KSTF Staff

Zora Mackiewicz-Wolfe Program Officer, Biology Knowles Science Teaching Foundation

Zora Wolfe was born in Hong Kong, and grew up in upstate New York. She graduated from Binghamton University with a BS in Psychobiology. During college she was active in coaching competitive gymnastics and served as the Class Coordinator at Owego Scamps Gymnastics.  After graduating from college, she became a kindergarten teacher and curriculum developer at a private American school in Taipei, Taiwan, creating and implementing a three-year science-based curriculum for teaching English to young non-native speakers. 

Upon returning to the US, Zora earned her MA from Columbia University, Teachers College, in Secondary Science Education. She taught high school math and science in New York City, and then moved to Denver, Colorado. In Denver, Zora joined the opening staff of a charter high school, teaching biology, chemistry, and algebra. The school was created to serve a diverse population of students, focusing on maintaining small class sizes and preparing all students for college. 

At the charter school, Zora also had the opportunity to participate in the development of the curriculum for math and science, and mentoring and evaluating beginning teachers as the Curriculum Director.  She also developed a senior seminar class to assist all students in applying for and succeeding in college after graduation, since many students were first generation high school graduates.  As her interest in school leadership grew, Zora completed her administrative licensure at the University of Denver, with an internship at a large public high school. She had the unique pleasure of continuing at the charter school as principal, successfully attaining a five-year recharter through demonstrating positive student academic growth in the School Continuous Improvement Plan.  In addition, Zora has served as Interim Assistant Principal at a middle school and a K-8 school. 

Zora has been a member of the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) and the Colorado Association of School Executives (CASE). She is excited to join KSTF as a Biology Program Officer where she is part of the team that is responsible for guiding the KSTF fellows in becoming professional high school science teachers. She can be reached at zwolfe@kstf.org.