Standing in Solidarity: A Message from the Senior Leadership Team
Dear FAmily,
We stand together as we process our pain and outrage around witnessing yet another senseless murder of a Black American. Together, we mourn the losses of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and countless more Black Americans who have died at the hands of white people and police.
To be clear: Foundation Academies condemns racism, discrimination, and injustice against Black Americans. We ALL must do the internal work required to ensure that our mission, goals, and practices are, and must remain, ACTIVELY anti-racist. Claiming ignorance doesn’t permit complacency. If we want real change, we all need to be the change and THIS requires action.
As a result, Foundation Academies is conducting a circumspect examination of our systems to see how our practices align – or fall short of – our goals and values around diversity, equity, and inclusion for our Black staff, students, families, volunteers, boards, council, and community partners. We hold ourselves accountable and are committed to ensuring that our words and actions live up to our greatest ideals.
We are privileged to work alongside exceptional Black staff members, families, supporters, and community members who continue to lead us forward in achieving our mission to prepare ALL students for the nation’s finest colleges and universities. The Brilliant and Resilient students we serve continue to defy the odds during a global pandemic, as well as a time of historic social unrest. It is because of this grit and resilience that we are confident in our assertion that our students are the brilliant young leaders of the future; living proof that education is the key to rooting out ignorance and creating a more just world, and we couldn’t be more excited to follow their lead.
We stand in solidarity with our students, staff, families, supporters, Trenton community members, and others who are actively exposing racism, demanding justice, and protesting on behalf of the rights of Black Americans because Black Lives Matter. Black Children Matter. Black Futures Matter.
In solidarity,
The Senior Leadership Team
Graig Weiss, CEO, Foundation Academies
Sheria McRae, Chief Academic Officer, Foundation Academies
Natasia Cooper, Principal, Foundation Academy Primary School
Venetia Birchmore, Principal, Foundation Academy Intermediate School
Angela Joyner, Principal, Foundation Academy Middle School
Melissa Campbell, Principal, Foundation Collegiate Academy
Graig Weiss served as the Chief Executive Officer of Foundation Academies from 2014-2022. He began 5 years before as Middle School Principal. A 2003 Teach for America corps member, Mr. Weiss taught Math and Science in the Bronx and the Dominican Republic prior to becoming an administrator and was selected as Teacher of the Year in 2007.
Prior to entering the education field, Mr. Weiss worked in the financial services sector with Cambridge Associates, LLC in Boston, MA. He holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Accounting from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master of Science in Teaching from Fordham University, and a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from the University of Scranton.