Bio
With a double major in Physics and Math, in 2009 Elizabeth Dowdell began teaching those subjects at the Frederick Douglass VII Academy in Brownsville, Brooklyn. There she created a four-year science sequence for students, which enabled her to design the school’s first senior-level science elective, AP Physics C. A former principal there says, “Liz has a gifted scientific mind and knows how to share her knowledge and passion with students.” In 2014, Dowdell left Frederick Douglass to develop the science and math curriculum at the brand-new Urban Assembly Maker Academy. For freshman, Dowdell created an innovative applied physics course. Although the Regents Physics exam is not required at Maker Academy, as sophomores, some students elected to take it. Said one student, “We wanted to show everyone how much we know we had learned.”
