About the Author

Kim Sekel completed the E-learning Instructional Design certificate at the University of Washington in June 2024. Sekel has over 20 years of experience in education, having taught middle school for the New York City Department of Education and high school ELA for Democracy Prep Public Schools. She served as the English Department Chair and then as Assistant Principal of Democracy Prep Charter High School, and was instrumental in vertically aligning the school’s ELA curriculum to ensure that it offered a truly college preparatory experience to all students. She created the DPPS Teaching Residency program to bring alumni and other young professionals to Democracy Prep to teach, offering a two-year on ramp to a lead teaching career. She also served as a campus director for Citizen Schools in Harlem, and was the Manager of Middle School and High School programs at the New-York Historical Society, where she wrote curriculum for the American Musicals Project and developed teacher professional development in collaboration with the UFT and the NYC DOE. For the last three years, she has worked as a Curriculum and Instruction Specialist, spearheading the adoption of a common ELA curriculum across all DPPS high schools and helping DPPS increase its AP course offerings. She also coaches leaders on how to improve instruction in schools.