The Workforce

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.

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).  

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.

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.