Margaret Byrd is a passionate high school educator with over 20 years of urban school teaching and leadership experience. Her career is built around her mission to provide opportunities and improve outcomes for urban youth. Margaret is a life-long learner, earning multiple degrees in education as well as licensure in multiple content areas and in school and district administration.
Margaret served as academy principal at Horlick High School in Racine, Wisconsin, where she engaged small groups of teachers to personalize learning and increase student engagement. She has deep expertise in effectively engaging Opportunity Youth and is a state leader in successfully blending GED credentialing with both traditional and innovative course credit options for students at risk of not graduating from high school. Previously, Margaret spearheaded the development of effective, high-quality, out-of-school time programming, securing funding and providing supervision and management as site director for a 21st Century Community Learning Community Center in an urban high school setting. In this capacity, she added after-school tutoring, mentoring, and recreation as supports and opportunities to holistically serve the whole child.
Margaret achieved a 90% graduation rate and 60% college, career, or military placement rate among the students she served in an alternative program for struggling learners, opening the door for her to serve as student retention coordinator for Milwaukee Public Schools, where she oversaw the district’s alternative education programs and a $2.5M budget.
Expertise
- Alternative education programming serving struggling learners
- College and career readiness
- CTE school administration
Education
- MA in Education (Professional Development) – Cardinal Stritch University (WI)
- MA in American History – American Public University System (WV)
- MA in Educational Administration – University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
- BA in International Relations – University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee
- WI Dept. of Ed. Licensure: Administration (Principal) and Teaching – Social Studies, Economics, History, Political Science, Sociology, and Alternative Education
