JONATHAN MASON, M.ED.
Principal
I am passionate about this work because I believe in the transformative power of education. My educational philosophy is rooted in the belief that everyone should have access to a quality education, and I enjoy supporting students through all aspects of their educational careers, from their academics to standardized testing.
I was raised in Wilmington, Delaware, and lived there for eighteen years before moving to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I received a full tuition academic scholarship to Temple University, where I studied Spanish language, literature, and linguistics in the Honors College. During my studies at Temple University, I had the opportunity to spend six months at the University of Oviedo in Spain while living with a local host family and studying the Spanish language and culture.
I have since graduated with my master’s degree in education with an emphasis in social-emotional learning. I wrote my original research proposal about the ways that reflective journaling can be used in the classroom to alleviate student trauma from the pandemic. This is a passion project of mine that I used in my own classroom, and one that students enjoyed a lot! Since graduating with my master’s degree, I have been working closely with the Cypress College Prep staff to further enhance the social-emotional learning program at the school and train teachers in its administration.
Prior to this experience, I worked as a 6th and 7th grade Spanish language arts and history teacher at a local dual immersion school in San Jose, California. I am also a Teach for America alumni, and I worked for two years to confront educational inequity head-on. In both of these experiences, I worked closely with instructional coaches who helped me develop my craft as an educator.
I have always had a passion for the humanities and foreign languages, and I appreciate the ways that they provide a unique way of seeing the world. Despite my affinity towards the humanities, my academically rigorous high school left me with a strong background in STEM, and I enjoy helping students across the curriculum. In high school, my high SAT/ACT scores played a big role in earning me my full tuition scholarship, so I am excited to help students open up possibilities through mastery of these exams. I also believe that time management and organization skills are essential to success throughout life, and I work to help students better these skills throughout our time together.
As a teacher and administrator, I value the importance of building relationships when working with students and families. I work to foster a positive learning environment while holding students and their work to high standards. I believe that this philosophy combines relationship-building and accountability in order to maximize personal and academic success.
In my free time, I like to stay active by hiking, swimming, and biking, and I am also passionate about cooking and discovering new music.