Samantha Turner is a Bay Area Director of Schools for Rocketship Public Schools. Before taking on a regional leadership position, Samantha was the principal of Rocketship Alma Academy. Samantha was raised outside of Chicago before venturing 12 miles east to attend Northwestern University. As she pursued a degree in history and gender studies, she quickly realized her career would center on combating social injustice. After graduating summa cum laude with Phi Beta Kappa recognition, she joined Teach For America in Phoenix and spent several years teaching eighth grade English to students who inspired her daily. While in Arizona, Samantha earned a Master’s degree in secondary education from Arizona State University.

Following her time in Arizona, she taught fifth grade humanities in Washington, D.C. for a year before earning a Master’s in School Leadership from Harvard University. Her time as a principal intern at Community Charter School of Cambridge in Massachusetts reaffirmed her conviction that we must eliminate the achievement gap in elementary school. She joined Rocketship Alma as an assistant principal at the start of the 2016-2017 school year and transitioned into the principal role in the second semester. Leading the school through the five-year reauthorization process, she witnessed the passion, strength, and dedication of Alma’s teachers, families, and students to do whatever it takes for students to become change-makers!