New Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels spent his first morning at his new job with students and teachers P.S./M.S. 194 in the Bronx — familiar territory for the new leader of America’s largest public school system.
Samuels, who was recently appointed chancellor by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, began his educational career at P.S./M.S. 194 in 2001 as a sixth-grade math teacher. The school, located in Westchester Square, serves students from kindergarten to eighth grade and houses a secondary school for children with severe special education needs.
The new chancellor listened to parents’ concerns about wanting to be more involved in the classroom, as well as discussing the need for teachers to have more resources available to them. He even heard from a concerned fourth grader who asked Samuels to fix her school’s playground that “wasn’t fancy.”
Samuels recalled how difficult it was to be a teacher, spending hours planning his students’ lessons.
“We need to help teachers have a roadmap,” he said during the community listening session. Additionally, it can begin when they first graduate from their teaching programs or through mentorships within their own schools.
“That’s the only thing that helped me get better,” Samuels added.
How Samuels reached the top of NYC public schools
Chancellor Samuels was born in Jamaica and moved to New York City at the age of 16.
Samuels didn’t always want to be a teacher. He studied accounting at Baruch College and worked as a finance manager at the National Basketball Association. He described the moment he knew he wanted to be a teacher to be an “aha moment” in an exclusive interview with the Bronx Times.
Samuels studied to be an accountant because he knew he was good at math but while in college, he tutored disabled students and felt a draw to helping others.
“Quite frankly, I hated it,” Samuels said about working as a finance manager.
“I remember being in the train one day, coming up on the 4 train, and I looked up and there was an ad that said ‘You remember your first grade teacher’s name. Who will remember yours?’ That night, I filled out the [teacher educator program] application and in three months, I was in a classroom,” he said.
Samuels added that he’s excited to implement policies that will lower class sizes and increase programs that will attract more professionals to become teachers.
After making a difference in classrooms, Samuels went on to serve as principal of the Bronx Writing Academy, senior leadership roles within New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) and later as a deputy superintendent in Brooklyn and superintendent in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene, Brooklyn Heights, Clinton Hill and parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant along with Manhattan’s Upper West Side, Morningside Heights and parts of Harlem.
He then led his district to implement NYC Reads—an initiative that contributed to a 5% increase in literacy outcomes.
In addition, he led school integration efforts through rezoning, mergers of small schools co-located in the same building, and other “culturally responsive educational practices,” according to the New York City Department of Education.
Samuels has also led efforts to move away from gifted and talented programs amid concerns from parents about racial disparities within the program and preferred to implement International Baccalaureate (IB) programs districtwide as a more inclusive approach to gifted education for talented students.
Samuels spent the day going around the school’s campus, popping his head into classrooms to see what the students were working on. On occasion, he would revert to teacher mode, trying to help students with their work. At the end of his tour, school administrators surprised him with a visit to his old classroom.
He looked around his old sixth-grade classroom, seemingly to take it all in. “Wow,” Samuels said. “I can’t believe this was it.”
One of Samuels’ star students, Abdulla Mumen— who is now an Assistant Director of Finance at Montefiore Health System — said it was Samuels’ belief in him that made him want to succeed. It was Samuels who helped Mumen make the honor roll for the first time
“We grew up at a time when our fathers couldn’t spend a lot of time with us because they were busy working,” Mumen said. “He [Samuels] started a curriculum where we played soccer in the morning, soccer in the afternoon.”
Mumen added that Samuel’s routine taught him discipline and how to prepare for the real world. He continues those lessons 19 years after the class ended.
“This is part of the reason I’m successful, it’s because I have people like him [Samuels] in my life,” he said. “This man had a big impact on me. One of the best math teachers I ever had.”
During the community listening session, Samuels said as the new Chancellor, his highest priority is to listen to parents’ concerns and engage them in the process of their students’ learning much earlier than they have been.
Samuels said his team will be visiting all five boroughs of NYC and 45 districts to hear more from parents, teachers, and schools about their needs. “We’re here today to hit the ground listening,” he said.
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