Dr. Commons began his lifelong career of working with and for children as a Child Care Specialist in his home state of Indiana. Humbled by this important, but under-appreciated work, he began to explore the ways in which children learn, grow, and are often misunderstood. After his teacher training at Ball State University Teachers College, he worked as an elementary school teacher and then migrated from his Indiana roots to Chicago to take on the challenge of clinical special education in an urban hospital setting. His deep work with children and their families piqued his curiosity about how to prepare teachers to be influential in the lives of their students, and he left the classroom to pursue academia. While acquiring his Ph.D. at UIC, he had the opportunity to coordinate an alternative certification program for urban special education teachers in Chicago and to teach as part of the College of Education faculty. This work provided Dr. Commons with a valuable perspective on the complexity of the teaching profession and inspired him to return to the classroom and teach in the charter schools in Chicago.
As Dean of Scholars at Rowe Elementary, Dr. Commons revamped and oversaw the implementation of the scholar culture program at the school, creating significant measurable improvements in the school’s climate. As he transitioned to Assistant Principal at Rowe, his leadership work was recognized by the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, who recognized him as the state’s Charter Innovator of the Year in 2012.
Dr. Commons has been honored and privileged to be a part of the founding team at Valor. Outside of Valor, he loves all things culinary (especially the eating part!), reading a great piece of fiction, and playing with his Great Dane, Wyatt.