Principal

Greetings, Louis E. Dieruff High School Staff, Students, Families, and Partners,

My name is Geoffrey Schmidt, Principal at Dieruff. I am a proud graduate of Lehigh University (B.A. English ‘04) and Lehigh University’s Urban Principal Academy @ Lehigh (M. Ed. L.) as well as a graduate of New York City’s Teaching Fellows program. I have a variety of school leadership experiences in urban high public and charter high schools, in the Bronx and Brooklyn, NY; Philadelphia, PA; and Springfield and Holyoke, MA. An instructional leader, first, and foremost, I value the importance of developing a strong team of educators driven by a clear and cohesive instructional vision that defines grade-level, rigorous, and relevant learning as the bar for all students. In my roles as a director of School Culture, Engagement Director, School Design Lead, and Principal, I have also prioritized the importance of supportive school environments and systems with strong and trusting relationships, high expectations for all stakeholders, and the development of 21st century academic and personal competencies that prepare students for choice-filled postsecondary lives.
 
I began my career as an English Teacher in Brooklyn, NY where I was proud to facilitate a roster of students who demonstrated 100% proficiency and advancement on the New York State Regents Exam; and was later a founding English Department Chair at a Charter School in Brooklyn and The Bronx. While acting as Department Chair I completed the Urban Principals Academy at Lehigh, preparing for a change in roles to school leadership. After that, I was the Founding Director of Instruction, and later Director of School Culture at Phoenix Charter Academy Springfield; and then the School Design Lead and Principal at Holyoke High School Opportunity Academy, the network of alternative middle and high school options within Holyoke Public Schools, in Holyoke, MA.

My goals as the Principal of Dieruff are to: collaborate with stakeholders to redefine the bar of success fo all Dieruff students as graduating on-track and on-time through a course of rigorous and relevant study that aligns to students individual passions and postsecondary goals; address individual student and family needs, through a collaborative and cooperative culture of partnership; and develop a team of teachers that feels confident in their pedagogical and classroom management practices, and carries a tradition of excellence through retention and continuous improvement and development. I look forward to building on Dieruff’s tradition of school pride  diversity and inclusivity, while working with all stakeholders to build an academic culture of which we can all be proud.

Geoffrey Schmidt, Principal of Louis E. Dieruff High School

Experience

• Principal at Louis E. Dieruff High School
• Principal at Holyoke High School Opportunity Academy: 2021-2024
• Director of Engagement and School Design Lead at Holyoke Public Schools: 2019-2021
• Director of School Culture and Lead Coach at Phoenix Charter Academy Springfield: 2017-2019
• Founding Director of Instruction at Phoenix Charter Academy: 2015-2017
• Principal Intern at NYCDOE and El Centro de Estudiantes: 2014-2015
• English Department Chair at ROADS Charter High School: 2012-2014
• English Teacher and Department Leader at Innovation Diploma Plus High School, NYC, NY: 2009-2012
• English Teacher at Passages Academy, Brooklyn, NY: 2005-2009

Education

• B.A. English, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA
• M.F.A. Writing, New School, New York, NY
• M. Ed. L., Lehigh University, Bethlehem, PA 

Louis E. Dieruff High School Administrative Team