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DONNA RODRIGUES
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Founding Principal of University Park High School, Worcester, MA; Program Director for the Early College Initiative at Jobs for the Future
M.Ed., Administration, Planning and Social Policy Harvard Graduate School of Education
M.Ed., Spanish and Literature, Worcester State College
B.A., English, Emmanuel College
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Research Areas:
Donna Rodrigues is a Program Director for the Early College Initiative at Jobs for the Future in Boston, Massachusetts. For 35 years prior to this position, she was an outstanding and well-recognized leader in public education. Her success as the founding principal of University Park Campus School (UPCS), a public school collaboration with Clark University, has been well documented by CNN, and featured in the New York and LA Times, and the Christian Science Monitor. Recently named the highest performing high school in Massachusetts, and ranked number 68 in the top 100 high schools in the country in Newsweek, UPCS is existence proof that the achievement gap for students of color, students living in poverty, and students who are English Language Learners can be challenged and defied. The school’s population, students from the most economically challenged part of the city, enters the seventh grade with skills 3 to 4 years behind grade level. These same students have scored advanced or proficient on the state’s graduation required exam (MCAS), and have been accepted to, and are attending college. The accomplishment is outstanding and exemplary of what can happen. Donna speaks across the country about the challenges and outcomes of a prep school education for all.
Activities & Honors:
Before accepting the position at the University Park Campus School, she was the Department Chair of World Languages at South High School. Donna has also been awarded two prestigious honors, the Thomas Green Award for Community Service and the Francis Perkins award as outstanding administrator for the Worcester Public Schools.
Selected Publications:
• Rodrigues, D. (November 2003). The School with a Promise: University Park Campus School, A Guide for School Reform in an Urban Community. Jobs For the Future Manual.
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