Good morning, CharterFolk.
Today we are pleased to share a Contributor Column from Sonia Park, the CEO of the Diverse Charter Schools Coalition.
We provide a bio for Sonia below.
Sonia is a daughter of Korean immigrants and the product of public schools. Growing up she moved frequently and attended many schools in and around Philadelphia. In some instances, she and her siblings were the only students of color. She directly experienced the possibilities and limitations that a zip code can confer. She believes that the primary place that can bring people together – school – should be a space where students can develop understanding and empathy across lines of differences. Looking ahead to DCSC’s next five years, she is especially committed to promoting the power and promise of intentionally diverse schools.
Prior to DCSC she served under Secretary John King at the US Department of Education as a Senior Policy Advisor and under NYC DOE Schools Chancellor Denis Walcott as the Executive Director of Charter Schools Accountability and Support. In addition to leading Manhattan Charter Schools, her work experiences include the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, NY Charter Schools Resource Center, NY Charter Schools Association, and Edison Schools. Sonia holds degrees from Drew University and Yonsei University and is currently working on a degree in Education Policy at John Hopkins University. She’s a Brooklyn zealot who runs at a glacial pace, loves bad sci-fi movies, and believes that kimchi fried rice with spam topped with an egg is the perfect breakfast.
Last week, Sonia announced she will be leaving DCSC in the fall after nine remarkable years leading the organization. All of us at CharterFolk extend our thanks and congratulations to Sonia for having made such a foundational contribution to the national charter school movement.
Disrupting Silos by Investing in Educators and Building Community: DCSC’s Explorers of 2026
When John Tripp joined our UnifiED Explorers program this year, he came in guarded. “In an era where educational discourse is often heavily politicized,” he later said, “I felt a degree of apprehension regarding the program’s ultimate focus.” Tripp is a 33-year veteran of Utah’s public education system and currently serves as Executive Director of the Leadership Academy of Utah. By the end of the program, his view had shifted: “The DCSC experience has fundamentally broadened my thinking regarding the charter school landscape. The ‘public education dream’ is not only alive but thriving within charter communities. Regardless of the political rhetoric surrounding the sector, the heart of our educational landscape remains populated by passionate, deeply committed individuals dedicated to student success.”
For Monica Murry, who was new to charter schools, she approached the experience with curiosity. As a traditional district high school principal in Richmond, Virginia, she entered UnifiED hoping to study how excellent, integrated schools build intentional environments. By the end, she said it reminded her “that leadership is not practiced in isolation; we become stronger through community, reflection, and exposure to what is possible.”
That shift is exactly why the Diverse Charter Schools Coalition built UnifiED. Education is full of silos, by sector, by geography, by ideology, and they slow down the spread of what works. UnifiED disrupts them by bringing school leaders together across charter, district, and independent schools to learn from each other, visit one another’s campuses, and build a community they can lean on long after the program ends.
The case for that kind of investment is well documented. Teacher and leader attrition continues to strain schools nationwide, and research consistently finds that educators who receive high-quality, collaborative preparation stay in the profession longer and are more effective. In a 2026 GAO report, more than two-thirds of public K-12 teachers identified collaboration with peers as the most useful element of their professional development, more closely linked to gains in student achievement than coaching or curricular alignment alone.
UnifiED is making this true. To date, the program has supported 99 leaders across charter, district, and independent schools, 54% of whom identify as people of color. Participants engage in coaching, cohort-based learning, mentorship, and applied school-based projects.
This year’s cohort was one of our largest yet: 14 educators from eight states: Wisconsin, Ohio, Georgia, New Jersey, Virginia, Nevada, Washington, and Utah. To find them, we partnered well beyond our membership, working with state associations (Georgia Charter Schools Association, Utah State Charter School Board), education champions (Opportunity 180, New Schools for Virginia, Future Ready Cleveland), and individual schools (Augustine Prep, Learning Community Charter School).
In May, the cohort presented their Applications of Learning, and the range was striking, from founders just beginning their journey to leaders three decades into theirs. Dr. Marcus North, founding Executive Director of M. C. North Academy in metro Atlanta, came in focused on a single question: how to operationalize a STEAM-focused model that integrates computer science, engineering, AI, and the performing arts into one coherent school. School visits in Washington, D.C., New York City, and Jersey City surfaced three themes he carried home: a strong sense of belonging for teachers and students, interdisciplinary teaching and learning, and rigorous teacher coaching and support. He saw practices that informed and reinforced his school design, and a wider network of peers building toward similar ends.
Marcus, Monica, John and the rest of the 2026 Explorers embody what DCSC believes: that intentional, community-centered education is worth investing in, and that the people doing the work deserve a community that outlasts any single program.
We’re recruiting the 2027 cohort now, let’s broaden our perspective and deepen our impact together.