"What I have come to understand about Jess is this: She is a teacher first. Her work is always grounded in strong instructional practice. Her professional development courses are rich in both content, and pedagogy. Jess models high quality instruction for teachers, and is able to do that because she has a deep understanding of instruction herself. For me, Jess’s leadership in BPS is hugely important for this reason: She brings to the district the qualities that all schools should be able to expect of their leaders: experience, knowledge, relationships, and deep sense of purpose."