Breaking Barriers: Principal Achieves 100% Teacher Retention While Centering Black and Latinx Girls in Education

Reflecting on the impact of Latinx Heritage Month, Tara Haskins (KC23 and Angels ‘24) responds, “I want people to know that our stories are rich. Our stories are powerful. We have moved, and we will continue to move our country to places that we know it can be. ”

Movement is an apt description. Tara is rooted in a culture of resilience, service, and love. Each day, she seeks to emulate the same spirit of the strong women who have shaped her. Education has been the vehicle. As a teacher, dean, assistant principal, founding school principal, and, most recently, in her current role as Director of Academics at the SEED School of Los Angeles County, Tara has successfully endeavored to carve out spaces where Black and Latinx girls feel loved.

“I navigate this world as an Afro-Latina.  I'm second-generation in this country. My grandmother immigrated here as a single woman from Honduras and raised my mother in the 60s in Miami. Her story brings me so much pride. I truly get emotional because if it wasn't for her, I would not have opened a school where I was literally serving little girls from Honduras who’d just arrived in the country. ”

Growing into Her Story

Tara believes it’s vital to celebrate Latinx identity, a culture rich with people and stories of all shapes and sizes. There is deep power in learning these stories. But Tara also admits that when she was younger, she did not feel a part of her culture because the images she saw around her were not images of Latinas that looked like her. And because she didn’t speak Spanish, she was often told she wasn’t Latina enough.

It wasn’t until she was a student at Hampton University that a Latin American History class introduced her to the stories of Honduras. The experience was so empowering that when she became a teacher in Houston, she incorporated a lesson for her students about the Brown Berets and the Black Panther Party and what happened when they came together.

Growing with Surge

Tara credits her experience with Surge Academy and Surge Angels for providing a space where she could envision and ultimately pursue her new dream. “Surge Angels held up a mirror. I was able to see that my dream was always there. I just had to peel back some layers and rest.” For Tara, a new vision emerged: centering Black and Latinx Womanhood in educational design.      “Black and Latinx women have always been at the center of fighting for children, ”Tara says, “but so often, they have not had a place at the table when it comes to making decisions for Black and Latinx girls. ”

Today, Tara is working to change that. She leads a team of educators at the SEED School in South Central Los Angeles, California’s only public boarding school. 90% of her staff identify as Black and Latinx, and she’s proud to report a 100% staff retention rate. A collaborative approach has given teachers the autonomy to make impactful decisions. Students learn from teachers and administrators who look like them. And a sustainable model is thriving in South Central LA.

Continuing the Story

Tara concludes, “I really want people to understand that learning history, not just your culture, but other cultures as well, will help you see that we’re all fighting for equity and justice. And it may be a little different on the lens, but we're fighting for what's right. We must unite and come together. And so I love celebrating Latinx History Month because I think it's important to hear more stories, especially more stories of Afro-Latinos. ”

The Surge Institute is grateful for leaders like Tara, who are not only sharing the stories that have shaped them, but they are also writing their own.

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