
When Mariyam Salley first moved from New York to New Orleans nine years ago to teach at Crescent City Schools, becoming a principal wasn’t part of her plan. “I had never even seen myself past being an excellent teacher,” Salley reflects. “I wanted to be the best teacher for kids.”
That dedication to teaching excellence has been a constant throughout Salley’s journey at CCS, even as she took on additional leadership responsibilities. Starting as an 8th grade science and resource math teacher, she quickly found her stride teaching math and began taking on additional roles—first as a team leader, then as a math curriculum manager, math dean for grades 6–8, and most recently as director of curriculum and instruction.
“Even as a director of curriculum and instruction, I still taught a daily intervention for kids because it was important for me to have that touch point with children,” Salley explains.
This commitment to hands-on teaching and student interaction makes Salley’s transition to principal particularly meaningful. After spending eight academic years at Dorothy Height Charter School, and the past six months at Harriet Tubman Charter School, Salley will now step into the role of principal at Tubman.
Salley’s journey to principal represents CCS’s intentional approach to leadership development. “At CCS, we want to build our leaders from within the schools,” Salley notes. “We believe that our strong teachers can be strong leaders, and they are always given the space and room and opportunity to grow.”
This philosophy of internal leadership development has shaped Salley’s own growth. She points to the mentorship she received from CEO Kate Mehok last year as particularly valuable. “We spent a lot of time thinking through what would I do in certain situations? How would I handle big situations or just thinking about how I can be more effective as a leader,” Salley explained.
Those conversations were part of a broader plan to prepare Salley to step into this new role. In fact, she shadowed Tubman’s former principal, Zondra Howard-Cross, since July, pointing to the intentionality in this leadership decision. An additional benefit of this planned transition is that Howard-Cross, who remains at CCS in a different role, will continue to provide support during the transition.
When first approached about the principal position, Salley’s initial response was hesitation. “My first reaction was a very firm, ‘I don’t think so,'” she admits. Comfortable in her role at Dorothy Height and deeply invested in the school’s charter renewal process, the prospect of change was daunting. However, after thoughtful consideration and conversations about why leadership saw her as ready for this role, Salley embraced the opportunity.
“I think you have to be uncomfortable sometimes,” she reflects. “Maybe I had been doing something for a long time and needed a change.”
As she assumes the helm at Harriet Tubman Charter School, Salley is excited about the broader impact she can have. “When you’re in the classroom, you can reach the 90 students that you serve,” Salley said. “But when you are in leadership, now you have over 600 kids and 80 adults that you can serve. So my reach gets bigger.”
Looking ahead, Salley aims to build on Harriet Tubman Charter School’s momentum while bringing her own vision focused on data-informed instruction and relationship building.
“I want my legacy to be that I have an unwavering belief in our kids and the things that they are able to accomplish,” Salley shares. “I know what it’s like to grow up in certain circumstances that mirror the kids that we serve, and so I think a lot of my success was somebody believing in me.”
This belief in students’ potential, combined with her emphasis on joy and relationships, shapes Salley’s approach to leadership. “The work is really hard, but when you have this joy and you have relationships, it makes it a lot easier to do the hard work.”
As she steps into this new role, Salley’s excitement about working with both students and staff is evident.
“It’s really nice to also be able to build relationships with new staff and I hope to be able to help the staff reach the levels of achievement that they want to reach,” Salley says. “Tubman is very important at CCS. It was our first school. And so just thinking about how I can push this school forward and work with different teachers and different kids is awesome.”