From Pillars to Portrait: Defining the Graduate of a Modern High School
From Pillars to Portrait: Defining the Graduate of a Modern High School
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Meeting Room 222
Across the country, states have introduced “Portrait of a Graduate” frameworks outlining broad competencies students should develop before leaving high school. While these frameworks provide helpful direction, schools must translate them into something more concrete: a clear vision of the kind of person their graduates should become and how the school experience produces that outcome. Vertex Partnership Academies, a public charter high school in the Bronx, built its academic model around four pillars: Agency, Virtue, the Classical Core, and the IB Career Programme. In year four of the school’s development, leaders stepped back to articulate the Portrait of a Vertex Graduate, defining eight domains of formation including character, intellect, civic life, communication, applied learning, agency, cultural fluency, and contemplation. This workshop explores how schools can move from broad state frameworks to a coherent, school-specific portrait that aligns curriculum, culture, and career pathways around a shared vision of student formation
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Presenters
Head of Talent, Teaching, and Learning
Vertex Partnership Academy
Michael Farkosh began his career in public education in 2006 as a high school English teacher in a migrant farming community in Arizona with Teach For America. He’s been a founding teacher and leader at three New York City public schools and has taught grades 5-11. Michael led Girls Prep Bronx Middle School to a Recognition School designation — reserved for schools with achievement and growth in the top 15% in the state — before serving as the Director of Humanities for a network of schools. Immediately prior to joining Vertex, Michael led learning and development for the Brand team, with staff in 27 countries, at Accenture, a professional services consulting firm. He has an undergraduate degree in political science, magna cum laude, and two master’s degrees, in secondary education and urban education leadership. He's conversationally proficient in Spanish, French, and Portuguese.
Executive Director & Head of School
Vertex Partnership Academies
**Brian Giglio** is the Executive Director of Vertex Partnership Academies and Head of School of Vertex, an International Baccalaureate high school in the Bronx built around a rigorous Classical Core, character formation, and career-connected learning. With nearly 20 years of experience in education, Brian has served as a teacher, instructional leader, school leader, and founding team member of schools in both Baltimore and New York. Since 2024, he has led Vertex’s growth and helped advance a model centered on virtue, agency, and postsecondary success.
Lower Academy Director & Founding Principal
Vertex Partnership Academies
Joyanet Mangual is a Founding Principal of Vertex Partnership Academies. Born and raised in Chicago, Joyanet moved to New York to begin her career in education in 2012. She started her work as a Special Education teacher and has taught grades 6-10. In her career, she has served as a founding teacher and leader and has worked in charter schools since 2015. She has a strong passion and love for working with students of all ages and abilities and believes in fostering an academic environment of high expectations and high support. Joyanet has an undergraduate degree in psychology and a master’s degree in education
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