Inspiring Conversations with Sarah Rubinson Levy of Sarah Rubinson Consulting and Contracting

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Rubinson Levy

Hi Sarah, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My undergraduate degree is in business, but I quickly learned my heart wasn’t in it., so I started working in education while I “figured out what I wanted to do.” 25 years and two graduate degrees later, turns out education is what I want to do.

Throughout my career, however, I’ve felt like the bar, in general, just isn’t where it needs to be.

We have this incredible opportunity and responsibility to be preparing the next generation for their future, and doing what is best for those students should always be our driving force.

Inspired by that vision, I was a founding head of school for a small private school in Denver. It was my dream to create this school – focused on both academic and social emotional growth, integrating hands-on learning and personalized education, truly focusing on the skills and knowledge kids needed to be successful for their future.

One of our units involved hatching chickens from eggs and building a chicken coup.

And then one day a hawk attacked one of our chickens.

So there I was… on a dreary, cold fall day, digging a hole in the mud to hold a chicken funeral with the chicken bits I’d collected when I heard a loud crunch.

I looked down and realized that my glasses had slipped off of my face, fallen to the ground, and I just stomped on them.

And I remember looking up to the clouds, and while things were a little blurry – literally, without my glasses – I also had this moment of clarity and just let out this really loud sigh of exasperation on behalf of educational leaders everywhere.

Because being an educational leader is a lot.

It takes an infinite amount of bandwidth, energy, experience, and patience to constantly strive for excellence. And, even when you are able to do the impossible, there are the gas leaks, and the staffing shortages, and the proverbial chicken funeral.

We get into the field because we love students and want to prepare them and inspire them to make the world better. And we have lots of ideas for how to make that happen.

But then we have to make space for a chicken funeral. Alone.

And I just wasn’t okay with that.

That’s the moment when I realized I could make a huge impact by helping to close that gap – by serving as a thought partner, project manager, kitten herder –- the experienced, strategic, critical thinking extra team member schools need and often can’t afford.

Now I am a partner for educational leaders, empowering and elevating your in-house team and resources to help you clarify and achieve your goals faster and easier…so that you can achieve that level of excellence you deeply desire for your school and your students

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Absolutely not.

For me, the biggest challenge has been mindset related to my identity. I had to shift the rhetoric in my head about “I’m not an entrepreneur; I can’t do this” to “I am an entrepreneur; I’m just new at this, and I’m learning.”

Every single day I worry about if I’ll have work a year from now. I worry about maintaining balance. I worry about juggling all of the things.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
I help educational leaders who are struggling with projects, programs, and systems that just aren’t working to reach the innovation and excellence they desire to better prepare their students for the future.

I serve as a thought partner, project manager, or subject matter expert to elevate your in-house team and help leaders achieve their goals faster and easier

So many educational leaders have the best intentions. And then life happens – and they are left without the time, bandwidth, or specific expertise needed to make it happen. And it usually means that, not only are those leaders overwhelmed and frustrated, but our students don’t get what they need.

My areas of expertise include student-centered pedagogies and curriculum, professional learning and coaching, framework and system development, and program evaluation and data analysis.

I’ve also spent the last year and a half really focusing on the integration of artificial intelligence in education — working with schools to develop policy, provide learning opportunities for teachers, and support students in an AI world. I have written extensively on my blog (https://www.sarahrubinsoncc.com/blog) about it and even gave a TEDx talk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIz8wL9nVxw).

In all of my work, I really focus on the process — taking a step back to truly understand any underlying issues or challenges at play, engaging relevant stakeholders, and taking the steps necessary to truly transform the organization and meet your goals.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I love anything by Adam Grant, Daniel Pink, Malcom Gladwell, and Brene Brown — because they all inspire me to think differently.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sarahrubinsoncc.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086883803467