Fakoneiry Perez graduated from The Beacon School in New York with honors in mathematics and language. She is currently a student at Dartmouth College where she has held several leadership positions. Perez interned at the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Early Learning during the winter of 2014 and summer of 2014, funded by the Rockefeller Center and Henry Leach '28 Memorial Fund. At the Department of Education, she assisted with developing and administering the new Preschool Development Grant program. The internship experience provided Perez valuable insights into education policy and federal education programs to help further her career goals in the education field.

1. Fakoneiry Perez graduated from The Beacon School in New York, NY with Honors in Mathematics and Language. She currently attends Dartmouth as a QuestBridge Scholarship recipient, where she served as the Head Delegate and Director of Logistics for Dartmouth’s Chapter of the Ivy Council. In addition, Perez has been a Spanish and Italian drill instructor for three years and a tutor for America Reads. She is also Philanthropy Chair for her chapter of the Tri Delta Sorority and the Panhellenic Council at Dartmouth. She worked for the Academic Skills Center as the student intern for three terms. Perez interned at the Department of Education’s Office of Early Learning during the winter of 2014. She plans to major in Italian with a minor in Government and Education and plans to graduate with an Elementary Teaching Certification. After graduating, Perez plans to teach and pursue a career in education policy.
Fakoneiry was funded by the Rockefeller Center for a Summer 2014 Internship, with generous support from the Henry Leach ’28 Memorial Fund.
Executive Summary from Fakoneiry’s final report: The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Early Learning formulates and administers the federal government’s policies and programs that pertain to early childhood education, namely preschool. The Department administers and develops federal programs to help states provide better, high-quality education for various types and grades of students. While I was an intern at this office, both during this past winter and summer, I worked on the new Preschool Development Grant (PDG), which was recently announced by Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on August 13, 2014. The grants allow states to build, develop, and expand voluntary, high-quality preschool programs in high-need communities for children from low- and moderate-income families. As an intern in this office, I worked with the staff members to develop the grant application process, review applications for the individuals who would review the grant
“This internship was extremely helpful for my academic and professional interests.”
[HENRY LEACH ’28 MEMORIAL FUND PUBLIC POLICY INTERN PROFILE]

2. applications, and contributed to the public roll-out strategy for the grants competition. I also worked on various other projects for the office, including the newsletter.
This internship was extremely helpful for my academic and professional interests. I am currently enrolled in Dartmouth’s Teacher Education Program (TEP), and will be receiving a teaching certification for K-8. After receiving my certification, I plan on teaching for a few years, while also obtaining my masters degree in education policy. Following this, I hope to work for the Department of Education or another similarly oriented organization to push forward education reform in this country. My experiences this summer have given me great insight into the world of education policy, as well as invaluable experience in developing and administering federal education programs. The lessons I learned in this internship have already proved helpful in my certification process and my studies in the education field. I was also able to get a better understanding of the connection between the legislative and executive branches in the development of these federal programs, knowledge which will help me when I start my career in education policy.
I would like to thank the Rockefeller Center for their support during this internship experience and for the training they provided me before starting my internship. I would also like to thank the Henry Leach ’28 Memorial Fund for supporting my internship.
Fakoneiry Perez ’15 with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan at the U.S. Department of Education.