Charlotte
Reid Park Academy
Mentor Principal: Mary Sturge

“Sustainability is not good enough; New Leaders is about radical change in the name of students.”
Erica is a member of the third New Leaders cohort in Charlotte. She is a Resident Principal at Reid Park Academy, supporting the dynamic work that principal Mary Sturge and her team have begun. Erica is excited to join the team as Reid Park Academy transitions from a K-5 school to a school serving PreK-8 students.

Prior to joining New Leaders, Erica served as a program director at Teach For America – Charlotte ensuring that 32 first- and second-year teachers serving in 19 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools achieved significant gains with their students. Erica was a 2008 Teach For America Charlotte corps member and taught Geometry, Algebra II, Tech Math and Advanced Functions and Modeling at Olympic Renaissance High School. While teaching at Olympic Renaissance, Erica increased standardized test scores by 78% in Algebra II and 54% in Geometry. She says, “I felt so fulfilled seeing the joy in my students and the impact I had on their lives as a teacher that I was inspired to make the same happen for a school of students.” She decided to become a school leader because she saw that consistent great instruction school-wide is only possible when a strong principal is in place.

Erica grew up in Columbus, Ohio and attended Columbus Public Schools. A proud Buckeye, Erica graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Arts in textiles and clothing and a minor in business administration.