Faculty & Leaders

Christine Algozo – Chemistry Teacher, Dean of Curriculum and Instruction
Christine Algozo joined Uncommon Charter High School as its founding Physics teacher and College Development Coordinator. This year, Ms. Algozo will serve as Dean of Curriculum, teach Chemistry, and support the 11th Grade Team. Before joining Uncommon, Ms. Algozo spent seven years teaching middle school Science and high school Chemistry at Bronx Preparatory Charter School where she also served as Science Department Chair. Additionally, Ms. Algozo taught Chemistry at The Hotchkiss School, an independent boarding school in Lakeville, Connecticut, and committed six summers to teaching Biology and Chemistry at the (MS)2 Program (Math and Science for Minority Students) at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts. A native of Princeton, New Jersey, Ms. Algozo received a B.A. in Chemistry and English from Mount Holyoke College and an Ed.M. from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.

Joseph Baker – Spanish III Teacher
Joseph Baker is thrilled to continue being a part of the Uncommon Charter High School family, this year as the Spanish Department Chair and the Coordinator of Student Life. Previously, he taught at LaGuardia Arts High School and Frederick Douglass Academy VII. Sr. Baker has also developed technology workshops for educators, presented at the NYU School of Education and citywide conferences, coordinated mentoring programs, and trained new teachers through the NYC Teaching Fellows program. During his college days, he fell in love with the Spanish language and Latin American culture by living and studying at various universities in Mexico, Chile, and Argentina. Sr. Baker received his undergraduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a master's in Adolescent Education from Pace University, and a master's in Education Policy & Management from Harvard University.

Joshua Bobrow – Global History II Teacher
Joshua Bobrow is delighted to join the Uncommon Charter High School as the Global History II teacher and as the coordinator for the Junior Seminar. Prior to Uncommon, Mr. Bobrow taught middle school Social Studies, as well as 11th grade U.S.History in a Bronx public school. In addition, he served as Grade Leader of the 11th grade. Mr. Bobrow also taught Social Studies and English in South Africa and Kenya. Mr. Bobrow received his B.A. in History from Washington University in St. Louis and his M.A. in Secondary Social Studies Education from Lehman College.

Sara Broderick – Geometry Teacher
Sara Broderick attended New York University, where she played soccer, studied abroad in Ghana, worked as a museum tour guide, and directed a summer camp. After graduating with a B.A. in History, Ms. Broderick joined Teach For America. She taught Algebra, Geometry, Pre-Calculus and Physics at John McDonogh Senior High School in New Orleans for two years before moving back to New York to serve as a math teacher at Uncommon Charter High School.

Cliff Campbell – Theater I and II Teacher
Cliff Campbell joined the staff of Uncommon Charter High School last year. He currently teaches Theater I and Theater II and serves as Theater Director for the Fall Drama and Spring Musical productions. Since graduating from Dartmouth College with a B.A. in Theater, Mr. Campbell has worked in New York and regionally as a professional stage actor with a focus on Shakespeare and contemporary comedies. He has toured nationally with Chamber Theatre Productions, one of the nation's leading educational theater companies, and worked as a Youth Leader for Travel Dynamics International, a company devoted to educational travel. Mr. Campbell is in his final leg of studies in the Masters Program in Educational Theatre at the City College of New York.

Gillian Cartwright – English I Teacher and Grade Level Chair, 9th Grade
Gillian Cartwright is excited to start her second year at Uncommon Charter High School as the English I instructor and 9th grade team leader. After earning a B.A. in Public Policy and Sociology from Syracuse University, Ms. Cartwright taught high school English in Charlotte, North Carolina for two years. While in Charlotte, Ms. Cartwright became a certified facilitator of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens, which she currently uses to develop UCHS’s Collegiate Prep curriculum. During the summer, Ms. Cartwright has worked for Teach For America’s summer institute in New York City and Chicago training new teachers to enter the classroom. Ms. Cartwright is currently working toward her Masters in Education through Teacher U at Hunter College.

Nour Goda – English III Teacher
Nour Goda is thrilled to join Uncommon Charter High School as the English III instructor. Ms. Goda earned her B.A. in English from Connecticut College, where she also minored in Religious Studies and explored Architectural Studies. She also holds an M.Ed. in English Education from CUNY-Lehman College. Since graduating from college, Ms. Goda has taught 8th grade English language arts in the Bronx and Harlem and has loved every minute of it. She has spent two consecutive summers training new teachers in Teach for America’s Institute Teacher Training Program in New York City. Ms. Goda will be serving as an adjunct faculty member in the English department at Mercy College this fall.

Paula Gordon – Dean of Students
Paula Gordon is excited to join Uncommon Charter High School as the Dean of Students. Prior to coming to UCHS, Ms. Gordon was the Dean of Students, School Social Worker and middle school math teacher at North Star Academy Charter School in Newark, NJ. Ms. Gordon has spent over 15 years in urban education in both traditional and charter public schools and has taught at the upper elementary, middle school and college levels. She has also taught in the NYC Fellows program at Mercy College and in the urban education program at Rutgers University. She was awarded the New Jersey Governor’s Teacher of the Year in 1997 at Benjamin Franklin Elementary School in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Ms. Gordon is a Teach for America alumna and was a part of the first group of corps members in New Jersey. Ms. Gordon received her BA in Psychology from Wesleyan University and her Masters in Social Work from Howard University. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Educational Policy - Urban Systems at Rutgers University.

Marissa Guzman – Special Projects Coordinator
Marissa Guzmán is excited to return to Uncommon Charter High School as the Special Projects Coordinator. Previously, Ms. Guzmán was a founding staff member at Excel Academy Charter School in East Boston, MA. She served as the Office Manager before becoming the Operations Manager and spent a total of seven years at Excel. A Massachusetts native, Ms. Guzmán attended Hofstra University and North Shore Community College.

Lauren Vance – Associate Managing Director, Collegiate Network
Prior to serving as Associate Managing Director with Uncommon Schools, Lauren Harris co-founded Kings Collegiate Charter School in 2007, and served as Principal from August 2007 – June 2010. Before moving to New York City to join Uncommon Schools, Lauren taught 7th and 8th grade mathematics at Roxbury Preparatory Charter School in Boston, MA, and Ferndale Middle School in High Point, NC. During her last year at Roxbury Preparatory Charter School, her students ranked #1 out of all districts statewide on the 8th grade Math MCAS exam. While at Roxbury Prep, she also served as Grade Level Team Leader and Numeracy Inquiry Group Facilitator. Ms. Harris earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Middle Grades Education at Appalachian State University in North Carolina and a Master of Education degree at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.

Alicia Henriquez – Spanish II and Spanish for Heritage Speakers II Teacher
Alicia Henríquez is thrilled to be a part of the Uncommon Charter High School community in the Modern Language Department. Señorita Henríquez was born in San Salvador, El Salvador and immigrated to Vancouver, Canada where she continued to develop her native language of Spanish. Soon after graduating with her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia, Srta. Henríquez travelled across the continent to obtain her Master of Education degree at Harvard University. Srta. Henríquez taught Spanish at a variety of levels at Beaver Country Day School in Boston. She was also a founding teacher for the Boston University Academy LEAD summer program where she developed the course curriculum.

Carolynn Laurenza – College Coordinator
Carolynn Laurenza is excited to join the Uncommon Charter HS team as the College Placement Coordinator! Prior to working at UCHS, Ms. Laurenza was a school and college counselor at a Massachusetts public school for 3 years. During the summers, she worked with Amherst College Admissions and as a college counselor for international students applying to college in the United States. Since graduate school, Ms. Laurenza has been involved in the Massachusetts School Counselor's State Association, most recently as a member of the governing board and the Advocacy Committee. Ms. Laurenza received a B.A. from Swarthmore College in Psychology with a minor in Environmental Studies, and a M.Ed. and C.A.G.S. in school counseling from the University of Massachuetts, Amherst. While at Umass, Ms. Laurenza worked in the Financial Aid Office, as a case manager for students with disabilities, and with the National Center for School Counseling Outcome Research.

Laura Lee McGovern

Laura Lee McGovern is the Chief Operating Officer of Uncommon Schools NYC. Ms. Lee joined Uncommon Schools in 2007 as the Founding Co-Director of Operations at Kings Collegiate Charter School. Ms. Lee helped establish the systems, processes and cultural foundation that has led Kings to early outstanding achievement and parent/student satisfaction. Ms. Lee also worked as a Summer Fellow and Education Pioneer with Uncommon in 2006. In this capacity, she helped develop school inspection and performance measurement processes. Previously, Ms. Lee worked as a management consultant at Katzenbach Partners LLC, advising companies on strategic and organizational issues, and also served as the founding Director of Analytics in student enrollment at the New York City Department of Education. Ms. Lee received her MBA from Harvard Business School, where she was a Baker Scholar and co-leader of the Education Leadership Group. Ms. Lee earned her A.B. in Social Studies at Harvard College and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Betsy Leach – Spanish I and AP Spanish Teacher
Betsy Leach is extremely excited to join the Uncommon Charter High School as the Spanish I and Advanced Placement Spanish teacher. Before joining Uncommon, Ms Leach taught High School Spanish 1, Spanish 3, and AP Spanish 5 & 6 in a public school outside of D.C. There she led the Foreign Language Department as Department Chair and organized a trip to take 9 students to the Dominican Republic on scholarships to volunteer at an orphanage. Ms. Leach received her B.A. in Spanish and Politics from Oberlin College and her M.A. in Secondary Education from American University.

Marna Lehnert – AP Biology and Honors Biology Teacher
Marna Lehnert is excited to join Uncommon Charter High School as its AP Biology and Honors Biology teacher. Before joining Uncommon, Mrs. Lehnert spent four years teaching high school Earth Science and Biology at Bronx Preparatory Charter School where she also served as Science Department Chair. Mrs. Lehnert also taught Earth Science and Biology for eight years at Niskayuna High School, a public school in Schenectady, New York, and dedicated four summers to teaching pre-service teachers pedagogy and classroom management skills at Union College (also in Schenectady, New York). Originally from northern Ohio, Mrs. Lehnert received a B.A. in Biology from University of Toledo, an M.S. in Geosciences from Mississippi State University, an M.A. in Teaching from Union College, and she is only one of four teachers in NYC who is a Nationally Board Certified Teacher in Adolescence and Young Adulthood Science.

Emily Liao – Pre-Calculus and Algebra II Honors Teacher
Emily Liao is elated to join Uncommon Charter High School as a brand-new Mathematics teacher. Ms. Liao graduated Columbia University with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Psychology. Immediately following her graduation, she became a Math for America Fellow, and spent the next year earning her M.A. in Secondary Math Education at Teachers College – Columbia University. A native of New York City, Ms. Liao is whole-heartedly committed to serving the community she grew up in, and through teaching math, she strives to encourage students to discover a life-long love of learning.

Emily Lyons – Physics Teacher
Emily Lyons is excited to join Uncommon Charter High School as the 9th grade Physics teacher. After graduating from Cornell University with a B.S. in Biology and Society , Ms. Lyons joined Teach for America and moved to New Orleans, where she taught middle school General Science and high school Physics and Chemistry. Ms. Lyons will be working towards her Masters of Education at Teacher U. at Hunter College.

Mary Mitchell – Social Worker
Mary Mitchell is excited to join the staff of Uncommon Charter High School as a Social Worker. Ms. Mitchell received her B.A. from Colgate University where she studied French and Women’s Studies. After graduating, she moved to New York and worked for a non-profit for several years before pursuing her M.S.W. from Hunter College School of Social Work. Ms. Mitchell has been working with New York City high school students for the past four years at the CARES Program, a therapeutic high school for teens with substance abuse and mental health issues.

Laura Palumbo – English I Teacher
Laura Palumbo is thrilled to be joining the Uncommon family. A Brooklyn native and May 2011 graduate of New York University, Ms. Palumbo received her B.S. in English Education with a concentration in Creative Writing. She was an avid member of NYU’s creative writing club, The Headless Society, and was featured in eight publications on campus. A four year varsity athlete on the women’s soccer team and Dean’s List student, Ms. Palumbo received Scholar-Athlete awards from the University Athletic Association and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Ms. Palumbo has had previous experiences with urban education here and abroad, including a four month placement in an 11th grade English class at Washington Irving High School, a four month placement at The School for Global Leaders, both in Manhattan, and a tutoring placement in an 8th grade English class in Islington, London, where she studied abroad for a semester. Ms. Palumbo is looking forward to a fantastic year of teaching and learning at UCHS!

Brett Peiser – Managing Director, Uncommon Schools New York City
Brett Peiser is Founder and former Principal and Executive Director of Boston Collegiate Charter School. Boston Collegiate, a college preparatory middle and high school serving over 500 students, is one of Massachusetts’ highest performing schools. In 2005, Mr. Peiser founded Collegiate Charter Schools, an Uncommon Schools network of middle and high schools in Brooklyn, New York. The network's first and second schools – Williamsburg Collegiate and Kings Collegiate Charter Schools – were the #2 and #6 ranked middle schools in all of New York City on the Department of Education’s 2009 progress reports. Since those schools began, Mr. Peiser has also helped start two new middle schools, Bedford Stuyvesant and Brownsville Collegiate Charter Schools, as well as Uncommon Charter High School. In 2009, Mr. Peiser became Managing Director of Uncommon New York City, overseeing nearly 2,000 students across Uncommon’s 10 elementary and secondary schools in Brooklyn. Uncommon New York City will ultimately grow to serve 7,000 students across 20 schools. Mr. Peiser is a graduate of New York City Public Schools and a resident of Brooklyn where he taught History at Midwood High School and founded an after-school community basketball program for Midwood/Flatbush teenagers. Mr. Peiser received a BA from Brown University and a MPP degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he also earned the 2001 Rising Star award.

Kameelah Rasheed – Global History I Teacher
Kameelah Rasheed is eager to return to the Uncommon Charter High School team as the Global History I teacher. Before coming to UCHS, Ms. Rasheed taught Humanities for two years at East Palo Alto Academy, a Stanford New School. Prior to becoming a classroom teacher she worked with a range of young people including Hmong immigrants in Sacramento, previously incarcerated youth in Los Angeles county, and English Language Learners in the Bay Area. After graduating from college in 2006, Ms. Rasheed spent a year in Johannesburg, South Africa as an Amy Biehl U.S. Fulbright Scholar completing research in urban planning, working with youth, and photographing. A native of San Francisco Bay Area, Ms. Rasheed received a B.A. in Public Policy Analysis from Pomona College and a M. Ed. from the Teacher Education Program at Stanford University.

Sarah Rose – Grade Level Chair for 10th Grade
Sarah Rose teaches Sophomore English and serves as the tenth grade team leader at Uncommon Charter High School. Ms. Rose first joined the Uncommon Schools network in 2008 as the music teacher at North Star Academy High School in Newark before transferring to Brooklyn to help found UCHS. Ms. Rose earned her B.A. in Humanities from the University of Kansas, and her M.M. in Music Education and Viola Performance from Northwestern University. Ms. Rose is an alumnus of the Columbia Teachers College Summer Principals Academy and holds an EdM in School Leadership.

Maya Roth Bisignano – Co-Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Maya Roth Bisignano, Co-Founder of Uncommon Charter High School, joined Uncommon Schools in 2008. Prior to founding Uncommon Charter High School, Dr. Roth taught English for ten years. She started her teaching career at Frederick Douglass Academy in Harlem where she taught 7th grade English. Following that role, she became one of the founding English teachers at Brooklyn Preparatory High School. Dr. Roth received her B.A. in English with minors in Education and Music from Ithaca College and her M.A. in Educational Theatre from New York University. She recently earned her Ed.D. from Teachers College, Columbia University in Curriculum and Teaching with a focus in Educational Policy.

Minnie Setty – Co-Director of Operations
Minnie Setty, Co-Founder of Uncommon Charter High School, joined Uncommon Schools in 2006 as the Associate Director of Operations. Prior to joining Uncommon Schools, Ms. Setty worked as a management consultant at Bain & Company, advising companies on strategic and organizational issues. While at Bain & Company, she also started the San Francisco chapter of Inspire, a volunteer organization which provides consulting services to local nonprofits. Ms. Setty received a B.S. in Computer Science with a minor in Economics from Stanford University.

Erin Stark – Special Education Coordinator
This year, Erin is joining the Uncommon Charter High School as their first Special Education Coordinator/Teacher. Ms. Stark spent the last six years as a teacher at Brooklyn Preparatory High School. For the first three years Ms. Stark was the Special Education teacher in the 9-12th grade mixed general and special education English classes. To gain a more fundamental understanding of curriculum development and classroom management, she moved into the 9th grade English teacher role and continued to co-teach one section of special education. During that time, she won a Fund for Teachers grant to study Latin in Rome, Italy to develop a Latin-based vocabulary curriculum and a grant from the Goldie Anna Awards for Excellence to support her work in the field of Collaborative Team Teaching. She has received training in the Wilson Language program and Mel Levine's Schools Attuned. Ms. Stark became a NYC Teaching Fellow in 2005, after working for several years in development at The Posse Foundation and the Alliance Theatre Company. She received an Excellence in Teaching and Learning award from Long Island University, where she received her MS in Special Education in 2007.

Maureen Tierney – AP US History Teacher
Maureen Tierney is excited to be part of Uncommon Charter High School as the AP United States History teacher. After earning her B.A. in History from Boston University, Maureen moved westward and completed a Masters in Education from Stanford University. She taught History, Psychology, and ESL for four years at South San Francisco High School in California. Prior to coming to UCHS this year, Maureen taught writing and English to university freshmen in Istanbul, Turkey.

Greg Tsien – Geometry and Algebra II Teacher
Greg Tsien is excited to join the Uncommon Charter High School as a Mathematics Teacher. After graduating from Stanford University with a B.S. in electrical engineering, Mr. Tsien worked as a project manager at Johnson and Johnson’s Tylenol manufacturing facility and as a community organizer on the Obama campaign. In 2009, Mr. Tsien joined Teach for America and taught Geometry and Algebra I at Ida B. Wells High school in San Francisco. At Ida B. Wells, Mr Tsien enjoyed challenging his students to think critically, organizing an egg drop, and testing his students’ balsa wood bridges.

Eric Washington – Physical Education Teacher
Before joining Uncommon Charter High School, Eric Washington served his country for six years in the United States Marine Corps and also obtained a B.A. in Business Administration. Instead of returning to his hometown of Washington D.C., Mr. Washington moved to New York to start his career. He found his calling with the Center for Family Life as a Sports Specialist which led to the creation of Full Court Fitness for children and teens. Mr. Washington is also a Certified Fitness Trainer, group fitness instructor and workshop facilitator who spends countless hours educating people on how to live a healthier lifestyle.