Ruth Quiles

Cahn Fellow 2007

Principal, P.S. 131

Brooklyn, New York

Ruth Quiles was a member of the fifth Cahn Fellows cohort in 2007 as Principal of P.S. 131 in Brooklyn, NY.

Ruth is a recipient of Time Warner’s Principals of Excellence Award (2007).  In 2017 Ruth also received honorable mention in Entertainers 4 Educational Alliance Principal Soiree. In June 2019 her school earned the distinction of being a Recognition School by the New York State Education Department. She spent thirty-four years in the NYC educational system where she held the following positions: special education teacher, crisis intervention teacher, assistant principal and principal of both a middle and an elementary school.  Ruth was given an elementary school that was on the School in Need of Improvement list (SINI) and quickly turned it around and it continues to thrive today. It is considered a Teachers College Model School today. The professional learning community that Ruth created enabled PS 131, a large elementary school with over forty percent English as a new language learners (ENLS), to make continuous improvement and meet their AYP targets. The success of this school was assisted by the culture along with rituals and routines she modeled and facilitated. Ruth is a good listener and observer who utilizes all types of data to make informed decisions which impact both student and professional learning. Ruth retired from NYC DOE in 2019.