Overview

Connecticut Teacher of the Year 2025 – Julia Miller

Metropolitan Business Academy, New Haven

Julia Miller is a proud New Haven Public Schools (NHPS) teacher, parent and alumni. She is a graduate of the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University, Teachers College at Columbia University, and Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU), where she recently earned her Sixth Year Certificate in Educational Leadership. Entering her 18th year in the classroom, Julia has been teaching at Metropolitan Business Academy for the last decade. Julia is a Social Studies teacher committed to the practices of antiracist education and project-based learning. As a longtime Civics teacher, Julia’s goal for her students is for them to become informed and active community members who feel empowered to make change.

In addition to teaching Civics at Metropolitan, Julia also teaches in the Academy of Law, Leadership & Political Science. She co-designed and co-teaches an innovative new course entitled Youth Justice in Practice (YJP). Grounded in the theories of restorative and transformative justice, YJP is the senior capstone class in the law pathway. As part of YJP, students run the Metro Youth Justice Panel, a student-led restorative justice initiative in the school that aims to repair harm, provide accountability, and support students who make mistakes in the building.

Julia also helped launch another new initiative in her district: a “Grow Your Own” model to nurture the next generation of NHPS teachers. Over the last two years, Julia has supported the development of a new Education and Leadership Pathway. Last year, she ran an after-school program for aspiring educators, which included her teaching Quinnipiac University’s Intro to Public Education course to her high school students for dual credit. She was part of a small group of curriculum writers who crafted an Early College Experience course entitled Seminar in Education through a collaboration with SCSU, a course she is now teaching at her school as part of its inaugural year of the new pathway. Julia currently serves as one of two district Teacher Leaders with the national organization Educators Rising.

In addition to her work on these new initiatives, Julia plays a variety of leadership roles in her building including grade level team lead, member of the Leadership and School Planning and Management Teams, Student Council advisor, and TEAM mentor. Through her work as an educator, Julia has collaborated with community partners including the Yale Law and Racial Justice Center, Yale Education Studies Teacher Partner Program and the Anti-Racist Teaching and Learning Collective. She has facilitated professional learning workshops at both the local and national level.