David Branson

David started out as a child. He was born, as most are, to parents and those parents informed a great deal of his upbringing. After attending high school in a tiny town, he attended University of Michigan, where he learned that school choice is important. During college, he took time to live in Egypt and study Arabic, and volunteered at St. Andrew’s Church, which provided school and housing for Sudanese refugees. It was there that he decided if a person wanted something done, the best move was to do something about it rather than create a plan for someone else to implement. He moved to New York to teach (two years, TFA) and thought he was most fulfilled by teaching high school. That was true until he found Rise, and there realized that teaching was about more than an age. In the time he’s been at Rise, he has moved twice, been married once (and is still,) has two sons (Will, 4, and Desmond, 1,) taken three different roles in the school (teacher, two years; teacher/GLC, three years; AP, one year; School Leader, four years.) He loves working at Rise (the way one loves one’s family,) loves working for KIPP NJ (the way one loves one’s extended family.) He previously participated in KSLP through Successor Prep, and in Fall 2019 he’s opening KIPP NJ’s second high school. David casually plays soccer, basketball, and ultimate on varying levels of seriousness and competitiveness. He doesn’t traditionally speak in the third person.