Rachel Stead is currently the interim director of ENL and refugee students in the City School District of Albany. She is also the founding principal of the Albany International Academy, which began in 2017 as an alternative, transitional program for newcomer students in grades 6-12. In 2021, the school was expanded to include elementary newcomer programming as well as dual language programming in grades preK-5. Stead has nearly three decades of experience in education in rural, suburban, and urban settings. Prior to her work in Albany, she was an academic administrator for ENL and world languages in the Shenendehowa Central School District as well as the director of the Capital Region Bilingual Education Resource Network. Before becoming an administrator, she taught English as a New Language and Spanish. She holds an MS in TESOL and has completed work toward her PhD in curriculum and instruction at the University at Albany.