Bio
Ramon Gonzalez has raised the bar for middle school education, demonstrating how innovative programming that provides a wide range of opportunities for disadvantaged students can yield remarkable academic achievement. In 1995 Mr. Gonzalez joined the New York City school system as a school teacher and soon developed strong ideas about how a middle school should be run. He saw his chance when he was offered the opportunity to be founding principal at Middle School 223 and transform what was one of the most dangerous and academically struggling schools in the city. Through his vision, the Lab School of Finance and Technology was born.The school provides hands on, real world learning opportunities in technology, personal finance and the arts, but most important to Mr. Gonzalez is the school’s underlying focus on literacy. Each classroom has its own library. Mr. Gonzalez has incorporated the community in his efforts through The Community Reading Initiative, which has instituted lending libraries at local bodegas. He also runs a longstanding monthly ‘Principal’s Book Club’ with his students. His efforts have dramatically turned around literacy rates at the school. Others have tried to recruit Mr. Gonzalez for higher leadership positions in the City’s public school system, but he believes his work at MS 223 is not yet finished. “I love this job because every day we get a chance to change lives,” he says. Gonzalez is now looking to expand his school to include grades 9 through 12 and hopes eventually to establish the City’s first public boarding school.Others have tried to recruit Mr. Gonzalez for higher leadership positions in the City’s public school system, but he believes his work at MS 223 is not yet finished. “I love this job because every day we get a chance to change lives,” he says. Mr. Gonzalez is now looking to expand his school to include grades 9 through 12 and hopes eventually to establish the City’s first public boarding school.
