{"id":3099,"date":"2021-04-28T13:33:01","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T13:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/?p=3099"},"modified":"2025-02-10T13:28:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T18:28:00","slug":"from-brooklyn-to-abu-dhabi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/2021\/04\/28\/from-brooklyn-to-abu-dhabi\/","title":{"rendered":"From Brooklyn to Abu Dhabi"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kadence-column3099_dd4f70-82 > .kt-inside-inner-col{padding-right:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);padding-left:var(--global-kb-spacing-lg, 3rem);}.kadence-column3099_dd4f70-82 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column3099_dd4f70-82 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column3099_dd4f70-82 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column3099_dd4f70-82 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column3099_dd4f70-82 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column3099_dd4f70-82 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column3099_dd4f70-82{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column3099_dd4f70-82 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 991px){.kadence-column3099_dd4f70-82 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column3099_dd4f70-82 dynamic-main-col\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><style>.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3099_f585e9-f1, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3099_f585e9-f1[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading3099_f585e9-f1\"]{font-size:1.5rem;line-height:30px;font-weight:500;font-style:italic;font-family:proxima-nova;color:#808080;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3099_f585e9-f1 mark.kt-highlight, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3099_f585e9-f1[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading3099_f585e9-f1\"] mark.kt-highlight{font-style:normal;color:#f76a0c;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;}.wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3099_f585e9-f1 img.kb-inline-image, .wp-block-kadence-advancedheading.kt-adv-heading3099_f585e9-f1[data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading3099_f585e9-f1\"] img.kb-inline-image{width:150px;vertical-align:baseline;}<\/style>\n<p class=\"kt-adv-heading3099_f585e9-f1 wp-block-kadence-advancedheading\" data-kb-block=\"kb-adv-heading3099_f585e9-f1\">Sometimes, on the way to a successful career, it\u2019s necessary to adapt, change course, or pivot \u2014 to use a vogue word. That\u2019s what this WilmU alumna did.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image3099_4f3c15-75.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .kb-image3099_4f3c15-75 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{max-width:300px;width:100%;}.wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image3099_4f3c15-75.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image3099_4f3c15-75 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{align-self:unset;}.kb-image3099_4f3c15-75 figure{max-width:300px;}.kb-image3099_4f3c15-75 .image-is-svg, .kb-image3099_4f3c15-75 .image-is-svg img{width:100%;}.kb-image3099_4f3c15-75 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image3099_4f3c15-75\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Unknown-15.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-3104\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Unknown-15.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Unknown-15-250x188.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption><em>Dr. Lorrain Mott-Baptiste<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Lorrain Mott-Baptiste has made two significant course corrections on her way to success \u2014 <em>pivots<\/em> that have brought her to the unlikeliest of places \u2014 Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, where for two years she has been a leader in the start-up of a charter school system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She began her journey as Lorrain Mott, born in Carriacou, a Caribbean island, to bi-racial parents who moved to Brooklyn in 1972, seeking a better life. Her Grenadian mother, Louise, was a registered nurse, and her English father, William, was a machinist. They quickly found jobs, Louise working long hours in a nearby hospital while William held a factory job and later became a security guard at the World Trade Center. They soon afforded a townhouse in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn, and Lorrain and her older brother attended public school there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At Meyer Levin Junior High, she got involved in the performing arts and successfully auditioned for The High School of Performing Arts on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. There, alongside Chastity Bono, Jennifer Aniston, Reno Wilson, and other celebrities and celebrities\u2019 children, she caught the acting bug. And no wonder. Known today as Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music &amp; Art and Performing Arts, the school spawned the Broadway, film, and TV musical \u201cFame.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI was into drama \u2014 mostly method acting,\u201d she says. And she would have pursued that dream, but family considerations intervened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy mother was never comfortable with my traveling to Manhattan to attend school,\u201d says Dr. Mott-Baptiste. \u201cAs an immigrant and culturally my mom was afraid of something happening to me, becoming a statistic and not being successful. The idea was that if I failed, she failed. All the effort that it took to come to America would have been in vain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>No problem. She quickly pivoted, enrolling in Brooklyn College in 1986. \u201cIt gave my mother comfort knowing I was close to home,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With jobs at a hospital and as a substitute teacher at a nearby high school, she worked her way through college, earning a bachelor\u2019s degree and then a master\u2019s, both in Political Science. At that point she was considering law school. But then marriage and eventually, twin daughters, intervened. \u201cThat was pretty much the end of law school,\u201d she says. So she became basically a stay-at-home mom while her husband moved up the ranks of hospital administration in Teaneck, New Jersey, and Durham, North Carolina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was in New Jersey that Dr. Mott-Baptiste made her second and final pivot \u2014 into education. She had enjoyed her time as a substitute teacher while attending college, and teaching would free up her summers \u2014 a perk for a young mother \u2014 so it seemed like a logical next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She began a peripatetic and often challenging journey into her new profession by teaching history at Princeton Country Day School, which did not require certification. But when the family moved to North Carolina, she discovered that she would need certification if she wanted to teach. To get the credentials, Dr. Mott-Baptiste returned to familiar surroundings \u2014 her alma mater. So every week for three semesters, she took a 4 a.m. flight from Raleigh-Durham Airport to Brooklyn (\u201cJet Blue, $100 round trip, plus points\u201d) and stayed in an aunt\u2019s basement while attending classes. Once she earned the certificate, she taught social studies at a middle school in Durham\u2019s Research Triangle.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image3099_ca9edb-65.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .kb-image3099_ca9edb-65 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{max-width:300px;width:100%;}.wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image3099_ca9edb-65.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image3099_ca9edb-65 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{align-self:unset;}.kb-image3099_ca9edb-65 figure{max-width:300px;}.kb-image3099_ca9edb-65 .image-is-svg, .kb-image3099_ca9edb-65 .image-is-svg img{width:100%;}.kb-image3099_ca9edb-65 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image3099_ca9edb-65\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"360\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Unknown-39-360x480.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-3102\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Unknown-39-360x480.jpg 360w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Unknown-39-188x250.jpg 188w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Unknown-39.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 360px) 100vw, 360px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2011, her husband was named COO of St. Francis Healthcare in Wilmington, the family moved to Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, and Dr. Mott-Baptiste was hired by Universal Audenried Charter High School in Philadelphia to teach social studies, geography, and African-American history and culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That also was the year she enrolled in the Ed.D. program at WilmU. She says it was curiosity and a thirst for learning, not a desire to increase her salary, that prompted her to pursue a doctorate. Still relatively new to teaching, she says she felt \u201cas if something was happening that I didn\u2019t know about, so I was curious to see what they were doing and teaching in the doctoral program. Thank goodness they took me in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus began a demanding five years leading to her degree. She gives much credit to Dr. Linda Frazer, a full professor now retired from the College of Education. Dr. Mott-Baptiste calls Dr. Frazer \u201ca tough lady\u201d who helped her through her dissertation and mock defense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cDr. Mott-Baptiste was a delightful student,\u201d says Dr. Frazer.&nbsp; \u201cCheerful in the face of difficulty and persistent in getting things done. She was eager and enthusiastic about learning about new people and new cultures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After WilmU, Dr. Baptiste earned a post-doctoral certificate in Improving Schools, the Art of Leadership, from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her experience in Cambridge compared favorably to her time in Wilmington. \u201cIt was thought-provoking at Harvard,\u201d she says, \u201cbut very similar to what I learned at WilmU, where I got a fantastic education on a working woman\u2019s budget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During those years, she dealt with other trials \u2014 a divorce in 2014, a diagnosis of breast cancer (now in remission), and demanding new positions in Pennsylvania\u2019s Chester Upland School District. After serving as a middle school social studies teacher in the district, she was promoted in 2016 and assigned to coach and train 150 teachers in effective methodologies and curriculum design. Her leadership led to a significant reduction in student disruption and cut security staff visits to classrooms by 85% while increasing student achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image3099_d35691-23.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .kb-image3099_d35691-23 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{max-width:300px;width:100%;}.wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image3099_d35691-23.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image3099_d35691-23 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{align-self:unset;}.kb-image3099_d35691-23 figure{max-width:300px;}.kb-image3099_d35691-23 .image-is-svg, .kb-image3099_d35691-23 .image-is-svg img{width:100%;}.kb-image3099_d35691-23 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image3099_d35691-23\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"495\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-04-at-9.18.18-AM-495x480.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-3106\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-04-at-9.18.18-AM-495x480.jpg 495w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-04-at-9.18.18-AM-250x243.jpg 250w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Screen-Shot-2021-03-04-at-9.18.18-AM.jpg 500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 495px) 100vw, 495px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The following year she was named assistant principal and tasked with turning around an understaffed middle school with 260 special needs students. The threat of closure hung over the school, but she developed student activities and oversaw school audits, resulting in a dramatic reduction in fighting and bullying while suspensions dropped by 50%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By April of 2019, her daughters had graduated from college and were starting on their own professional careers, and Dr. Mott-Baptiste was looking to move up the administrative ladder in education. That\u2019s when she spotted what amounted to an ad on LinkedIn, posted by an old friend, about the need for leaders of the first charter school system in Abu Dhabi. She contacted her friend, then sent in her r\u00e9sum\u00e9, and almost immediately received an interview date. She drove two hours from her home in Middletown, Delaware, to Manhattan, where several representatives of the nascent charter school system conducted the interview in a hotel conference room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She says they asked many questions, \u201cbut with my WilmU education, my background of teach-ing in a tough public school, and the Harvard piece, it all clicked, and I was able to answer all their questions. We had a great conversation. I was impressed with them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her prospective employers felt likewise. \u201cI got a call by the time I reached the Lincoln Tunnel, in bumper-to-bumper traffic,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Two months later, she was in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n\n\n<style>.kb-image3099_05dbb2-91.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .kb-image3099_05dbb2-91 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{max-width:300px;width:100%;}.wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image3099_05dbb2-91.kb-image-is-ratio-size, .wp-block-kadence-column > .kt-inside-inner-col > .kb-image3099_05dbb2-91 .kb-image-is-ratio-size{align-self:unset;}.kb-image3099_05dbb2-91 figure{max-width:300px;}.kb-image3099_05dbb2-91 .image-is-svg, .kb-image3099_05dbb2-91 .image-is-svg img{width:100%;}.kb-image3099_05dbb2-91 .kb-image-has-overlay:after{opacity:0.3;}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-image kb-image3099_05dbb2-91\"><figure class=\"alignright size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.test.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Unknown-40.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"kb-img wp-image-3103\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Unknown-40.jpg 500w, https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Unknown-40-250x188.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Located on an island in the Persian Gulf, the city of Abu Dhabi has an estimated population of 1.48 million, and an area of 972 square kilometers, making it the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates (after Dubai).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. Mott-Baptiste is chief of Evaluation for the Department of Education and Knowledge and a key member of a leadership team developing a $2 billion charter school program for the country\u2019s school system, with the goal of delivering measurable improvements to student performance nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are 15 charter schools in the program, with the potential for seven more. Dr. Mott-Baptiste directs the evaluation, strategy, and planning for the schools, including methodologies, policies, processes, performance metrics, and reporting protocols. She also has led evaluations and training workshops for CEOs, operators, and principals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like almost everyone else in the world, she has seen her job change due to COVID-19. \u201cIt shifted from evaluation of traditional brick-and-mortar learning, then to distance learning, and now to a hybrid of the two,\u201d she said late last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Introducing charter schools in Abu Dhabi proved to be a wakeup call for many parents, she says. \u201cStandardized tests showed parents who thought their kids were doing well that they really weren\u2019t doing well, and that helped us get buy-in from them. Much of the country is affluent, and many children attend private schools, but they are ridiculously expensive, starting at about $48,000 a year. Our pitch was that with a charter school you\u2019re getting a private school education for free.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite all her responsibilities, \u201cI love Abu Dhabi,\u201d she says, adding that she has learned to adjust to the slower pace of life there. \u201cWith the load I was carrying at WilmU, my time management skills even impressed me. There wasn\u2019t a moment that wasn\u2019t taken up with something imperative, and that was day-after-day, year-after-year. And once I finished the doctorate, I was still on that treadmill and sometimes it was necessary and sometimes it wasn\u2019t. But I\u2019ve learned to slow down, smell the roses, tap into my creativity again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI like to crochet,\u201d she adds. \u201cI\u2019ve made two sweaters; I call them my COVID sweaters.\u201d Speaking of creativity, she says she has not completely lost the acting bug. \u201cIt\u2019s sort of on my bucket list. After Abu Dhabi, who knows?\u201d&nbsp;Which would indicate that perhaps there\u2019s yet another pivot in Dr. Lorrain Mott-Baptiste\u2019s future.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sometimes, on the way to a successful career, it\u2019s necessary to adapt, change course, or pivot \u2014 to use a vogue word. That\u2019s what this&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3107,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[135],"tags":[621],"class_list":["post-3099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-magazine","tag-magazine-spring-2021"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":135,"label":"MAGAZINE"}],"post_tag":[{"value":621,"label":"Magazine Spring 2021"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/GettyImages-157647128-720x480.jpg",720,480,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Eric Mumford","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/author\/eric\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":135,"name":"MAGAZINE","slug":"magazine","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":692,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":431,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":135,"category_count":431,"category_description":"","cat_name":"MAGAZINE","category_nicename":"magazine","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":621,"name":"Magazine Spring 2021","slug":"magazine-spring-2021","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1178,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":23,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3099"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15581,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3099\/revisions\/15581"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3107"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.wilmu.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}