Cherose Walker comes to our community with over twenty-three years of experience as a Boston educator, school leader, and culture catalyst.

After earning her MBA at Suffolk University and working for many years in the private sector, Cherose began her career in education as a substitute teacher at her alma mater, Josiah Quincy Upper School. She was trained as a special educator at Northeastern University and earned an Ed.M from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She joins us most recently from Medford High School, where she served as Assistant Principal, and from Cathedral High School, where she served as Assistant Principal and Director of School Culture and Family Engagement. Cherose has also consulted for Boston Public Schools as a Trauma and Student Support Specialist. This will be her first time leading a school community as Principal, and she is more than eager to dig into the work!

Cherose's career has been marked by a commitment to service that stems from her family's deep roots in Boston - specifically in the communities of Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, and the South End. Her grandparents were sharecroppers in Georgia who migrated to Roxbury in 1956, seeking better education and opportunities for their nine children. She was educated in Boston Public Schools and graduated from Boston Latin School before pursuing her B.A. as a first-generation college student at UMASS Amherst.

As an advanced student, Cherose was placed in Advanced Work Class in grades 4-6; however, her parents weren't given adequate information about the Independent School Entrance Exam (ISEE) used by Boston Public Schools to determine entrance into one of their three examination schools. When Cherose returned to James P. Timilty Middle School in seventh grade, one of her reading teachers made sure that she would have the opportunity to take the exam for admittance in ninth grade. As a youth worker at the Blackstone Community Center and Teen Empowerment, she organized seventeen community events before graduating high school. This work earned her BLS's community service award upon graduation and special recognition from the Boston Mayor's Office as one of the Mayor's Most Outstanding Youth in 1994!

Cherose chose Bridge as her next community because she sees herself and her story in the story of our school, our students, and their families. As a parent, Cherose was drawn to Boston public charter school education for her two sons due to the "amazing" classroom support she witnessed for students and teachers alike. As Principal, Ms. Walker is committed to providing the same wonderful educational experience for Bridge students and families and the autonomy and resources necessary for Bridge educators to feel successful & supported in their practice.

In her first hundred days as Principal, Cherose will be "listening and learning" about Bridge's approach to school culture, academic rigor & social-emotional learning, and points of alignment & misalignment among staff, students, and families. She views her work as building systems, teams, and communities that foster "resilience and grit" in our students. Look out for opportunities to join in on Ms. Walker's listening tour once she officially gets started in August!