About Me

Annie Smith has spent 25 years working with recent immigrants and refugees in both New York City schools and through the International Rescue Committee. More recently she was part of a small team that developed a specialized curriculum and teacher training for Students with Interrupted Formal Education (SIFE) at the behest of the NY State Department of Education. She contributed significantly to the thinking that honed an understanding of SIFE with Developing literacy and to the theoretical framework that undergirds the Bridges curriculum. Annie has developed and led innovative teacher training and provided technical support to schools around programming, intake, and instruction for English Learners and SIFE.

She leads her educational consulting practice, Bright Minds, and is interested in conversations and collaboration with others working to advance access for Multilingual Learners and Students with Interrupted Formal Education.