When Oakside Prep Academy called an all-school assembly during Teacher Appreciation Week, fifth-grade teacher Alexus Ramos knew someone in the building had won a major honor. Having attended a National Heritage Academies® (NHA®) school herself as a child, she was thrilled for her colleagues, completely buying a decoy story that a fellow staff member was the guest of honor.
It wasn't until TJ Meier, a Dean of High School—who happened to be her own former gym teacher from her days as a student at Walton Charter Academy—stood up to speak that the dots began to connect. Moments later, her classroom coach walked out with her fifth-grade students, a celebratory banner, and her family, cementing her title as a 2025-26 NHA Excellence in Teaching Award winner.
"By the time they announced that, I was just in complete shock. My husband and my three-year-old came and then more family showed up. So, yes, that was a very nice surprise."
An Unconventional Path to the Classroom
Teaching wasn’t originally the plan for Ramos, who holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s in public administration. Initially destined for a career in local government, an internship dealing with disgruntled city residents drove her to the classroom. She began substitute teaching and working as a paraprofessional at Oakside, falling in love with the staff and the school's culture.
When a teaching vacancy opened mid-year during the hybrid-learning era, she jumped into the classroom via an alternative certification route. She has been teaching fifth grade at Oakside ever since, dedicating her last eight years to the building.
Driving Success Through "Accountable Talk"
Ramos is described by her deans as a "go-getter,” someone who immediately implements and refines strategies learned in professional development. This year, that trait transformed her classroom discourse. Inspired by a PD session, she introduced high-level, Socratic-seminar-style communication to her fifth graders, allowing them to lead their own educational discussions.
"They run the whole discussion. I really feel like that drove a lot of the growth that we had this year because it was just an open field where kids would share their findings with the class. But we made sure that they had evidence to support."
This focus on evidence directly targeted a historical weak point in student testing, fueling massive growth in both reading comprehension and writing outlines.
The Power of Intrinsic Motivation
For Ramos, teaching isn't just about academic benchmarks; it's about forming the whole child. Having grown up with NHA’s Moral Focus™ curriculum, she knows firsthand how deeply it shapes a student's future. She integrates these virtues daily, even having her students self-grade their own Moral Focus™ behaviors after lessons.
"I feel like if you don't have the Moral Focus™ virtues to align with, you're not going to do well educationally. It helps you push through those assignments and those activities and then also helps the betterment of the lesson."
Words of Wisdom for the Next Generation
Now approaching a decade in education, Ramos keeps her passion alive by treating every single day as a blank slate, leaning into her "teacher tool belt" whenever a strategy needs a pivot.
When asked what advice she would offer to new educators stepping into the classroom for the very first time, her answer emphasizes the profound impact of consistency.
"They don't need you to be their friend. They need you to be the consistent person that shows up with a schedule for them that's laid out and ready to go because that is what’s going to make them feel the most comfortable. Then they can let all those walls down and start to listen and to learn from you."
Congratulations to Alexus Ramos on this well-deserved honor and thank you for your incredible dedication to the students of Oakside Prep!
About Oakside Prep Academy
Oakside Prep Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Waterford, Michigan, serving students in Young 5s through 12th grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies (NHA®) network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through high school across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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