This past year has been tumultuous, especially for educators. Across the country, school leaders have had to juggle navigating a global pandemic and our nation’s racial reckoning. They’ve transitioned to virtual teaching and learning, created space to discuss police brutality and systemic racism in their schools, and addressed the physical, social, and emotional needs of their students and families. In light of all, they have persevered through. Our School Leaders Who Inspire Series is intended to celebrate and highlight the prominent and impactful educators we have the pleasure of working with.
Over the course of this series, we will share interviews with school leaders about their motivations to lead and teach, their biggest lessons, influences, and best advice. You will learn more about their contributions to the public school system and how they have worked to provide their students with a high quality and equitable education.
Our Conversation with Dr. Elena Litescu
How long have you been working in the charter school sector?
This will be my fourth year of being in an administrator role at Evergreen Charter School.
What motivated you to do this work?
I started my career in education in 2002. For more than 10 years I held an administrator role, as a Center Dean overseeing a University Center with more than 500 students. Seeing how students would have to start their college experience with remedial classes was one of the main reasons why I decided to transition into K-12, specifically the charter school sector. I wanted to make a difference and support students during their formative years. I am always advocating for our students to ensure that they receive the best education possible, and that they will be college or career ready when they graduate high school.
What book, experience, or resource has had the biggest impact on how you approach this work?
There are many and various resources that helped me define and refine my leadership style, chief among them was the extensive research I conducted for my Doctorate degree dissertation, which explored the relationship between emotional intelligence and the leadership style of an administrator. Some of the most recent resources that have influenced my approach as an administrator are listed below:
- Teach like a Champion by Doug Lemov
- The Danielson Framework for Teaching (FFT), the revised version including the DEI principles
- The Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education (CRSE) framework
Reviewing resources on the restorative practices that focus on resolving conflict, repairing harm, and healing relationships, as an alternative for traditional disciplinary actions for students, is the most recent topic of my reading.
What are the biggest lessons you have learned from your school community?
Regardless of how daunting a challenge is, if we, the school and the community, are facing it together as one, it will help our students become more resilient and develop the self-confidence that anything can be resolved. One example that comes to mind is the impact that COVID had on our lives. Despite these tumultuous past two school years, we found a way to go upward and forward together, both as a school and a community, for the benefit of continuing the education of our students.
How many Asian teachers or professors have you had over the course of your own education and how has this impacted your educational experience?
I was born and raised in Romania, and during my formative years my teachers were all white. Only after I immigrated to the United States and became a student again I experienced learning from diverse teachers. In Romania teachers were worshiped by their students, even though their instruction was strict, rigid, and teacher centric. In the US, the instruction was discussion based, student centric, and the relationships between a teacher and their students was fundamentally different than anything I was used to in Romania.
How many Black teachers or professors have you had over the course of your own education and how has this impacted your educational experience?
I won’t be able to provide the exact number of the minority teachers I had throughout my education. However, having a diverse body of teachers proved to be an invaluable learning experience. I have no doubt that I am a well-rounded professional as a result of my great experience at all levels of my studies, undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate. Each individual has their unique background and perspective which is defining and forming their lenses for perceiving the reality that surrounds them.
What strategies or best practices does your school use to help support your students’ racial identity development?
We implemented the Social Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum school-wide a few years ago, when the platform was in its early days. This proved to be extremely beneficial in educating our students. They are better equipped for understanding and implementing the pillars of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), developing their empathy, critical thinking, and communication skills, and their abilities to problem solve and develop peer relationships.
What can lenders do to more effectively support schools and school leaders?
One idea that comes to mind is exploring more ways to support the community served by the charter schools. For example, during the pandemic, when all schools were shut down, we provided devices to all our students for them to be able to learn remotely. However, there were several families who didn’t have internet access. To alleviate that challenge, we also provided internet hot spots to those families ensuring that all our students had access to education. We are educating students, which also has a trickle-down effect on their families and the community at large. Schools are not always able to provide support to their community, but Evergreen Charter School does that with intentionality. This support goes a long way especially since we are based in one of Long Island’s underrepresented communities.
What is the best piece of advice you have gotten in your career so far and why?
The best advice I’ve gotten as a young professional was not to take anything personally in the workplace. I also pay it forward and provide this piece of advice every opportunity I get, including to all of the mentees that I have worked with throughout my career.
About Dr. Elena Litescu
Dr. Elena Litescu has been the School Principal of Evergreen Charter Schools since August 2022. She began her career at Evergreen Charter School as the Vice Principal in August 2019 where she worked closely with students, teachers, and parents to foster a positive environment. Ms. Elena Litescu has been in education for more than 17 years, with more than nine years of experience as an Administrator.
Prior to working with charter schools, Dr. Elena Litescu has worked as the Center Dean of DeVry University where she managed day-to-day operations of University Center. She was the Vice President for Admissions and Marketing for the Technical Career Institutes where she conceptualized and implemented recruitment strategies for all aspects of the new student enrollment process. She was the Center Director of the Huntington Learning Center where she oversaw the daily operations of the K-12 learning center.
Dr. Elena Litescu is graduate of Northeastern University and holds a Doctoral Degree in Education. She is a graduate of the Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University where she holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA). She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from Bucharest University in Romania.
Our work with Evergreen Charter Schools
Evergreen Charter Schools is a high performing charter school that has been a LISC partner since 2020. The school was founded in the fall of 2020 by Dr. Sarah Brewster, and Mr. Gill Bernadino, Founder and Executive Director of Circulo de la Hispanidad, a community-based nonprofit organization, founded to meet the needs of those families and their children. The founders developed a concept for a strong academic program coupled with a curriculum that emphasized the environment, and knowledge of a second language, Spanish.
Evergreen Charter School’s mission is to prepare children to live in a global community, one that respects and values the dignity of all and prepares children for success in school and life. To date, Evergreen maintains a close partnership with Círculo de la Hispanidad, via its board membership and a long-term facility lease. Evergreen Charter School implements the principles of Restorative Justice and daily morning assemblies to help establish the culture and recognize students for positive behaviors and academic achievements. Evergreen takes a whole-child approach to education where teachers, administrators, counselors, and dedicated support staff work together to meet the intellectual, social, behavioral, and emotional needs of every child. Over the most recent four academic years for which state assessment results are available, Evergreen students have consistently outperformed peers at the district level in both English language arts and math proficiency outcomes. The LISC Charter School Financing Team provided a $4.31 million loan to support the acquisition and predevelopment costs for a construction project that will help build a new charter school facility in Hempstead, New York by 2024-25 to help serve 750 students in grades 5-12.