Atiba Buckman

 Atiba Frederick Buckman identifies as she, a wife and mother with 25 years of education behind her. Last of ten children to immigrant parents, she is not only a strong proponent of education as a life changer, but she is a staunch advocate for improving Public Schools in urban environments. This drive has led her to become a Turn Around School Administrator with multiple successful schools in her rearview window. Each school in her experience forced her to recreate herself to better service her community. Starting as a high school Social Studies Teacher, she realized her students were unable to read, consequently, she enrolled into Teachers College Reading Writing Program. As years went on, she became a Lead Teacher, then Dean of Students, where she realized the importance of analyzing data. This led Atiba to data cycle course work at Harvard. As society grew to see the fragility of mental health, Atiba attended Yale University to dive head first into Social Emotional Learning to empower her school community with the importance of supporting the whole child. At each pivot of Atiba’s educational work experience, teacher, dean, assistant principal, principal and principal mentor, the true driver has always been, see it, assess it, research it, learn it, do it, assess it, confirm outcomes, then start all over with a new challenge. That is the work, that is her work. The importance of ensuring that every child has a safe, rigorous, globally competitive school in their neighborhood in spite of their zip code is her north star.