MaryKate Hughes, winner of the 2006 Milken National Educator Award, is a teacher, mentor, and instructional leader with over twenty years of experience throughout the Washington, DC metro area. Currently, Hughes is both a University Coach and Adjunct Professor at American University and an Educational Consultant for the MKS Educational Partners. As a founding faculty member at DC Prep, MaryKate not only fostered dramatic academic improvements among her students, but helped her colleagues raise achievement levels among their students as well. Mrs. Hughes’s students regularly showed two years of growth in one academic year, and she led her eighth grade students to 100% proficient or advanced on state test scores in math, which were the best in the city. During her tenure with DC Prep, MaryKate has served as department chair, instructional coach, adult learning facilitator, and Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment, leading them to be the highest performing charter network in the city. She has presented at numerous local and national conferences on building safe and equitable environments for students, math education, teacher evaluation, and instructional techniques. After returning to the classroom as a 5th grade teacher in Falls Church City Public Schools for the past 6 years, MaryKate now serves as an Adjunct Professor and University Coach at American University, and as a consultant with MKS Education Partners on curriculum development, adult learning, leadership competency, and school culture. MaryKate anticipates her National Board Certification this December.
