Educator Spotlight: From Engineering to International School Leadership

Katie Ahmadzai is the principal of NorthStar Academy, an international online Christian school and an alumna of the Baylor Master of Arts in School Leadership (MASL) program. She didn’t start her career with that title in mind though. She studied electrical engineering at Baylor, and Ahmadzai said her professors noticed the joy she had when teaching others. 

“My professors encouraged me to think about a career that could combine my love of math and science with teaching,” Ahmadzai said.

Ahmadzai ended up majoring in mathematics with a concentration in secondary education. After earning her undergraduate degree, she started teaching in Georgia. 

“I taught for two years in central Georgia before moving overseas to help start and teach at a school in Kabul, Afghanistan,” Ahmadzai said. “After four years, I moved back to the U.S. Soon thereafter, I started teaching at NorthStar Academy, which is a sister school to the school I was working with in Kabul.”

Over the past 11 years at NorthStar Academy, Ahmadzai has held many different roles including high school math teacher, curriculum author, curriculum coach, lead teacher, and now principal. As principal, she said her day is filled with conversations with students and teachers around the world, consistently thinking through how to build community in the school’s online setting, encouraging and supporting teachers, and celebrating the work that God is doing.

Having stayed connected with Baylor, Ahmadzai received an email about the new MASL program starting in the summer of 2021. 

“Although focusing on school leadership was not necessarily on my radar for a master’s degree, after reading through the description of the program and talking with Dr. Jon Eckert on a Zoom call, I knew that I wanted to be part of this program for my personal and professional growth,” Ahmadzai said. 

The MASL program led Ahmadzai to be involved with the Baylor Center for School Leadership (BCSL) due to connections among students and allies in both networks. 

“Being able to participate in the master’s program was truly life changing for me,” Ahmadzai said. “It has challenged me to daily reflect on where I am finding my identity as a teacher and a leader. And one of the biggest blessings of the master’s program is the network that I was able to build and continue to work with.”

In the summer of 2023, Ahmadzai and her school team were able to attend Just Schools Academy (JSA), a professional learning event hosted by the BCSL and designed for school teams to work on a shared problem of practice. 

“I truly appreciated the heart and motivation behind the work,” Ahmadzai said. “This was a wonderful time for our team to dig in with some of the tools that the BCSL provided to clarify some of our areas of growth and begin the process of implementing some changes to impact those areas.”

After JSA, participants are part of an improvement community over the next year for accountability and encouragement as they work through the plan outlined during the Academy.

“This change has had a huge impact on our culture,” Ahmadzai said. “Now, as new challenges arise, I feel like we have tools that can help us analyze the challenge as a team and then work together to develop a reasonable change idea and measurable goal with the understanding that this is a process, and things may need to flex as we continue to learn and grow throughout the school year.”

Ahmadzai said the collaborative nature of the BCSL’s work as well as the focus on consistent growth as a process is fascinating to her.

“I feel like I’m just starting the journey on what this looks like and how to make it work well, especially in an online school context,” Ahmadzai said. “But it is exactly what I would want to see happening at every school.”

Ahmadzai’s passion for education extends internationally, and she was eager to become involved in facilitating Networks through the BCSL that included schools across the globe. Since beginning her work with the BCSL, Ahmadzai has worked with school leaders from Central and South America, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

“Being able to hear the amazing work that our brothers and sisters are involved in around the globe brings me such joy! It’s exciting to be able to see the body of Christ coming together in such a way to serve those around them and shine God’s light into their communities,” Ahmadzai said. “While the beautiful diversity of cultures impacts the way in which different parts of the world may do this type of work, the core values and principles are the same.”

Ahmadzai added that the “norms” she learned through her work with the BCSL have impacted the way that she approaches not only leadership, but also her relationships with others. The “norms” she described are to;

• Start at the cross; 
• Don’t judge or fear being judged;
• Be present;
• Ask questions before giving feedback; and
• Learn and improve together.

“The fact that I can be part of a diverse, collaborative community of professional Christian educators that is focused on solid research and pedagogy and grounded in purpose on Christ’s love for each individual, make the Baylor Center for School Leadership stand out like a city on a hill,” Ahmadzai said. 

Ahmadzai continues to be an incredible asset to the BCSL Networks and Improvement Communities. She hopes to continue having teams involved in school improvement work both nationally and internationally. 

“I truly haven’t found any other programs that are doing this type of work that is focused on relationships, collaboration, and growth – both individually and collectively,” Ahmadzai said. “The network that I have found, and the connections I have made are truly invaluable.”