Errol C. Saunders, II is a doctoral student in the department of Curriculum and Teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University and a faculty member at The School at Columbia, where he teaches on the Grade 8 team. Errol holds a B.A. in Political Science from Yale University where he studied the relationships between cities and suburbs with regard to equity, economics, and the environment. His current research interests include public pedagogies of race and how going to school across geographic boundaries affects students’ educational experiences and outcomes.
Errol was a faculty member at Hopkins School in New Haven, CT from 2006 to 2016. During that time, he taught ancient history to seventh and eighth graders—a curriculum he was instrumental in developing. He also taught New Haven history to eleventh and twelfth graders where he developed a thematic curriculum stressing local field trips, primary sources, and the effects of New Haveners’ historical problem solving. Additionally, Errol served on the financial aid and admissions committees, was a student adviser in the Junior School, and served as the Head Adviser of the Class of 2021.
Errol believes that wholesale engagement in civil society can strengthen communities. He began working with middle schoolers at Pathfinder (nee Summerbridge) New Haven in the summer of 2004. An educational non-profit hosted by Hopkins School, Pathfinder specializes in preparing students from New Haven public and parochial schools for high school success. He continued that work as a Yale President’s Public Service Fellow in 2005, during his tenure as a Hopkins faculty member, and continues working with the program every year as the Co-Director of the summer program.
Errol has served on the boards of the Ulysses S. Grant Program, the New Haven Land Trust, and the Urban Resources Initiative. Today, he serves on the Board of Directors of Common Ground, a social and environmental justice high school, urban farm, and environmental center in New Haven. Errol regularly cycles in the Rock to Rock Earth Day Ride and moonlights as a bicycle tour guide for the International Festival of Arts and Ideas.
