A Child-Centered, Inquiry-Driven Approach to Academic Learning
Based in the Reggio Emilia philosophy and honoring the legacies of Frederick Douglass and Florida Ruffin Ridley, learning at the Douglass Ridley School is a collaborative and dynamic process that honors the natural curiosities and interests of children. We believe that when students have a voice in their learning, they develop a deep sense of ownership, agency, and joy in discovery.
Our students leave us empowered to make sense of the world—and prepared with all of the skills necessary to make a difference within it.
Meet Our Team
Founder
Courtney Swartz has spent more than 20 years in urban public education. She started as a classroom teacher, grades 1 through 6, in Washington D.C., Chicago, and Boston, then moved into leadership: Assistant Principal for grades 3-5 at Brooke Charter School,
one of Massachusetts's highest-performing charter networks, Dean of Curriculum and Instruction at UP Academy Holland, and Academic Director at UP Education Network, where she oversaw teaching and learning across multiple K-8 schools.
She's spent two decades inside systems built to close achievement gaps, and she's seen exactly where those systems still fail the kids who need them most. Now a parent of two young children, she founded The Douglass Ridley School to build something different: a place where kids are known, not managed, and where curiosity drives the learning instead of a pacing guide.
Pedagogista
Lisa Goddard (she/her) is a PhD Fellow in Reggio Childhood Studies at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and Fondazione Reggio Children in Italy, where she received funding from the Lego Foundation for her research
on play and environmental education in early childhood. Lisa holds a Master of Education in Early Childhood Education from Boston University, a Master of Science in Applied Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh (Scotland), and a Bachelor of Arts in Language and Social Behavior from Brown University. She received a Fulbright grant in 2014 to teach English in Taiwan, and interned in the English Language Programme at the United Nations Headquarters in New York in 2016, before moving to Italy to teach in a bilingual Reggio-inspired school in 2017. Lisa loves learning languages, and speaks Italian, Mandarin, Spanish, and American Sign Language (to varying degrees). When she's not at school, Lisa loves to hike, dance, travel, and spend time with her dogs.
