Elaine Dent

A native of San Francisco, California Elaine Frances Dent knew at a very early age that she wanted to become a teacher. Elaine comes from a family of educators with both of her parents having each dedicated over forty years of service to public education and a sister who is an elementary administrator. Elaine attributes the successes she has had as a teacher and her resilient outlook on life to the influential lessons her parents modeled for her as a child. Elaine’s teaching methodology of connecting with her students and honoring their voices, thinking critically, valuing multiple perspectives, reflecting on her craft, and always pursuing more knowledge came from the foundation that her parents built for her throughout her life.

After graduating from a college prep high school in 1990, Elaine attended the University of California at Davis and obtained a Bachelors of Science in Human Development in 1995. She returned to the Bay Area and received her Multiple Subject Teaching Credential at San Francisco State University in1996. While studying to become a teacher, Elaine worked with children of all ages and especially enjoyed working with students who were in their late childhood, early adolescent stage(s) of life. She began her career as a teacher for the San Francisco Unified School District at Starr King Elementary School in September of 1996 and received the New Teacher of the Year Award that same year. She taught fifth grade in San Francisco for four years and then moved across the Bay to teach in the San Leandro Unified School District (SLUSD).

In September of 2000, Elaine joined the staff of Washington Elementary School where she continued to teach fifth grade until 2005 and began to take on teacher leadership roles. Encouraged by her principal to become a Literacy Facilitator, Elaine attended trainings and subsequently lead staff developments on the teaching and learning of writing. During this same time Jamie Almanzan began to lead a team of teachers at Washington Elementary School on Collaborative Action Research toward Equity (CARE) of which Elaine was a part! Elaine began coaching teachers of kindergarten through eighth grade students. As part of this work, teachers observed her in the classroom with her students to generate dialogue around culturally responsive teaching. Due to SLUSD’s commitment towards equity, after three years of working on the CARE team, Elaine took on the responsibility of joining the district-wide Equity Team. She served as a teacher representative and helped to lead staff developments. Throughout her six year working relationship with the Pacific Educational Group (PEG), Elaine accepted a position with PEG because she wanted to share her learning and teaching of equity with educators on a nationwide level.