consultant. 

Monique is currently pursuing an educational doctorate; and earned a Master of Science graduate degree from Johns Hopkins University in School Administration and Supervision, and an undergraduate Bachelor of Science degree from Bowie State University in Elementary Education.

Sinelia Peixoto is an EL/ELA teacher at Georgetown Middle School – Georgetown, DE. Sinelia is Brazilian, and fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and English. Sinelia holds a bachelor’s degree in English and Portuguese, and another bachelor’s in Elementary Teaching and Pedagogy from Brazil. She has  a Master’s in English Literature from The University of Liverpool, England, and a Doctorate in Literacy – Curriculum Instruction from Salisbury University, MD. She taught English as a Second Language for almost 30 years in Canadian, International, Brazilian and American schools from Pre-K to College level classes. 

And has presented at LRA, SOMLA, MD TESOL, WIDA, NCTE, TEFL, MACLAS, TLC, SUWF, Braz TESOL, and Brazilian Government Conventions. Sinelia won the 2023 VOYA Unsung Heroes Award because of the students’ writing project and has  at GMS with my co-teacher. 

Sinelia published policy research in Brazil for the Language Centers, and the article “More, Better, Faster: Middle Schooler’s Self-Assessed Literacy Concerns”. 

Dr. Shelley S. Rouser is Chairperson and Associate Professor for the Education Department at Delaware State University.  She oversees the Council for Professional Education at DSU which is comprised of eight undergraduate education programs and three graduate programs. Prior to joining Delaware State University, Dr. Rouser has 25 years of experience in K-12 education as a former middle and high school teacher, teacher leader, content area specialist, and central office administrator. She is experienced with the challenges of managing major change efforts as well as the systems work it takes to build capacity to navigate such adaptive changes. Her current work at Delaware State University is grounded in establishing more equitable systems and diverse educators in K12 schools through initiatives aimed to increase the number of male educators, establishing innovative undergraduate and graduate programs that prepare culturally responsive teachers and administrators, ensuring early childhood education programs for under-resourced communities meet the highest quality standards, and providing professional development supports to local school districts around equity, access, and culturally responsive pedagogy. Under her leadership, Delaware State University received a $31.6 million dollar grant for an Early Childhood Innovation Center. In following her educational equity-focused efforts, Dr. Rouser led the state’s P20 Council’s Educator Supports for Early Literacy through Institutions of Higher Education Committee and currently serves on the board of the Wilmington Center for Educational Equity Steering Committee (WCEEP) as well as the Redding Consortium focused on educational equity in Delaware’s urban and rural communities.

When Mrs. Germaine A. Smith-Solomon, a native New Yorker, moved to Delaware, she was determined to make everything about this move fresh and innovative. She decided to change her career and pursue a degree in Elementary Education. She has always had a passion for educating children and decided this was the time to pursue this interest. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education at Wilmington University, she went on to earn a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership. Mrs. Solomon taught fifth grade at Stubbs Elementary School where she also served as: fifth grade team lead; District Math Content Chairperson; mentored novice teachers; led professional development and led professional learning community sessions. From Christina School District, Mrs. Solomon moved on to Red Clay Consolidated School District where she was a member of the building leadership team, the PBS team and fourth grade team lead at Warner Elementary School. At the time, Mrs. Solomon was an adjunct instructor at Delaware Technical Community College preparing pre-service teachers to become Delaware educators.

Today, Mrs. Solomon is the Instructional Coordinator at Delaware Technical Community College, (DTCC). She supports students, placing them in classrooms across the state to gain practical experiences as it pertains to their degree focus. She also instructs classes in the Education, Math and Social Science departments. She maintains and establishes partnerships that continue to grow and support the education program at DTCC. Mrs. Solomon is part of the committee that has developed the bachelor’s degree program in Elementary Education at DTCC. She has completed course design for two of the courses that are part of the program, including a course that supports students becoming culturally competent educators. She has helped to redesign the Math for Teachers courses that are offered to Education majors.

Mrs. Solomon’s hobbies coincide with her passion for education in urban communities. She has a business called Critical Thinkers LLC that tutors and supports students in grades K-12 in all content areas. She started and led a non-profit organization that aimed to provide impoverished students with experiences that enriched their lives, such as traveling to nearby cities and dining in fine restaurants. She believes providing students with positive experiences can be impactful and make a true difference in the quality of life our students aspire to obtain for themselves.Mrs. Solomon’s goal is to model for her sons what it looks like to work hard, overcome obstacles, and go after what you want. She wants them to see, it’s not about how far you go, it’s about how many you’ve helped along the way. Mrs. Solomon’s three sons are at the core of her reasons why.

Business, Finance & Marketing Education Associate Delaware Department of Education (DDOE)

As a life-long learner and teacher at heart, I am passionate about promoting culturally responsive programming that will inspire, activate, and elevate the voices of each student. I have worked in the private sector for more than a decade. Upon discovering my “calling” in life, I taught various business programs at both comprehensive and technical high schools for more than 16 years. I currently serve at DDOE in the Career and Technical Education (CTE) workgroup where I provide state leadership for business, finance, and marketing programs. Also, I provide leadership for the educational equity focus of the CTE workgroup and provide strategic support for the Delaware Pathways website. In addition, I am the State Advisor for Business Professionals of America (BPA), a career and technical student organization. Lastly, I serve as the Delaware Methods of Administration (MOA) Coordinator and collaborate with internal partners who contribute to the MOA and Perkins compliance routines for the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) and the US Department of Education (USDOE). My educational background includes a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Delaware State University and a doctorate degree in Educational Technology from the University of Delaware. I am happily married to the love of my life, Calvin. We have three adult children, a grandson, and a four-legged friend.

Secondary Educator
New Castle County Vocational Technical School District

Driven by my love for history and social justice, I am passionate about creating safe spaces for students who have been traditionally underserved. Being a part of a workforce that is made up of only 2% that hold the same demographics as myself, has pushed me to engage in unlearning, learning, advocacy, and mentorship that has broadened my experiences as an educator. Currently, I am a Special Education teacher at Howard High School in Wilmington, Delaware. Prior to that, I served as a General Education Social Studies teacher, English Language Arts teacher, and Special Education teacher all at the middle school level. In addition to my service as an educator, I developed an after school mentorship program for young men (Meredith Men), coached basketball, track and field, served as the equity team lead, and co-coordinator of the Delaware Society of Black Educators Facebook page. My educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Delaware in Education
as well as pursuing a Master’s degree in School Leadership at Wilmington University. I am a father of a 7 year old son, who is a source of joy and excitement for me.