Director of Advanced Learning
Des Moines Public Schools, Iowa
Currently serving as the Director for Advanced Learning for Des Moines Public Schools, Jessica Gogerty oversees three programs: Principal of Central Academy (7-12 magnet school), Director of Pre-K-12 Advanced Learning Program, and District Coordinator for Advanced Placement. She has been the head of Central Academy since 2014.
Central Academy, established in 1985, provides additional services for students who demonstrate early readiness for advanced work by offering accelerated and compacted curricula and unique AP and World Language courses. Students, especially those from populations which are traditionally under-represented in gifted programs, develop competence, connection, and confidence as they embrace challenging coursework. Efforts to recognize and promote advanced learners from populations traditionally marginalized by our system have been rooted in the question, “what conditions have we created that maintain certain groups as the perpetual majority here?" and has increased the percentage of students of color from 32% in 2014 to 51% this year with the biggest increases among students who identify as Latinx and African American/Black.
Dr. Gogerty has served Des Moines Public Schools since 1989 as a classroom teacher, school administrator (since 2010), and district leader (since 2020). In 2012, Dr. Gogerty was named a White House Champion of Change for School Turn Around. She was awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 2009 and earned National Board certification in Adolescence and Young Adult Science in 1999.
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Saturday, November 19, 2022
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM