Dr. Joanna C. Perkins

About the name Perkins’ Pieces: My motto is to keep picking up the pieces because kids deserve it. I am also just too curious to leave life's puzzles undone.

Currently, I work as the Director of K-12 Curriculum Support and Elementary Education for Montgomery County Schools, NC. I am also a state Literacy Leader and trainer with NCCAT and a member of the NCDPI ELA Standards writing team for 2024-2026.

I am a public school PK-14 educator, instructional coaching addict, and literacy advocate. Formerly, I served as a Curriculum Specialist and Literacy/Student Services Coordinator for Lee County Schools, North Carolina with the central office Curriculum & Instruction Department, Central Carolina Community College (cccc.edu/promise), and My Future NC. I am one of the few but proud NCPAPA (North Carolina Principals and Assistant Principals Association) Future Ready Leaders Cohort members for 2021-22 and obtained my state AIG specialist license during those years. I am a former Assistant Principal at SanLee Middle, an AVID National Demonstration School in Sanford, NC. I am a former district Lead Teacher for ELA/Secondary Literacy, co-writer of the 6-12 LCS Literacy Framework, and a former AVID District Director. I am humbled to have been Lee County Schools 2014-15 district Teacher of the Year, representing Southern Lee High School.

I taught elementary, middle, and high school English, middle school Humanities (Social Studies), AVID elective, and Advanced Placement Language & Composition. During my time in New York City and North Carolina, I had the opportunity to teach each grade level and configuration of 6-12, including Honors, Inclusion, and English/ELA (Engish Language Arts) or Social Studies.

I worked for many years as a curriculum developer for public schools' initiatives through the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project at Columbia University and Writing Matters via Barnard. My teaching included District 79 in the Bronx (juvenile prison setting) and being a founding teacher of Mott Hall Bridges Academy in Brooklyn (featured in Humans of New York and NY Times).

I hold a BA in English (concentration in Creative Writing, Art History, Spanish/Cultural Anthropology) from MBC as a PEG and an MA/Ed from Hunter CUNY as a New York City Teaching Fellow in English/Adolescent Ed. I earned my Ed. S. and Ed. D. in Educational Leadership from Wingate University.

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