School Leaders

• Katherine Baker

  Katherine Baker is the principal of Elm City College Preparatory School grades K-2. For the last four years, Ms. Baker worked on the Achievement First Greenfield school model design for elementary school. Prior to that role, Ms. Baker was the founding principal of Achievement First Bridgeport Academy, after serving for many years as an Achievement First teacher and academic dean. Before joining Achievement First, she was a second grade teacher in Compton, California. Ms. Baker earned her bachelor’s degree in history from Yale University, and she holds master’s degrees in elementary education and school leadership from Loyola Marymount University and Columbia University Teachers College, respectively.

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  Andrew Poole

  Andrew Poole is the principal of Elm City College Prep Elementary School grades 3-6. Mr. Poole originally joined the Elm City College Prep Elementary team in 2004 as a founding kindergarten teacher because of his desire to work with a group of like-minded people who were launching a high-performing school with the goal to close the achievement gap in Connecticut. He taught kindergarten and second grade before becoming an instructional coach and academic dean. Prior to working at Elm City College Preparatory, Mr. Poole lived and worked in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he worked for the nonprofit organization Sports4Kids, now known as PlayWorks, and taught first grade. He was the recipient of the Reach-A-Star Foundation Community Service Award in 2003. Mr. Poole holds a B.A. in government from Connecticut College and an M.S.Ed. from Teacher U at Hunter College.