Growing up in South America, Nikita House (she/her/hers) was fortunate to experience an exceptional education. “Being raised abroad exposed me to opportunities that the average Black girl from a single-parent household in Memphis was not exposed to. The city is plagued with a history of injustice and inequity that bleeds through many institutions that affect marginalized families, one of those being the education system. Every child should receive an exceptional and rigorous education.”
Partnering with Memphis’ Binghampton community, Nikita hopes to found and lead a K-8 school that serves as a gateway to a life of opportunity, choice, and joy for its students. Her proposed school will focus on the human development of each child by offering resources for mental health, including the implementation of the Compass Model, to ensure that students possess the social and emotional skills to interact with the world. Additionally, with classes focusing on entrepreneurship, students will possess the career and college readiness skills necessary to be successful in high school and beyond. “The schools I attended abroad prepared me for college, shaped my moral compass and character, and paved a way for the many opportunities I have been blessed with. As an educator, it’s been evident to me that not all children are afforded the same opportunity for a quality education. Our school will change that.”
Most recently, Nikita was a teacher development coach for first-year teachers at The New Teacher Project (TNTP). Previously, she spent seven years with KIPP Memphis Collegiate Schools, serving two of those years as a dean of instruction and culture at KIPP Memphis Collegiate High and five years at KIPP Memphis Academy Middle as a Spanish teacher, grade-level chair, and instructional coach. Nikita received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish from The University of Memphis and holds a master’s in secondary education from Grand Canyon University.
