TWO M-DCPS PRINCIPALS INVITED TO TAKE PART IN
INAUGURAL SUMMIT OF HIGH SCHOOL LEADERS

Two Miami-Dade County Public Schools principals: Dr. Stacey Mancuso from Design and Architecture High School and Dr. Omar Monteagudo from School for Advanced Studies joined school leaders and experts from across the country last week at a two-day summit convened by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation in Washington, D.C.

The summit participants looked for ways to identify solutions to close the excellence gap—the troubling disparity in academic performance between lower-income and higher-income students at advanced levels.  The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation offers the largest scholarships in the country to high-performing students who have financial need.

Monteagudo and Mancuso were personally invited by the Cooke Foundation to collaborate with more than 100 other principals of selective high schools as well as leaders of organizations such as the National Consortium of Secondary STEM Schools, researchers focused on high-achieving, low-income students, other scholarship providers, education advocates, and John B. King, Jr., senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, to learn about cutting-edge research on and share and identify best practices for supporting high-achieving, low-income students.

At this landmark event, a new organization of these principals was created, the Coalition of Leaders for Advanced Students Success, with an agenda to support and advocate for high-achieving students with financial need.
  
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation is dedicated to advancing the education of exceptionally promising students who have financial need.  Founded in 2000, the Foundation has awarded over $130 million in scholarships to almost 1,900 students and over $80 million in grants. www.jkcf.org

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