Page 12, Our Impact.

Amy Oliver

Principal, Monroe Elementary

Amy is a maverick. When she was brought on to lead Monroe in 2013, she inherited a tense environment. The school had experienced three leadership changes in one year. The staff was entirely white, whereas about 80% of the students were Black, brown, and/or Native American. Fortunately, Amy was a fan of taking big swings, and one of her first was bringing Black Men Teach on as a partner in its first year of operations.

Since then, Monroe has attracted and retained 20 teachers of color. In 2021, Amy was a top-three finalist nominated to represent Minnesota in the National Distinguished Principal Awards. In 2023, the Minnesota Business Partnership awarded Monroe $75,000 as part of its Minnesota’s Future Award, given to

high-performing schools implementing innovative practices. In 2024, Magnet Schools of America recognized Monroe as its School of Distinction out of more than 4,000 candidates nationwide. Also that year, nearly 200 parents volunteered almost 800 hours at Monroe to support their teachers during the six months the district’s educators worked without a contract.
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“In partnering with Black Men Teach, I have been reflective on my own practice as a leader. Staff are reflecting on how they treat other people, what kind of biases they have, and how is that coming off. Being able to have conversations about your practice and how your school is operating – I welcome all that feedback.”

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