Who Am I?

My name is David Stirrat, and I am currently completing post-doctoral research on low-income students and their struggle for equity. I continue to teach, to write, and to absorb all the changes that swirl around education. I am also a speaker and presenter, particularly at the high school level. My focus is on growing the number of under-represented students who transition to four year colleges AND graduate with degrees. My doctoral studies at the University of California at Davis centered on this gap. Formerly, I was principal at Petaluma High School in Petaluma, California where I live. I have worked in education for almost 25 years as a kindergarten aide, a Montessori elementary instructor, a high school English teacher, Leadership teacher, and Video Production teacher. I have also had the opportunity to reimagine schools through the Small Learning Community transition in the early 2000s to a refocus on College and Career focused education. I believe that the public school system can deliver the most equitable education to our students, particularly when we work together with foundations whose goal is to advance equitable outcomes for all. I believe that creating a collaborative environment with all stakeholders in the system will ensure we meet the needs of all students.

I met my life partner 30 years ago at a private school in San Francisco. She was a first grade teacher, I was a kindergarten aide. Today, Cynthia continues to work as a first grade teacher, still motivated to innovate, stretch technology, and create the most engaging environment and curriculum for her kids. We live in Petaluma with our two now-almost adult children. Dean (21) is a senior at Syracuse University; Eliza (19) is a sophomore at UC Merced. We are forever proud of both of them. During the COVID era, we added a boxer puppy and six baby chicks to the household, and we are hanging on by our teeth.

I am originally from Beckenham, Kent in England, but after two years of my life, my Jamaican mother and Irish father returned to Jamaica where I and my older sister were raised. I still think of Jamaica as home though I have now lived in the United States for almost 40 years, counting college. My mother did complete high school but my father left his Irish school at age 11 to apprentice as a pipe fitter. Neither attended college and both dreamed that my and my sister’s life would be “better.” They made sure that both of us had access to college and we are forever thankful. Though they lived in a different era, their dreams for their children echo the dream of parents today.

In 2015, I applied for and was granted citizenship in America. I am thankful for many things America has offered me and also for the experience of being an immigrant in America. Though I have assimilated, I am aware that my other life shapes me and creates a distinction. I believe this had made me a stronger educator, one who is more aware of how many students feel as if they are on the outside of something looking in. To best achieve true equity in school is to fully realize how systemic racism inhabits our institutions, and then act on the knowledge and work for change.

I believe all our students have within them the power to do great things. Schools play a critical role in helping students find their passion and providing them the time and space to develop those passions. 

I am as inspired today as I’ve ever been to help our system get better at educating students. We have made progress but there is still SO MUCH LEFT TO DO. I can’t wait to continue the journey.