American Indian Model Schools
Under the leadership of Ben Chavis (Lumbee), a Native American professor, AIPCS students made considerable progress in academic scores from 2000 to 2007, and enrollment increased at the school. The first middle school, AIPCS, received national recognition in 2007. Some of Chavis's disciplinary methods and his treatment of students and teachers generated controversy, and he resigned as principal in 2007. But the board voted to maintain him in an influential executive role at the school and with the model school system. In 2012 Chavis ended his ties with the charter system (although his children remained as students) and returned to his home state of North Carolina.
Amir Abo-Shaeer
Amir Muhsin Abo-Shaeer (born March 20, 1972) is an American teacher and mechanical engineer. In 2001, during his first year of teaching, he established the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy (DPEA) on the Dos Pueblos High School campus. In addition to being the Director of the DPEA, he teaches physics, engineering, robotics, machining and manufacturing. His focused outreach efforts have yielded 50% female student enrollment in the DPEA. He also ran FRC Team 1717 as part of the academy program. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2010. He is the first high school teacher to win the award, as well as the first FIRST mentor to win the award for work relating to FIRST robotics.