While attending K-12 Title I public schools just miles north of the San Diego-Tijuana border, Sofía knew she would go to college. As a First Gen student, she did not know how to get there. She proactively sought out support and successfully matriculated to and graduated from college while many of her peers did not. While in college, Sofía learned about deeply embedded systemic inequities contributing to a low representation of students who looked like her. While working on her dissertation, she witnessed conditions leading to these outcomes but she couldn’t interfere with her study. This didn’t feel right, which led her to pursue a career in K-12.
Sofía sought to better understand the world of practice and engage in systems change by becoming an educator. As a teacher, she designed meaningful learning experiences for students in their Spanish class at High Tech High. While teaching, her passion project was establishing a First Gen mentorship program between First Gen students & staff to provide additional support to college-going seniors.
For the past four years, Sofía has served as an improvement coach. She works with school site teams composed of counselors, teachers, and administrators to improve college access for students furthest from opportunity. She also collaborates with middle school teams to improve 8th grade on-track rates through the CARE Network and co-leads professional development for Spanish teachers across the High Tech High organization.
In an effort to give back to the next generation of changemakers, Sofía founded a non-profit organization, the Just4Dust Foundation. In collaboration with the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) and with support from community partners, the Just4Dust Foundation supports low-income student athletes on their path to college through academic scholarships.
Dr. Tannenhaus holds a preliminary administrative credential and a clear single subject teaching credential in Spanish. She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in Education from UC Berkeley and her B.A. in Sociology from UC San Diego. And she earned her most important title in 2020: Mom.