Fordham Graduate School of Education Ed.D. students Osei Owusu-Afriyie and Seung Yu have been chosen for The Cahn Fellows Distinguished Principals Program, which seeks to improve large urban public school systems nationally by providing distinguished school leaders with advanced professional development and recognition. The program’s professional development is designed to increase leadership skills, promote retention in education, and improve student outcomes. Owusu-Afriyie and Yu serve as principals in Manhattan, at the Frederick Douglass Academy II Secondary School and Stuyvesant High School, respectively.
Educational Leadership, Administration, and Policy (ELAP) assistant professor Elizabeth Gil, Ph.D. emphasizes, “the Cahn fellowship is a wonderful opportunity for Seung and Osei to continue to expand their networks and exchange knowledge and experiences with other educational leaders and audiences nationally, as well as more locally, and to discuss and address important problems of practice.”
Owusu-Afriyie stated, “It is an honor to be a member of the 2021-22 cohort of the Cahn Fellows Distinguished Principals Program. This is an amazing opportunity to learn from, and work with, transformative educators from around the country on how to best address a problem of practice at each of our respective schools. The focus at my school is on closing the math performance gap of our middle school students receiving special education services. We are looking forward to presenting our work at the 2022 Cahn Fellows Leadership Conference next fall.”
“The Cahn fellowship is another opportunity to learn and improve on my leadership skills, surrounded by distinguished principals from across the country,” added Yu. The experience to meet, share, and learn from other principals is invaluable, particularly under the current conditions and as we navigate the challenges of COVID. The fellowship gives us a chance to connect with our peers as well as with an “ally” (a mentee leader in your own school) to find ways to improve the school and student outcomes.”
More specifically, The Cahn Fellows Distinguished Principals Program has evolved to encompass not only the principals who are selected as fellows, but has developed a clear focus on fostering a community of educators and administrators who ultimately influence the outcomes for inner-city students in their education and their approach to life. It is a continuous culture of advancement for the participants and past participants, and the program seeks to demonstrate that the success of the principals is directly reflected by the success of their students.
More About Osei Owusu-Afriyie
Osei Owusu-Afriyie has worked in education for 23 years as a teacher and administrator. As principal of the Eagle Academy of Young Men, Owusu-Afriyie led the school to earning an A on its 2008-09 progress report. In August 2010, he became principal of Frederick Douglass Academy II (FDA II) in Harlem, New York. In partnership with Teachers College, Owusu-Afriyie successfully implements a university-assisted community school model at FDA II. Despite the tremendous challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, he led FDA II to not only achieving a 92% graduation rate in 2021, but also graduating 100% of the school’s multilingual learners.
Owusu-Afriyie holds a B.A. in African-American studies from York College and advanced degrees from Pace University and Stony Brook University. He is currently a doctoral (Ed.D.) student in the Graduate School of Education’s Educational Leadership, Administration and Policy program at Fordham University.
More About Seung Yu
Seung Yu has served as the principal at Stuyvesant High School, the largest specialized high school in Manhattan, since August 2020. Throughout his career in the New York City Department of Education, he has held both school and district leadership roles. Prior to Stuyvesant, Seung served as the Senior Executive Director, Office of Postsecondary Readiness, which included the portfolio of career and technical education, college and career planning, and computer science education to support NYC public schools in strengthening the postsecondary preparation and outcomes of more than 325,000 high school-aged students each year. He was also the founding principal of the Academy for Software Engineering – a top career and technical education (CTE) school and the city’s flagship computer science high school. Seung has participated in several leadership and mentor programs, including the NYC Chancellor’s Fellowship, the Advanced Leadership Institute (ALI), Wallace Leadership Fellows Mentor Principal, and Model Principal. Prior to coming to NYC, he was the executive director of the State Education Agency K-12 Service-Learning Network in Washington, D.C., where he led the federal advocacy of K-12 school-based service learning. Seung is currently working towards an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership, Administration and Policy at Fordham University’s Graduate School of Education.
More About The Cahn Fellows Programs
The Cahn Fellows Programs were originally founded in New York City in 2002 as a result of the generosity and vision of Charles and Jane Cahn. Charles Cahn believes that by recognizing and supporting excellence in education, entire educational systems can improve. The programs’ focus is on elevating student learning and achievement, retaining and developing aspiring educational leaders, engaging principals with their peers, and building capacity through improving teacher effectiveness and school culture. The programs now serve educational leaders in cities across the country.
