John Stack started working at Towpath Trail High School as a social studies teacher back in 2001. By 2007, John had been promoted to principal, and he helped guide the school through their transition to a new management company and location in 2012. John then joined Cambridge Education's management team, eventually overseeing all of their schools. In 2018, John launched Oakmont Education with the goal of reimagining what schools could do for their students. "Cambridge focused on opening new schools,  but we wanted to focus on quality and student outcomes.”

He also wanted to go beyond helping young people who were at risk of dropping out to earn their high school diploma. He wanted to help them get a career. “Ninety-five percent of our students are living in poverty and a high school diploma wasn’t enough, but helping them earn an industry credential and a $15-$20 an hour job right out of high school is life changing.”

Getting to Know John

Childhood memory: My mom taking my brother and me to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown
Food: Pizza, love it all, but favorites include Luigis (Akron) and Siciliano's (Ravenna)
Sport: Football and Baseball...choosing one would be like saying you love one of your kids more than the other
Sports team:  Indians and Browns...see above
Vacation destination: Kauai

What is your ‘Why’?

My first job after college was working at a juvenile halfway house in Akron while I was attending graduate school. I didn't choose the job for any reason other than it worked with my school schedule, but it ended up changing my entire career path. I loved the kids I worked with and several of them attended a dropout recovery high school. After touring the school with a few of the kids I worked with, I immediately decided to go back to school to get my teaching license. I've worked in dropout recovery schools ever since.