Faculty and Staff

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Administration

Principal – Christopher Johnson

Christopher Johnson became the founding principal of Science Leadership Academy @ Beeber during the 2012 – 2013 school year. Science Leadership Academy @ Beeber is the second campus to the original Science Leadership Academy, an Inquiry School, founded by Christopher Lehmann.

Mr. Johnson has served at many levels of public education in Philadelphia. Starting as a substitute teacher, he has risen through the ranks as an elementary, middle, and high school teacher; Regional Office Director; Assistant Principal at the elementary and middle school levels; High School Principal, Central Office Special assignments, and Deputy of Climate, Culture and Safety.

Assistant Principal – Dr. Gabriel Kuriloff

Dr. Kuriloff joined the school’s administration in 2018. He has been a teacher and school leader in Philadelphia and Newark for more than 20 years. While at SLA@Beeber, he completed his doctorate in education leadership from the University of Pennsylvania in the use of design thinking in school leadership.

Dr. Kuriloff has a master’s degree in education leadership from the University of Pennsylvania where he also earned his Pennsylvania principal’s certification. He holds a BA from Brown University in Urban Studies where he wrote his undergraduate honors thesis of the politics of school reform in Philadelphia and completed the undergraduate teacher education program in English language arts.

Staff

Eileen Moderski – School Operations Officer

Rosheka Mullins – Secretary

Rosheka Mullins is a Philadelphia native and published Author who lived in Windsor Mill, MD. and Washington, DC before returning home. She attended Kaplan University as well as Chestnut Hill College. She has 16 years of experience in the Behavioral Health field as a Program Supervisor and Vocational Specialist. She is currently working on her second novel and first Play simultaneously. Rosheka enjoys being a wife, mother of two, writing, music, and fishing.

Lucille Barrett – Nurse

Lucille Barrett, RN BSN CSN, has been a nurse for for 6.5 years and has takes special interest in infection control and education. She currently has a pending M.Ed. Nurse Barrett loves the role of providing care to others, and is sociable as well as people and family oriented. One of her favorite hobbies is decorating her home.

Zoe Strauss – Resident Artist

Zoe specializes in conceptual art and provides general maintenance and beautification of our school. She loves supporting the school artistically however she can, and has experience in photography as well, where she has been able to take professional yearbook photos for our lower school students in the past.

Math Department

Elizabeth Houwen – 10th and 12th Grade Mathematics

Elizabeth Houwen is a native of South Jersey and has been a resident of Philadelphia since 2011. A graduate of The College of New Jersey, Elizabeth has taught at the middle, high, and community college levels. In 2014 she earned her masters in Mathematics from Rowan University. She strongly believes that we are all math people and is passionate about helping others see the beauty in mathematics. In her free time, Elizabeth enjoys hiking, camping, yoga, and traveling with her husband and pup.

Mr. Joesph – 11th Grade Mathematics, 5th and 9th Grade Tech

Jacob Joseph graduated from Drexel University for his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree. He initially went to school to be a civil engineer, but then switched to teaching out of spite because a hater thought he couldn’t do it. Now Mr. Joseph is in it for the love of the game. He enjoys reading, watching Tik Tok live-streams of people doing math problems, baking, and hanging out with his cat, Toyo (short for Toyota Corolla).

Ms. Ukaegbu – 7th and 8th Grade Mathematics

From a very young age, Ms. Ukaegbu dreamed of becoming a teacher and practiced by writing on her bedroom walls to lead a class of her favorite stuffed animals and dolls. During high school, her own challenging school experiences drove her desire to make teaching a reality so she could create a safe and supportive environment for her eventual students. This passion led her to earn a B.A. in Mathematics with a minor in Secondary Education and a M.Ed. in Mathematics: Curriculum and Instruction. Ms. Ukaegbu uses her love of mathematics and 20 years of experience to make learning engaging and effective but her priority is building strong relationships with her students. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her two dogs and two cats and is currently learning sign language.

Ms. Jackson – 5th and 6th Grade Math

Born and raised in West Philadelphia, Tracey is a proud product of the School District of Philadelphia, and an enthusiastic devotee to the power of prolific instruction.  She began her career in the field of journalism after earning a B.A. in Communications from Temple University.  In her spare time, she tutored students from K-12 for a non-profit in her community.  From that experience, she witnessed the transformative power of education and felt compelled to transition into the education field.  In 2000, she was hired as a Literacy Intern for the School District of Philadelphia while also pursuing a degree in education.  She now holds a Masters of Education (M.Ed.) from Arcadia University and a Masters of Administration and Supervision in Education (M.Ed.) from the University of Phoenix.  After additional study at West Chester University, she also holds a teaching certification in Special Education. She has been teaching since her hire as both a regular education and a special education teacher, which has given her great insight into the differentiation of instruction and eliminating obstacles to learning.  She lives in the Wynnefield section of Philadelphia with her husband and youngest daughter.  In her spare time, she loves to travel, write, read, and spend time with family and friends.

Mr. Kopp – High School Math and Technology Specialist

Alex graduated from Temple University in 2018 with a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science with Teaching. Before graduating, he was ecstatic to accept a job at SLA @ Beeber without really knowing what the job entailed. He is currently pursuing his master’s in instructional technology. Alex is greatly interested in inquiry and project-based instruction and bridging the computer science gap for underserved students.

English Department

Ms. Anderson

Mrs. Anderson lives her life as an educator grounded in the belief that the destinies of teachers and students are linked. She firmly believes that people treat you how they view you and that is especially true in the classroom dynamic between teacher and student. Her favorite quote is one from James Baldwin, “A child cannot be taught by anyone who despises him, and a child cannot afford to be fooled”.

She has been an educator for over 25 years and an English teacher for 19 years, but her work with young people started way before her formalized teaching experience. Before coming to Science Leadership Academy at Beeber, she served 4 years at Strawberry Mansion High School as an English teacher, School Based Teacher Leader (SBTL) Teacher Coach, and as the Restorative Dean. She has a level 2 certification in Secondary Education English, a Master’s degree in Restorative Practices in Education, and certificates in Problem-Based Learning and Teaching and Leading Social Emotional Learning from the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Bentum

Dr. BBB earned her B.A. at Wilkes University; her postgraduate degree work at Chestnut Hill College (M.Ed.) and Fort Hays State University (M.S.). She earned her PhD in Global Education at National University. She serves as the Senior High School Representative for her colleagues in the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers (PFT) Executive Board. Bonnee has served students in Philadelphia since 2001. She has been active professionally through her participation in the Philadelphia Writing Project, Teachers Institute of Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania, and served as a National Steering Committee member for Yale University National Initiative Teachers Institute. She has committed herself to widening her global information classroom horizons by coordinating travel to Ghana, Africa for students and families at SLA@Beeber.