About
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Norman Atkins is the co-founder and President of Relay Graduate School of Education (formerly known as Teacher U), a path-breaking new institution of higher education designed to train and develop public school teachers, initially in New York and New Jersey. Atkins is also the Founder, Board Chair, and former CEO of Uncommon Schools, a nonprofit charter management organization recognized for starting and operating among the highest performing urban schools in the nation. In 1997, he co-founded and co-led North Star Academy of Newark, one of New Jersey's very first charter schools. From 1989 to 1994, he was the Co-Executive Director of the Robin Hood Foundation in New York City. In recent years, he joined the board of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation and has traveled extensively, speaking about and consulting for global education reform efforts in Africa, India, and Brazil. He began his career as a freelance journalist, writing about education, poverty, politics, culture, and social issues for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Parenting, Family Life, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and The Boston Globe. He earned an A.B. in History from Brown University and an M.A. in Educational Administration from Columbia University Teachers College. Atkins lives with his wife, Angie, in New York City, where they are occasionally visited by their three children, two recent college graduates and one in college. He is a member of the fifth class of Aspen-Pahara Education Fellows and a Fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
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