West began her career after earning a Bachelor of Arts in English from the State University of New York at Albany. She earned two master’s degrees — one in multicultural education from Iona University and another in school counseling from Long Island University — and a doctorate in executive leadership from St. John Fisher University. Her doctoral dissertation examined African American women in New York State who became school superintendents.
West taught English at Ramapo High School in the East Ramapo Central School District and worked in the district for 28 years. After roughly a decade in the classroom, she was appointed assistant principal at Ramapo High School. In 2020 she became assistant superintendent of secondary education, a role in which the transcript says she oversaw five secondary schools and continued leading student programs.
Programs West led or helped create include Career Day, College Week, English-as-a-New-Language programming, E and L Night, and the My Brother’s Keeper (MBK) initiative; the transcript also references programs described as Bridal Recovery and Smart Scholars. The record indicates she has been credited with helping increase graduation rates through those programs.
West has received recognitions noted in the record including an award from Congressman Mike Lawler and the Arthur L. Walton Jr. Alumni Award for distinguished executive leadership from St. John Fisher University. After retiring she founded AW Education Consulting to provide guidance and training to parents, schools and education leaders. The transcript also records her membership in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and Phi Delta Kappa and says she continues to work on issues of social justice, economic development and advocacy.
The meeting transcript includes a short question-and-answer exchange asking which positions West held in the East Ramapo Central School District, what the word “dissertation” means, and to name two programs available to high school students in the district. The transcript does not record additional details such as precise program budgets, staffing levels, or the specific date of the meeting where this biography was read.
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