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Joe Marik

Interim High School Principal

Bio

Joe grew up outside of Chicago and attended Boston College,  where he earned his Bachelors’ degrees in Economics and History with a focus on Environmental Studies. As an Urban Ecology Institute fellow, he designed and taught a short curriculum that focused on the importance of and how to care for street trees in an urban setting.  This was his first exposure to education and what cemented his decision to pursue teaching as a career. He would later earn his Master’s in Teaching from the University of Memphis.

Joe taught high school Economics and Middle School Math for several years in both public charter and traditional public schools. He also spent time at Denver Public Schools’ Central Office, supporting the Teacher Development Pipeline and Denver Teacher Residency and Denver Teach Today programs.

Joe deeply believes in the value of building relationships within teams and amongst stakeholders, as these create the necessary conditions for people to purposefully work together. To speak to this, Joe shared, “our work is not possible if adults don’t feel seen/heard, trusted, and valued for what they bring to the table”.

Throughout his career in education, and after working at schools across the country in Boston, Memphis, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Denver, and now, Oakland, Joe believes in the importance of considering multiple perspectives and leverages his experiences to inform his work on a daily basis.

In his free time, Joe enjoys reading fantasy and science-fiction novels, playing all kinds of board games, watching David Lynch films, hiking and camping, and playing rhythm guitar in his Metallica cover band, Joey Method and the Late Arrivals (reunion tour to be scheduled at a later date).  He also loves going on adventures with his partner Sarah and our 20 month old son, Oliver.