Christina Lucas-Sheffield Featured in a Recent Teach For America Spotlight

Christina Lucas-Sheffield, Headmaster of Teleos Preparatory

Nestled in downtown Phoenix sits Teleos Preparatory Academy, a charter school which brings a high-quality classical education to low-income students. The school is led by Christina Lucas-Sheffield. Through her time of teaching there as a corps member to eventually becoming headmaster in 2015, Christina has operated with an incredible sense of determination. She says, “Be driven by purpose, hold on to the people and things that inspire you and make you great.”

Christina emphasizes with her staff and her school the importance of creating change through care and understanding of all students and families. The most valuable lesson she learned in the corps was empathy and building relationships and she still operates with those principals today. “We can’t forget the importance of relational aspects, we can’t forget why we do the work that we do and why it matters. At Teleos, we talk about data, about building character, and about culture. But most importantly, we get to know our students and families. We honor them as people first, then look at the academic pieces that are important to student success.” This attention to students and families is working. Last year, Teleos outperformed other schools in the area on state test scores.

Looking forward, Christina is optimistic about education. She firmly believes there are people in place now who are actively seeking goodness and doing right by students. She also believes we are on a continuous path to improvement and she is excited to be a part of innovation in Arizona. “I am a servant who acts on faith and takes a purposeful walk, we should also encourage our students to do the same thing.”