“No Room to Fail”: How Briana Holmes Went from Substitute to SpEd Leader at E.L. Haynes
Briana Holmes didn’t plan on becoming a Special Education powerhouse. When she first walked into E.L. Haynes Public Charter School, she was a substitute teacher simply trying to figure out if education was her true calling.
What she didn’t expect was for school leadership to spot her potential before she fully recognized it herself.
Assistant Principal Manga saw something in Briana and immediately pushed her to raise her career ceiling. “It’s like, you’re just a sub, but they wanted me to be full-blown,” Briana recalls.
Haynes didn’t just offer her a job; they built a custom runway for her career. The school sponsored her Special Education Fellowship, provided rigorous training, and surrounded her with veteran educators. Today, in her third year, Briana is a 7th-grade special education teacher, a 7th-grade co-lead, and a specialized instruction coach-in-training.
The Antidote to SpEd Burnout: The “Back Pocket” Support System
For developing Special Education teachers, the administrative demands of case management, compliance, and IEP drafting can feel overwhelming. At Haynes, the infrastructure is intentionally designed to ensure you never feel marooned on an island.
“There is no room to fall or fail here,” Briana says. “Because you will always have somebody in your back pocket to pull from.”
How Haynes Leaders Support Developing SpEd Teachers:
• Dual-Layer Coaching: Teachers receive content-specific coaching (like math data) alongside dedicated special education coaching.
• Structural Compliance Checks: Leadership explicitly schedules check-ins to support you through case management, writing IEP goals, and progress monitoring.
• Autonomy to Pivot: When Briana told leadership she wanted to try instructional coaching this year, they didn’t just say yes—they wrapped a feedback loop of multiple leaders around her to ensure her success.
Radical Inclusion: Co-Teaching as an Anti-Bullying Strategy
In many traditional school settings, special education can feel segregated. Students are frequently pulled out of class, inadvertently creating social divides. Haynes flips this script through a deeply integrated co-teaching model.
“We practice a high level of inclusion,” Briana explains. “If you walk into our classrooms, you would never know who the general education teacher is and who the special education teacher is. You don’t know who is getting what support.”
This seamless differentiation doesn’t just empower students academically—it acts as an organic barrier against stigma. No child is singled out; every learning style is accommodated right at the board.
High-Octane Relationships: Legos, Formula 1, and 90s Cassettes
For Briana, exceptional pedagogy is built entirely on a foundation of trust. “Relationships are 50% of how you teach,” she notes. “Once students trust you and know you understand them, they lean in. They lock in during math class because they know they can trust me.”
That trust isn’t built on rigid formalities; it’s built on real human connection. Briana recalls a group of boys she initially worried she might struggle to connect with. Today, they bond over a shared obsession with Formula 1 racing and Legos.
That authentic culture extends to the staff room, too. Whether the team is debating their favorite 90s music—Briana is fiercely loyal to Aaliyah’s One in a Million—or leadership is checking in on your weekend plans, the building runs on mutual investment.
“Even if you walk into the building with your head down,” Briana says, “all it takes is a colleague saying, ‘Good morning! Hey, you were supposed to go to Chipotle on Friday. How was it? What did you get?’ It makes you feel remembered. It builds culture.”
The Reality: Hard Work, High Reward
Briana doesn’t sugarcoat the profession: “This work is hard. You have to have perseverance.” But if you are an educator driven by student-centric impact and looking for an administration that will actively fund and champion your upward mobility, the choice is clear.
“Everything I needed to succeed was already right here in the building,” Briana says. “All I had to do was ask.”
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