Elementary 

Eric Bethel

The son of life-long educators, Eric Bethel began his teaching career with DCPS in 2002 where he taught fourth, fifth, and sixth grade at Marie Reed Learning Center. Over the past four school years, Eric’s students averaged a proficiency rating of 76% per DC CAS. During the 2009-2010 school year, his students outgrew their peers by six DC CAS point with 48% proficient and 36% advanced.

Eric is a founding member of the District of Columbia’s first team of teachers to engage in Lesson Study, an ongoing teacher-led professional development model. He has also been a member of presenting teams at professional meetings including the AFT National Conference and Chicago National Lesson Study Conference.

In 2010, Eric was selected to serve as a Teacher Central to Leadership Fellow at DCPS Central Office. He is a member of the National Teacher Advisory Council of the National Academies, a group of advisors to the nation on science, engineering, and medicine. Eric is committed to learning innovative teaching methods and spent the summer of 2009 traveling throughout Southeast Asia researching effective mathematics instruction.

Eric enjoys athletics and the life skills and learning opportunities connected with participation in sports. A long-time basketball player and coach, he plans to continue to use sports as a tool to connect youth with education.

Eric holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and a Master of Arts in Elementary Education, both from Mount Saint Mary’s University.

Eric will be serving as a senior master educator for elementary and art.

Heidi Foley

Heidi Foley joins the master educator team after nineteen years in the classroom, teaching grades 2,3,4 and 6 in Los Angeles Unified School District and Magnolia School District in Anaheim, California.  In addition to her classroom duties, she also served as a Teacher on Special Assignment as an Instructional Coach for 4-6 Teachers, and as a Literacy Coach for K-3 Teachers.

Recognized for her passion for science education, Heidi was selected as the first Science Education Fellow for Beckman Foundations’ @Science program. In this role, she designed and provided professional development in pedagogy and science content for Science Lead Teachers and participating districts across the state of California. 

Outside of the classroom, Heidi has also worked with teachers at the collegiate level. She served as Department Chair of Graduate Studies in Education at Hope International University, where she taught courses in Math and Science Methods, revised curriculum,  and supervised the successful accreditation process for the Teacher Credential Program.

Most recently, she spent the past three years in New Mexico, working as a Reading First Program Specialist for the State of New Mexico, and as a K-12 Instructional Facilitator for Ruidoso Municipal Schools.

She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Design from UCLA, and a Master of Arts in Teaching Science from California State University, Fullerton.

Heidi will be serving as a master educator for elementary.

Ryann Gates

Prior to joining the master educator team, Ryann Gates taught early childhood and lower elementary grades at Ephriam G. Kimball Elementary School and John Burroughs Education Campus here in DCPS. She also taught sixth grade JumpStart during “Saturday Scholars” and summer school sessions. While in the classroom, Ryann’s students made significant proficiency gains in reading and math.

In 2008, Ryann became a literacy professional developer at Burroughs, where she provided job-embedded professional development for teachers of all grades. Immediately prior to joining the ME team, Ryann worked as an instructional coach at River Terrace Elementary School.

During Ryann’s teaching career, she has held the position of grade level chair and Local Reconstructing Team member. She has assisted in planning and writing the S.T.E.M. curriculum for first grade and was on the principal’s leadership team, where she helped create the school improvement plan.

Ryann has also been a model teacher for Trinity University and a mentor teacher for American University. She has been the recipient of several awards and certificates for exceeding expectations in the classroom and as a professional developer, including being deemed Highly Effective under IMPACT. Ryann gets her passion for education from her grandparents, who were both DCPS teachers and coaches. Her daughter is also a current DCPS student.

Ryann holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Hampton University, a Master of Arts in Elementary Education from Trinity University, and is currently pursuing a graduate degree in Education Administration.

Ryann will be serving as an elementary and early childhood master educator.

Chunita Pilgrim

A native Washingtonian, product of DCPS and parent of DCPS students, Chunita Pilgrim taught first and second grade for eight years at CW Harris Elementary School in southeast DC before becoming a literacy professional developer and then instructional coach at HD Cooke Elementary School.

While teaching at CW Harris, Chunita served as a grade level chairperson for seven years, was on the school’s leadership team, and chaired the school restructuring team. She worked with the Parents as Partners Program, which is designed to bridge the gap between bilingual parents and their local school communities, and also helped to create partnerships with the Reading is Fundamental Program and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. Chunita has worked as an instructor with the American Federation of Teachers’ Educational Research and Dissemination Program, teaching beginning reading instruction to DC teachers.

Chunita received a Bachelor of Arts in English from George Washington University and a Master of Education with a concentration in Curriculum and Instruction from Regent University.

Chunita will be serving as an elementary master educator.

Matt Radigan

Matt Radigan taught elementary school in New Orleans and was a literacy intervention specialist in Washington, DC before moving out of the classroom to work as a literacy and instructional coach and elementary school counselor.

Matt has written curriculum pacing guides for elementary language arts and has trained new teachers in curriculum and planning as a literacy specialist at eight Teach for America summer training institutes. He has also planned and led professional development for elementary and middle school language arts teachers and has served as department chair and member of his principal’s leadership committee to design a school improvement plan.

As part of his work on the school improvement plan, Matt helped pilot a Response to Intervention program as a model for others in the district. Matt was selected to be part of Lead Fairfax's Counseling Leadership program and their accelerated certification cohort.

Matt earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Virginia, a Master of Arts in School Counseling from New York University, and a Master of Education in Language and Literacy from Harvard University.

Matt will be serving as a master educator for elementary.

Fran Pullen Regis

Fran Pullen Regis comes to DCPS with 23 years of teaching experience in public schools in Hopewell, Virginia. Fran has served as a grade level chairperson, mentor teacher, and curriculum evaluator. During her tenure in Hopewell, Fran developed second grade reading, writing, and math standards and served as a peer observer, working with colleagues to improve their instruction.

Fran received further training from Virginia Commonwealth University to supervise and evaluate student teachers. After her training, Fran conducted workshops on effective teaching skills for the Virginia Department of Education and for Cumberland County Public Schools in Virginia.

Fran has received numerous awards for exceeding expectations in the classroom, including the Hopewell Virginia City Schools Outstanding Teacher Award, the Rutgers-Camden University’s Public School Teacher of the Year Award, and the Prince George’s County Teacher of the Year. Fran was also a finalist for the Governor’s Teacher Recognition Program.

Fran believes that a teacher’s success is measured by each student’s success, which is a direct result of effective teaching. During her teaching career, more than 80% of her students scored at a proficient or advanced level on standardized and state testing.

Fran holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Virginia State University in Elementary Education, with a minor in Child Psychology.

Fran will be serving as an elementary master educator.

Matthew Reif

Matthew Reif served as a classroom teacher in Baltimore City and Prince George’s County, Maryland for nine years. Having taught third and fifth grade he developed a strong passion for many areas in education particularly issues concerning school reform, literacy instruction, and meeting the needs of exceptional children.

Matthew is a National Board Certified teacher in Literacy: Reading-Language Arts/Early and Middle Childhood and has provided extensive professional development opportunities to elementary reading teachers including leading workshops for The Comprehension Toolkit curricular approach to developing enhanced reading skills in elementary age students. He has also worked as a literacy instructor for The New Teacher Project, served as a job-embedded mentor to new teachers, and as a facilitator for the Prince George’s County Professional Education Induction Program.

Matthew has served as a curriculum writer on a four year project to strengthen literacy and critical thinking instruction for advanced readers. Matthew’s teaching was showcased in a chapter by Anne Goudvis in Comprehension Going Forward (2011, Heinemann). He has also been honored as a finalist for the Prince George’s County Outstanding Educator award for 2010 and received the Great Books Foundation “Great Books Great Teachers” award in 2007. Matthew has been a co-presenter with nationally known author and consultant Anne Goudvis at the 2010 International Reading Association and has presented at the 2010 Maryland State Conference on Gifted and Talented Education.

Matthew earned a Bachelor of Science in political science from the State University of New York at Albany, a Master of Science in Education and a graduate certificate in gifted education from Johns Hopkins University. He holds Maryland certificate endorsements as a reading specialist and gifted specialist. Matthew is currently pursuing a graduate degree in School Administration.

Matthew will be serving as a elementary master educator.

Maggie Thomas

Maggie Thomas taught fifth grade at Simon Elementary, sixth grade at the Arts and Technology Public Charter School, and fourth grade in the Bronx, New York before becoming a senior master educator for elementary and music. 

She recently facilitated a semester-long course on increasing effectiveness in the classroom for DCPS teachers, has presented at multiple regional and national conferences, and was a 2011 participant at the Urban School Leaders Institute at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education.  

Maggie led her students to tremendous achievement on the SAT-9 and DC-CAS. Her classes consistently scored 30-40 percentage points above the district average for both reading and math, and while only 14% of Maggie’s students were proficient at the start of the 2007-2008 school year, that number had risen to 66% as measured by the DC-CAS by the end of the year.

Maggie has served as a member of the board of trustees at the Arts and Technology Public Charter School and is a member of Who's Who Among Executive and Professional Women in Education and Research. She has been nominated for the Sue Lehmann National Award for Excellence in Teaching and was featured in the April 2009 Women’s World magazine article, “Inspiring People – Doing Good.”

Maggie earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Michigan State University and a Master of Arts in Teaching from American University. She also studied Urban and Regional Planning and Development at the University of Havana, Cuba.

Auraneittia White

Auraneittia White began her teaching career in the School District of Philadelphia teaching kindergarten through fifth grade. Later, she relocated to the Clayton County, Georgia public school system to teach language arts, social studies, and science to students in grades six through eight.

While in the classroom, Auraneittia led her students to impressive growth in both literacy and numeracy: 100% of her students achieved proficiency on the Georgia state reading and mathematics assessment and 97% achieved proficiency on the language arts exam.

Following her time as a teacher, Auraneittia worked as a Reading First literacy coach in Clayton County for three years before taking assistant principal positions at Morrow Elementary School and Adamson Middle School, both in Clayton County.

Auraneittia’s professional development interests include Reading First, data-driven instruction, behavior management, and working with exceptional students. She has a passion for serving students in urban settings and a firm commitment to the teachers who educate them.

Auraneittia has a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Temple University, a Master of Science in Reading Education from West Chester University, and a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies in Educational Leadership from Cambridge College.

Auraneittia will be serving as an elementary master educator.