Stephen Chiger

Stephen Chiger is the director of 5-12 literacy for Uncommon Schools, managing ELA curriculum, training and instruction across the network. Prior to that, he was the Howitt Fellow for School Leadership at North Star Academy’s College Preparatory High School, where he was a member of the leadership team, an English Department chair and founder of school’s journalism program. During Chiger’s tenure, the school closed the national SAT achievement gap in literacy. Before joining Uncommon, Chiger helped found the English and journalism programs at a charter school in Jersey City. He served as president of the Garden State Scholastic Press Association and co-founded a non-profit that operated a summer camp for high school students interested in media diversity and journalism careers. He has been recognized by the Dow Jones Newspaper Fund, Journalism Education Association, and Society of Professional Journalists; in 2015 he was named the New Jersey Council of Teachers of English Educator of the Year. Chiger has also been a fellow of The Academy for Teachers and The American Society of Newspaper Editors. He holds a B.A. in English from Lafayette College, an M.S.J. in journalism from Northwestern University and an Ed.M. in Educational Leadership from Columbia University.