Iram Shaikh-Jilani

Brighter Horizons Academy
Garland, Texas
dr.iram@bhaprep.org

Dr. Iram Shaikh-Jilani has served as principal for a total of 16 years, the last five of which have been at Brighter Horizons Academy. In only two years of Shaikhi’s leadership, student achievement jumped 30 percent in reading and in math in the Measure of Academic Progress (MAP). As a result, Brighter Horizons Academy is in the 90th percentile in MAPs. Additionally, every individual student’s performance improved thanks to Shaikh’s focused and centered approach to leadership. Shaikh undertook the project of providing tenured teachers with support around identifying performance gaps and creating individual data teams for each student, their parents, and their teacher. Focused on well-rounded improvement, Shaikh also encouraged staff to examine their motives and intentions around their role as teachers. She motivates the team by open communications and authentic relationships as performance climbs. In addition to her work as a respected and balanced leader, Shaikh has led over seven accreditations in the past five years across three different schools. At Brighter Horizons Academy, she has led all three accreditations of CISNA, AdvancED, and International Baccalaureate–Primary Years Program. Shaikh takes the role of service in education seriously, spending many evenings and weekends supporting students via phone, Zoom, and text, as well as prioritizing work with “at risk” students and underfunded schools internationally and domestically. Shaikh holds a Certification from the Texas Superintendent Program, a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Northeastern University, an M.B.A from Averett University, and a B.A. in Political Science from Virginia Commonwealth University.