Meet Denise, Curriculum Development and Integration Program Manager

Denise McLean
Curriculum Development and Integration Program Manager

Denise McLean is a Houston transplant to the Seattle area.  Her purpose in education is to support the development of student-centered classrooms and learning experiences that create thoughtful, creative, and empowered citizens.

Through her high school and college experience, Denise had several opportunities to work with the Coalition of Essential Schools which led her to pursue a career in education.  As a student teacher, she worked in a rural Vermont middle school teaching 8th grade American History. After that she moved back to Texas to teach college readiness skills and Pre-AP World Geography at an early college campus for primarily first-generation college bound students. In 2012 she accepted a position as the 9/10 Humanities teacher at TAF Academy in Federal Way.  Over the next 6 years, she taught 9th, 10th, and 12th grade Humanities and Extended STEM Research. In 2017 Denise earned her National Board Teacher Certification for Adolescent/Young Adult Social Studies-History. She worked with the Building Leadership Team and school staff to plan, implement, and evaluate the TAF student portfolios and the Advisory program and curriculum.  She also served as a mentor for teacher interns from Seattle Pacific University and Seattle University.

At TAF, Denise serves as the Curriculum Development and Integration Program Manager to help transformation schools and TAF@Saghalie examine curricula and create authentic project-based-learning experiences for students in daily practice.  She seeks to collaborate with teachers and districts to create sustainable and meaningful changes in classroom practices and student engagement, particularly the for underserved, underrepresented, and underestimated. She believes that with high expectations, high support, and a little innovation, all students can be the change they wish to see in the world.

Denise earned her BA in Social Science and Education and her MAT in Social Studies Education from Bennington College.  In the future she intends to pursue a EdD in Curriculum and Instruction.