New Principal Announcement: Citizens Leadership Academy Southeast

Dear CLAS Family,

I hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy in these turbulent times. My name is Emily Rogoff and I am thrilled to introduce myself as the incoming principal of Citizens Leadership Academy Southeast for the 2020-2021 school year.

I come to CLAS with eight years of experience in the education world. I began my journey as a high school teacher in New Orleans, LA and a middle school teacher in Charlottesville, VA. I then attended Harvard’s Graduate School of Education to study Education Policy and Management, and returned to Cleveland to serve for two years as Dean of Academics at Lorain High School. I am so excited to join the Breakthrough network, and I am honored to continue building upon the foundation that Ms. Roy and her team worked so hard to create this year.

My excitement, however, is tempered with the awareness that this is an incredibly challenging time for our country, and the Black community in particular. CLAS strives to be an anti-racist community, meaning that we speak and act against racial injustice. The murders of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and countless other black and brown individuals are the result of the racist systems that make up our nation, and we must work to disrupt the status quo. This is why CLAS is determined to develop our students and staff into courageous, empathic, critical-thinkers who use their voices for change.

In closing, the opportunity to serve as your principal represents a dream come true for me. I look forward to being a partner with you in your child’s education, and am available to speak over the phone about how to best support your scholar this year.

Sincerely,