By recruiting and training excellent teachers and placing them in the nation’s highest-need communities, Teach For America has built a movement that impacts both short- and long-term needs. At a time when the achievement gap between students in affluent school districts and those in under resourced districts is so wide, Teach For America is showing our nation’s children that they have not been forgotten.![]()
- John W. Thompson, Chairman and CEO, Symantec Corporation
This year, a corps of more than 200 of the nation’s most promising future leaders are teaching in our city’s lowest-income classrooms as a part of Teach For America • Bay Area. They are working to ensure their students have the educational opportunities they deserve. Our alumni are a leadership force, working from within education and every professional sector to effect broader change. Together they are helping us make educational equity a reality in the Bay Area. Learn about living and teaching in the Bay Area.
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Executive Director |
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Jacquelyn Ackeifi (Bay Area Corps '07) |
As an undergraduate, Jacquelyn spent a lot of time theorizing about different contemporary social problems. “I loved the challenge of deconstructing concepts related to inequality, justice, and opportunity,” she said. Nevertheless, she felt that simply thinking about things could only go so far, and she wanted to immerse herself in an issue that concerned her. “I can clearly see that I have made the correct choice in applying to be a Teach For America corps member,” she commented. “Everything that I had said I wanted has already arrived in quantities far greater than I could have expected, and for that I am grateful.
Bay Area: Our Impact on Students and Schools Today
| School Year | Corps Members | Students Reached |
|---|---|---|
| 2006-07 | 158 | 13,430 |
| 2007-08 | 200 | 17,000 |
| 2009-10 | 360* | 30,600* |
*projected |
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Principal Satisfaction
*"Teach For America 2007 National Principal Survey,” Policy Studies Associates, July 2007.
Impact on Student Achievement
According to a highly regarded study by Mathematica Policy Research, corps members outpaced fully certified and veteran
teachers in their schools in moving their students ahead academically. Read national results.
Student Profile
Bay Area: Corps Member Placement
| Assignment | # of Corps Members | % of Corps |
|---|---|---|
| Mathematics | 28 | 14% |
| Science | 33 | 16.5% |
| Special Education | 34 | 17% |
| Social Studies | 9 | 4.5% |
| English | 40 | 20% |
| Elementary | 46 | 23% |
| Bilingual | 10 | 5% |
| Total | 200 | 100% |
*Percentages are rounded and may not add up to 100 percent.
Characteristics of the 2008 Corps
| Corps Profile | Top alma maters by market share* |
|---|---|
| Average GPA: 3.6 | Spelman College: 16% |
| Average SAT: 1320 | Morehouse College, Williams College, Yale University: 11% |
| Held leadership roles on campus: 95% | Duke University, Georgetown University, University of Chicago, Wake Forest University, Wesleyan University: 10% |
| People of color: 29% | Amherst College, Harvard University, Haverford University, Notre Dame University, Princeton University, Rice University: 9% |
*Percentage of senior classes who applied to Teach For America
Fostering Alumni Leadership for Systemic Change
As the number of corps members grows, so does our alumni base. By 2010, we will have over 1,400 Teach For America • Bay Area alumni pursuing professional careers and impacting educational reform from every sector.
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David Silver (Los Angeles '95) |
David Silver is the principal of Think College Now (TCN), an elementary school in Oakland, California. Working in collaboration with parents, educators, and community members, David was able to found TCN in 2003, bringing Oakland its first new school building in 30 years. TCN started out as K-2, adding a grade each year, and are now at full capacity with 255 students. Last year, TCN students' Academic Performance Index scores showed the greatest improvement of any school in the 150-school Oakland district.

Growing Our Impact: Funding Needs, 2007-2010
Each additional recruit is another dedicated teacher for children growing up in low-income communities in the Bay Area, and another talented leader with the insight and commitment necessary to sustain the reform efforts underway, which is critical to the ongoing vitality of our region.
| Year | Corps Size | Revenue Needs |
|---|---|---|
| 2007-08 | 200 | $3.3 million |
| 2008-09 | 285* | $6 million* |
| 2009-10 | 360* | $7.3 million* |
* projected |
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We are grateful to have many supporters who generously contribute to our movement in the Bay Area. The foundations, corporations and individuals listed below have made it possible for Teach For America to continue to recruit, select, train, and support teachers who are working to eliminate educational inequity in our city.
| Bay Area Regional Advisory Board |
|---|
| Brian Dexheimer Executive Vice President and Chief Sales and Marketing Officer Seagate Technology Scotts Valley, CA |
| Jason Fish (Chair) Meritage Group San Francisco, CA |
| Arthur Rock Founder Davis & Rock Arthur Rock & Co. San Francisco, CA |
| Sharon Saunders Volunteer & Advocate for Education San Francisco |
| Sandi Thompson Attorney Woodside, CA |
| Mary Vascellaro Community Volunteer in Education and Arts San Francisco |
To learn more about the corps member experience in the Bay Area, please click here.
To learn more about staff opportunities at Teach For America • Bay Area, or to request additional information about Teach For America • Bay Area, please contact:
Jonathan Lew
Assistant to the Executive Director
101 New Montgomery Street
5th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
p 415-659-0800 x2434, f 415-659-0850
jonathan.lew@teachforamerica.org
To support Teach For America • Bay Area with an individual gift or donation, please contact:
Janis Ortega
Managing Director, Development
101 New Montgomery Street
5th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
p 415-659-0800 x2410, f 415-659-0850
janis.ortega@teachforamerica.org
To request information about corporate and foundation support or corporate involvement with Teach For America • Bay Area, please contact:
Amy Rodriguez
Director, Corporate and Foundations Giving
101 New Montgomery Street
5th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
p 415-659-0800 x2409, f 415-659-0850
amy.rodriguez@teachforamerica.org
To learn more about corps member placement and certification, please contact:
Kana Osaki-Greenawalt
Managing Director, District Strategy
101 New Montgomery Street
5th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
p 415-659-0800 x2428, f 415-659-0850
kana.osaki@teachforamerica.org
To learn more about alumni affairs and school leadership, please contact:
Talitha Green Ling
Director, Alumni Affairs
101 New Montgomery Street
5th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
p 415-659-0800 x2416, f 415-659-0850
talitha.green@teachforamerica.org
Eric Scroggins began as executive director of Teach For America • Bay Area in August 2006, where he has overseen the strategy, development and execution of one of the most ambitious regional growth efforts. In the past two years, he led a 118% increase in the Bay Area corps size, negotiating new partnerships with San Francisco Unified and San Jose Unified and re-negotiating existing partnerships to allow for growth; in this time corps satisfaction with programmatic support reached new highs, and funding is on track to more than triple from $2 million to over $6 million, making the Bay Area one of a handful of Teach For America regions fully supported locally. Eric previously served as the executive director of Teach for America • St. Louis and as a program director at Teach For America • New York. He graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Washington University in St. Louis in 2001. As a New York City corps member teaching 8th grade science in the South Bronx, Eric implemented a rigorous Regents curriculum for his students, who outperformed high-school students in the same district on the year-end exam