Founder and Superintendent,
Dr. Monica Bomengen
I became a teacher in 1985 via alternative certification. My teaching career took me from suburban Atlanta to a rural community college in western North Carolina to the newly urbanized mill towns of central Massachusetts, and to every grade level from seventh through college undergraduate. The high point of my teaching experience was my attainment of National Board Certification in 2000. Fatefully, this was also the year that I launched the next phase of my education journey by becoming a high school department chair. I eventually worked my way up to assistant principal and principal positions, and along the way I returned to my home state of North Carolina to lead one of the five remaining K-12 public schools there. From there, I went on to Atlanta and joined SIATech as principal of the high school at the Atlanta Job Corps Center. After being promoted to East Coast Director of Education Services for SIATech and spending two years in that position, I left to launch Schools21, an educational management organization and consulting company.
My educational background is filled with a variety of learning experiences. I graduated from Western Carolina University with a bachelor’s degree in English. Seton Hall University was where I earned my master’s degree in school administration. I finished my doctorate in educational leadership in 2008 at Nova Southeastern University. As I mentioned before, I earned National Board Certification in 2000. One of the most significant learning experiences I have had was the completion of the Building Excellent Schools fellowship in charter school leadership at the Pioneer Institute in Boston. I have visited the KIPP Academy in New York and met KIPP’s co-founder, David Levin. Another outstanding charter school I have visited is Frederick Douglass Academy, also in New York, where I met Dr. Lorraine Monroe. I also have visited Providence, Rhode Island to tour The Met high school and meet its founder, Dennis Littky. After becoming a principal I graduated from the Principals Executive Program at the James B. Hunt Institute for Educational Leadership in Chapel Hill, NC. I have served as a district trainer for The New Teacher Project, a curriculum consultant for the nationally recognized Roxbury Preparatory Charter School in Boston, and an instructional consultant for the Massachusetts Department of Education. All of these experiences have shaped me as an instructional leader and brought me to Schools21, where I have been fortunate to be able to apply the skills I have gained over the years.
Although I grew up in the Appalachian South, I come from a long line of teachers and was the fourth generation of my family to attend college. I have seen firsthand the power of education to open doors and provide choices. My mission in life is to help teachers develop their skills. In that way, I am able to benefit students far beyond my own classroom that I left reluctantly so long ago. Although I am now “Dr. Bomengen,” national consultant, I loved my years as “Mrs. B,” English teacher.
