Michlene Cotter, Head of School

Greetings, Brightworks Community — new and returning friends,

Can you believe it? In just under a month, the 2025–26 school year will begin! As we turn the page into a new chapter together, I want to take a moment to reintroduce myself.

This will be my sixth year at Brightworks. Over these years, I’ve had the joy and honor of participating in this community in many ways. My journey began during the pandemic, working with Brightworks middle schoolers. Since then, I’ve deepened our commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ), taught high schoolers, hosted school-wide cultural and educational events, and served as Assistant Head of School. Through it all, my belief in doing school differently — with all of you — has only grown stronger.

Where My Journey Began

Thirty years ago, I was launching an afterschool program for teens at the Langston Hughes Library and Cultural Center in Queens, NY. I remember my sturdy hiking boots and the young people I worked with, removing invasive knotweed along the Bronx River as part of the Bronx River Restoration Project. I remember our little sanctuary in Brooklyn as Program Coordinator with the NYC Head Start Training Institute — the parents, the toddlers, the community.

Later, in Oakland, these foundational experiences led me to walk in the legacy of the community Freedom Schools — initially for my own children, and eventually in collaboration with others seeking a liberatory education. I stand on the shoulders of educators like Erika Huggins and Septima Clark, visionaries who reimagined school in service to children and families — who paved the way for the world of independent learning we now inhabit and celebrate.

Shaped by Learning and Lived Experience

My own early education was shaped by vast travel, which taught me compassion for those who seek hope, safety, and home far from familiar shores. I came to understand that learning happens everywhere — in conversation, in music, in the oral histories of our elders, in books passed hand to hand, and in shared stories exchanged across generations.

My high school years, by contrast, were conventional and often invisibilizing. It wasn’t until a few mentors — coaches, family members, and my journalism teacher, Mr. Viaggio — truly saw me that I began to understand myself as a learner. That moment of being recognized for who I was lit a spark I now see every day in our Brightworks Collaborators, as they meet students with care, intention, and love.

A Community That Grows Together

As the steward of this extraordinary school, I meet this moment with hope — hope that lives in the eyes and ideas of our young people. Their creativity, curiosity, friendships, and wonder fuel us all.

I’m deeply grateful to you — our beloved community — and to the Brightworks Board of Trustees, Collaborators, and staff for your trust in me. Together, we will build upon the vision of Brightworks founder Gever Tulley, honoring the many hands and hearts that have shaped this school into what it is today.

Looking Ahead, Grounded in Purpose

One of my early contributions at Brightworks was co-founding the Power & Privilege Committee — a space where students and staff could feel seen, heard, and understood. That work remains urgent and essential.

As we chart our path forward, we’ll stay anchored in our mission and values. We long for a world where all beings are held as precious and have equitable access to the earth’s abundance. As educators, our charge is to nurture a love of learning that liberates, inspires, and transforms — cultivating lifelong seekers who are ready to build a better world.

Brightworks is ready to step into a more luminous spotlight. We are not only a school that says YES! IT IS POSSIBLE, and EVERYTHING IS INTERESTING — we are also a school that evolves, that grows, and that leads with boldness and heart.

We cannot sleep. We must dig in and continue the work. Let us investigate, create, build, and play into our next becoming.

We will remain grounded in what we know to be true:
Child-centered, authentic, and meaningful education is powerful, effective — and transformative.

In community,
Michlene Cotter
Head of School
Brightworks