Similar to national programs like Prep for Prep that create a pathway to private school for promising students of color, the discussion will focus on Van Leesten’s work as Director of Pathfinder Hopkins School, an academic skills development program designed to prepare New Haven public and parochial school students to enter and thrive in public and private college preparatory high schools. Van Leesten will discuss how preparing students for independent high schools requires more than challenging academic curricula and high expectations.
Michael Van Leesten is a mathematics teacher at Hopkins School in New Haven and, since 2007, has served as the Director of Pathfinder Hopkins School (formerly known as Breakthrough New Haven). Prior to becoming a teacher in 2005, he was a Vice President and CFO at Travelers Property Casualty Corporation. Prior to that, he spent more than seven years as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. Mr. Van Leesten graduated from Dartmouth College and has an MBA from Columbia University.