A Bittersweet Message from Chancellor Porter
Please read the attached letter to families from Chancellor Porter wherein she announces that she will step down as Chancellor at the end of this calendar year. Here at PPA, we are very grateful for her entire career service to the city, the Bronx, and Pelham Preparatory Academy.
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Dear Families,
Since March, I have had the honor of a lifetime to serve as Chancellor for the incredible schools, educators,
communities, families and most importantly, your children who make up the New York City Department of
Education (NYCDOE). Today, I am sharing the bittersweet news that I will be stepping down from my role as
Chancellor at the end of this calendar year.
My biggest message to you today is one of gratitude - thank you for the trust, patience, kindness, and commitment
to our schools you have shown over the past few months. With your partnership, we have done so much together
to welcome students back to a school year like no other – this year of homecoming.
As a mother of a school-aged child myself, I know that the return to fully in-person schooling has been at times
both joyful and challenging. Coming out of a once in a lifetime pandemic, when our children needed
immense academic and emotional care, it has taken a village to provide the support our students deserve. I’m
thrilled that we did the impossible, and led the nation by safely reopening every single school for in-person
learning to ensure our babies got the support and attention they needed.
Lastly, I simply want to say thank you again for all that you do for your children and our schools. We have worked
hard every day to support our families and colleagues get back to a sense of normalcy while recognizing this
moment in history as a critical time to make important and innovative changes that better address our students’
needs. We could not do this without your partnership, and I am immensely grateful for the trust you have put
in the DOE and in me.
Your partnership has made it possible to keep our students safe and healthy, to get to know their education
needs even better than before, and to provide them with stronger and more durable tools to meet their immense
potential. Despite the challenging year-and-a-half we’ve endured, I believe we have a great opportunity to learn
from our recent experience and to move forward toward a brighter future for our children. I know the next
administration will share in this commitment, and I will work closely with the next Chancellor to ensure that a
positive, welcoming, and affirming experience for all children continues this year and beyond.
In partnership,
Meisha Porter
New York City Schools Chancellor
