Public charter schools empower communities to design high-quality, public educational experiences to meet their students’ needs. Charter schools are free, public, and open to all children in relevant grades. In the 2022-2023 school year, Mississippi will have eight public charter schools operating in Jackson, Clarksdale, and Leflore County.
Because Mississippi is a new charter school sector, many current and rising education leaders lack familiarity with quality public charter schools. This summer, Mississippi First partnered with Mississippi charter schools to provide a practical experience for interested educators to learn the operational and leadership-related tasks of a charter school in hopes of expanding the talent pool for Mississippi’s public charter schools.
Not only are fellows learning about charter school academics and operations, they are also building community through working with public charter school leaders and stakeholders.
Meet our inaugural fellows:
LaToya Spurlock-Fluker
After 12 years of success in the classroom producing great readers and future college-bound students, LaToya Spurlock-Fluker’s focus shifted to empowering and equipping educators with research-based effective strategies. In her current role as Dean of Curriculum and Instruction at Leflore Legacy, she supports teachers by coaching and providing feedback to foster high-quality instruction. In this fellowship, she hopes to learn more about what it means to be a leader in a public charter school and expand her expertise.
Myra Grey
With many years of experience in education, Myra Grey applied for the Charter School Fellowship with hopes of starting the next part of her journey. She wants to learn more about public charter schools and how they operate compared to traditional public schools. As an educator for the Vicksburg-Warren School District, she hopes that the leadership qualities she gains from this experience will help her continue her journey in public education.
Porshia Ferguson
Porshia Ferguson, a District Instructional Coach for the Vicksburg-Warren School District, has spent most of her career as a Mississippi elementary teacher. She saw the Charter School Fellowship as a way to learn more about public charter schools while gaining important leadership skills to continue to advance her career professionally.
Tywanna Mosley
Tywanna Mosley has over 10 years of experience as a teacher in Mississippi. She has a passion for teaching and caring for Mississippi kids in a motivational way. As a current Exceptional Education Teacher for Jackson Public Schools, she hopes to learn more about public charter schools and how to be a leader in a public charter school.
CaTina Anderson
CaTina Anderson has experience as a Special Education Case Manager at Midtown Public Charter School. This summer, she is placed at RePublic Schools to gain a different perspective on how other public charter schools operate. CaTina has over 10 years of experience in the education space and hopes to further her professional career with this fellowship.
Tionna Anderson
Tionna Anderson is passionate about helping those with speech and/or language disorders and audiology. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology from the University of Southern Mississippi and is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist Aide. As the Student Recruitment and Enrollment Fellow at RePublic Charter Schools, Tionna hopes to learn more about public charter school curricula to aid parents with student progress.
Erica Dotson
Erica Dotson has extensive experience in public schools. She is currently a Reading Interventionist at Smilow Collegiate, a RePublic School. With her early childhood education experience, she hopes that the Charter School Fellowship will unlock her next opportunity.
Nicole Moore
Nicole Moore started her journey as a teaching intern for Teach For America after receiving her Bachelor of English in Secondary Education from Georgia State University. She has been an educator in the high school setting for over 5 years. Her journey as an educator brought her to apply for the Charter School Fellowship, where she hopes to gain leadership skills and knowledge about Mississippi’s public charter schools.