Former NYC principal, Nadia Lopez, has been banned from the school she founded due to ‘unauthorized’ visits.
Lopez was reportedly met with aggression when she returned to Mott Hall Bridges Academy on Apr. 13. She founded the inner-city public school, which has a “STEM” curriculum of arts combined with science, technology and math, in 2010.
“I was told that my presence creates tension. I literally was told that I shouldn’t come back,” she said in a video that was recorded after she left the institution.
Since then, she has been under investigation by the Department Of Education (DOE) for allegedly making “unauthorized” campus visits.
Officials also accused Lopez of taking photos of students without permission and posting images on her Instagram page.
She took to Twitter on May 1 to tell her side of the story.
I was banned from @MottHallBridges: a school I founded, after a recent visit with a graduate and cancer survivor who wanted to see her former math teacher,” she wrote.
I was banned from @MottHallBridges, a school I founded, after a recent visit with a graduate and cancer survivor who wanted to see her former Math teacher.https://t.co/pDOX9jJ2Ty
— Dr. Nadia Lopez (@TheLopezEffect) May 1, 2022
“We were near the school to film a segment for a documentary that featured @EboneeDavis, to show her activism and support of Black girls. Laquana and I were being featured to show our intragenerational connection—my mentorship of Ebonee and Laquana’s recent trip with her to Ghana.”
We were near the school to film a segment for a documentary that featured @EboneeDavis, to show her activism and support of Black girls. Laquana and I were being featured to show our intragenerational connection—my mentorship of Ebonee and Laquana’s recent trip with her to Ghana. pic.twitter.com/fOLiIarRPy
— Dr. Nadia Lopez (@TheLopezEffect) May 1, 2022
Davis, a Seattle-born model and activist, appeared on season 18 of America’s Next Top Model.
Lopez added that the cancer survivor attended Mott Hall when she was diagnosed. As such, she wanted to reunite with her.
“Laquana was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 while in high school. She always found @MottHallBridges to be a school that was a refuge, with supportive adults and a place to call home. This was the touching moment when she was reunited with Ms. Graham during our visit.”
Laquana, who was diagnosed with cancer in 2016 while in high school. She always found @MottHallBridges to be a school that was a refuge, with supportive adults, and a place to call home. This was the touching moment when she was reunited with Ms. Graham, during our visit. pic.twitter.com/Jdlm6YIkR7
— Dr. Nadia Lopez (@TheLopezEffect) May 1, 2022
She continued, saying that she introduced the graduate to her former school’s principal during her visit.
“During our brief visit, I introduced Laquana to the acting principal and shared that we were in the neighborhood to film a documentary and that she wanted to see a former teacher.
They chatted about Laquana’s trip to Ghana and learned that the principal was from Nigeria.
During our brief visit, I introduced Laquana to the acting principal and shared that we were in neighborhood to film a documentary and that she wanted to see a former teacher. They chatted about Laquana’s trip to Ghana and learned that the principal was from Nigeria. pic.twitter.com/FQFe5zX01q
— Dr. Nadia Lopez (@TheLopezEffect) May 1, 2022
The now-21-year-old woman expressed how disappointed she was in Mott Hall’s staff for saying Lopez wasn’t welcome.
“I was shocked. I felt bad for Ms. Lopez, knowing she wasn’t allowed to come back to the school she built. It was pretty sad,” she said.
The Brownsville high school’s founder wrote an email to its officials regarding their sentiments towards her.
“Those currently appointed to the role of [Mott Hall Bridges] leadership by the DOE have no idea what it means to be a part of something that was created to defy mediocrity and the status quo,” she said in the email.
Lopez initially left Mott Hall in 2021, after ten years of serving as its principal, due to her battle with an autoimmune kidney disease. Doctors reportedly attributed the illness to work-related stress, as she had to work 12 to 14-hour shifts while running her school.
She previously went viral on the popular 2010s photoblog, Humans Of New York, after one of her students told the outlet that she positively impacted his life. Readers then donated almost $1.4 million to Mott Hall’s students so they could visit prominent institutions of higher learning around the U.S., including the famed Ivy League university, Harvard.
In 2016, Lopez published a book about her path to opening her school in a notoriously dangerous neighborhood during a very tumultuous time in Brooklyn. The book “The Bridge to Brilliance: How One Principal in a Tough Community Is Inspiring the World” was released in 2016.
