Tyree Booker Marks 20 Years of Service

From North Philadelphia to Chicago Leadership

For two decades, Tyree Booker has led with heart, dedication, and an unwavering commitment to students and staff across the Specialized Education Services (SESI) school network.

Today he leads Excel Academy of Roseland in Chicago, but his tenure with the organization began at Camelot Academy’s Boone campus in North Philadelphia, just blocks from where he grew up. “A lot of my students then, I knew their families,” he said “This work has always been personal for me. A lot of these kids are me; I was them.”

A Lifelong Passion for Education

A math tutor and natural leader even as a teen, Booker put himself through college at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. He was the first in his family to graduate college and then went on to earn not one but two master’s degrees. “I went into education because I needed to work right out of school, but I stayed because of the students,” he said.

His first role out of college was teaching high school math to students just a few years younger than himself. Over time, he moved into school leadership, eventually serving as director of student services at Excel Academy Central, a program designed for students balancing school with work or parenting. He took a brief break to pursue a master’s in school counseling but quickly returned to the work that called to him. “This work is personal,” said Booker, “I know what it feels like to want someone to just show up for you.”

Building a Legacy in Chicago

In 2011, Booker’s life changed again, his son was born, and not long after, Milt Alexander, now a senior vice president at SESI, tapped him to help launch a new chapter of Excel Academy in Chicago. Booker expected to help get the program off the ground and return home in a couple of years. That was 14 years ago.

“Six of us moved from Philly,” he said. “We thought it was temporary. But it ended up changing our lives. We all grew up, got promoted, became men. Chicago became more than a job – it became home.”