Jo Napolitano Email & Phone Number

New York, Ny, Us

I am thrilled to help recruit journalists for the Spencer Education Fellowship program at Columbia University. The Spencer program, for full-time participants, provides a generous stipend and a year of study at one of the most renowned educational institutions in the world — plus funding to help bring projects to fruition. I was a Spencer in 2016/2017 and the program not only helped me write a successful book on immigration (The School I Deserve, Beacon Press, 2021) but greatly expanded my connections in academia. I am honored to find the next round of fellows for this life-changing program.

I was incredibly grateful to win this fellowship earlier this year. The grant that came with it funded one of the most impactful stories of my career about educational discrimination against immigrant youth. Of the 630 high schools I called to enroll a 19-year-old newcomer, 330 turned him away, including more than 200 instances where he had a legal right to attend according to his age. The fellowship allowed me to hire a fact-checked for this beast of a project, a freelance photographer, a Spanish language translator — and also funded my trip to South Carolina, where I found a young immigrant who could talk about what it was like to be turned away from school. I owe so much to EWA.

New York City

I'm thrilled to write about public education for a news organization run by one of my most beloved mentors, Jim Roberts, formerly of The New York Times. I write on many topics, but often about immigrant students. One of my recent pieces about Ukrainian and Russian refugees appeared in The Guardian. I started freelancing for The74 in April 2020, near the start of the pandemic, writing primarily for Andrew Brownstein. I was so impressed by his work that I decided to apply for a full-time position with the company. I was hired in the fall of 2021 and now write for Kathy Moore, another truly gifted editor. I've done some of my best work with The74 and I'm proud to share it at jonapolitano.com.

New York City Metropolitan Area

Wrote about student mental health, a pop-up school in Mexico for asylum seekers and about the impact of immigrant students on American schools.

I have spent the past several months mentoring two fabulous graduate students as they complete projects on student mental health and on a school geared toward preserving Native American language and culture.

New York City Metropolitan Area

Wrote about pandemic's impact on education, esp for English Language Learners.

I was named an Education Writers Association Reporting Fellow on May 6, 2020. The generous grant that comes with the fellowship will allow me more time and resources to investigate the myriad ways in which immigrant youth are often shunted into inferior educational programs.

Brooklyn

After completing a highly competitive Spencer Education Fellowship at Columbia University in June 2017, I am currently writing a book on the education of immigrant children in American public schools. This is the culmination of three years of independent research on the topic plus a year of study at Columbia's Journalism School, Teachers College and School of International and Public Affairs. My work focuses mainly on refugees, the undocumented and unaccompanied minors. It takes a hard look at the cost of failing to educate this growing group of students and how schools are incentivized to turn them away.

Brooklyn County, New York, United States

Won generous grant to support research and writing on educational discrimination against immigrant children.

New York City

As one of only four reporters selected from across the globe as a Spencer Fellow, I will be paid to take a year’s worth of master’s level classes at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Teachers College with the goal of writing a long-form story or book on the education of immigrant and refugee children in the U.S. I spent the fall studying ethics, investigative techniques and forced migration. I recently was admitted to Sam Freedman's book writing course and also plan to study bilingual education in the upcoming semester.

Melville, New York

NEWSDAY, Melville, NY Dec. 2010 to Aug. 2016Special Writer, Public Education, Climate Change, Sandy Recovery, Breaking News- Write breaking new for the web - Cover national, state and regional education policy/funding. - Write about climate change, including adaptation and mitigation efforts here and around the world.- Craft long-term projects; spent 6 months in 2011 with a 9/11 worker whose time at Ground Zero left him struggling to breathe a decade later. Spent four months tracking federal funding for Sandy Recovery, leading our year-anniversary coverage.

ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY, Argonne, Ill. Oct. 2009 to Present Media Specialist - Recruited for journalism experience to bring media attention to projects funded with federal stimulus money; recognized by the Department of Energy for creating the best media campaign of its kind, setting the standard for all other national laboratories. - Write features on the latest developments in physics, chemistry, biology and environmental science while focusing on the people behind the discoveries.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE, Chicago, Ill. Sept. 2004 to April 2009Staff Reporter - Covered local education, crime and poverty with a focus on public school corruption. - Contributed stories to national section including breaking news and features. - Appeared on CNN, MSNBC and FOX News for high-profile missing-persons case. - Regularly updated stories for the Internet. - Shot video for posting on Web site.

THE NEW YORK TIMES, Chicago, Ill. April 2002 to Sept. 2004 Full-time freelancer/researcher, national desk - Reported on crime, politics, urban issues, technology, sports and culture. - Regularly contributed to Business section, including profiles of CEOs and retail giants.- Contributed extensively to coverage of American casualties in Iraq war.

THE MONITOR, McAllen, Texas Feb. 2000 to April 2002Staff Reporter - Covered government and education for 55,000-circulation newspaper on Mexican border. - Served as Sunday editor and Statehouse reporter for 2001 Legislative Session.

THE SOUTHAMPTON PRESS, Southampton, N.Y. Sept. 1998 to April 2000Staff Reporter - Covered regional politics, education and environmental issues for 22,000-circulation weekly.

Fellowship, Immigrant Education

As a Spencer Education Fellow, I'll audit several courses throughout the university to further my research on immigrant education.

Bachelors, Journalism

Activities and Societies: NEWSDAY, Long Island, N.Y. Winter and Summer, 1997 While at Northwestern, I completed two internships at Newsday.