Helping Today. Shaping Tomorrow.
We know education is core to rehabilitation and ultimately to individual, family and community restoration. As educators and community leaders we have firsthand seen the transformative power of education. And we are transforming lives and the way things can be done.
The best way to not feel hopeless is to get up and do something.
Dr. Kerry Spooner
The FounderPhilosophy

Teaching Philosophy
Provide a safe and inclusive learning environment
Provide students with a learner-centered experience
Respect cultural differences
Develop learners' pre-existing knowledge
Recognize all people learn differently
Offer educational programming rooted in evidence-based, culturally responsive practices
Learn by doing
In 2020 New York State had 76, 008 adults under community supervision. Outside of New York City, Suffolk County had 6,435 adults under supervision with Nassau County coming in second with 4, 650 adults.

Help justice impacted
people on Long Island!
Become an SJI teacher
Additional requirements: all training provided by SJI together with our partners
● Trauma-informed care by a certified SAMHSA trainer
● Best practices: SJI workshops on teaching incarcerated students
● Continual professional development workshops
● New York State training requirements
● Sheriff’s Department training requirements
Meet Our Board
Kerry Spooner
Rev. Kimberly Johnson
Darren Stakey
Laura Jens-Smith
Cindy Clifford
Margarita Espada
Andrew Larson

Amare Daliah

Lulu Kroifer

Bahati Imani

Sabra Kalifa

Josh Broiler














What People Think
It was a brain buster in a good way and makes us think of things in a different manner than we may have before. And it opened the floodgates to really want to expand on education and think more. [After class] we bounce ideas off each other when we got back to the dorm.
- J
StudentsMy thought process is different, it’s changing. It’s a welcome change
- M
StudentsEvery time I’m excited to come to class. There’s always something I could learn.
It’s just exciting to me
- MH
StudentsI wake up ecstatic about class.
- A
StudentsI really believe in this program. Speaking from someone whose been in and out of jail 5 times, they should’ve had things like this a long time ago
To feel I have a purpose [the course] opened my eyes [and] I want to attend school again
When I come to class I'm just a student. I'm excited [and] eager to learn. I love the way I get! I forget I'm an inmate--I forget these 4 walls. For this one hour, we become human again.