Providing innovative educational solutions in low-income schools

Jasmin (Simmons) Tow ’11

Assistant Principal of Instruction TK-2, Aspire Public Schools

MAJORS: SPANISH AND PSYCHOLOGY

After graduating from Notre Dame summa cum laude with a double major in Spanish and psychology, Jasmin (Simmons) Tow ’11 joined Teach for America as a corps member and moved to California, where she has spent the majority of her career serving low-income, predominantly Black and Hispanic populations in East Oakland.

After four years as a TFA educator, she joined TFA staff as an Elementary Specialist for almost two years, working directly with teachers to improve outcomes for ESL students and their families across the San Francisco Bay Area. After stints in the REALITY Revolve program took her to classrooms in Israel, Tow returned to California, where she is an Assistant Principal of Instruction (and the only bilingual administrator) at Monarch Aspire Public School in East Oakland. 

She is frequently consulted by educators throughout California, and sometimes nationally, for her insight and knowledge of culturally relevant instruction, educating English learners and newcomers, interrupting the school-to-prison pipeline, dismantling systemic oppression in schools, and providing high-quality education during a pandemic. Tow was one of the first educators in the Aspire Public School system to recognize the need for a sustainable distance learning model during the pandemic and developed plans for educator and site leader training and collaboration.