A document-based curriculum
Ten units for on-level and AP, every one anchored in primary sources rather than a textbook chapter. Shared district-wide since 2024 and now taught by three other teachers.
In the classroom
Kids remember arguments, not dates.
My US History course is built around ten questions students argue rather than twenty units they memorise. Was Reconstruction a failure, and for whom? They take a side in week two and defend it against the evidence all semester, including the evidence that makes them change their mind.
68%
AP US History pass rate in 2026, against a 51% campus average
+21
Points of growth on STAAR US History over three years
3
Teachers on campus now running the same question-led structure
2
Years as department lead for social studies curriculum
What I have built
A grading model that separates practice from proficiency
A student who starts badly and finishes well should not be averaged into a C. Practice is feedback, proficiency is the grade, and parents understand it in one conversation.
Tutorials students actually attend
Scheduled during athletics period instead of after a two-hour practice. Attendance went from six students to thirty-one, which is the entire trick.
A writing standard the department shares
One rubric for evidence-based writing, used in every social studies class, so a junior is not relearning what a claim is for the fourth time.
Coaching
Head baseball coach, nine seasons.
District champions in 2023 and 2025, a regional semifinal run that was the school's furthest, and 136 wins against 71 losses. Eleven players have gone on to college baseball, nine of them on academic money rather than athletic.
The reason it belongs on a teaching resume: every four-year senior I have coached graduated on time, team GPA has held between 2.9 and 3.3, and there has not been an eligibility loss in four seasons. The kids who will not talk in third period talk in the dugout, and what I learn there is usually what makes the classroom work.
- 136–71 as head coach
- 2 district titles
- 11 to college baseball
- 100% senior graduation rate
Matt runs the toughest practices in the district and has the lowest attrition. That is not a contradiction. The kids stay because he tells them the truth about where they stand and then helps them move.
Background
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2017 – now
Bellaire Preparatory School US History and Government, AP and on-level. Social studies department lead since 2024. Head baseball coach.
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2015 – 2017
Cypress Ridge High School World History. Assistant baseball coach.
-
2015
BS Education, Texas A&M University Social studies composite. Played four years of college baseball.
Certification
- Texas Social Studies 7–12, valid through 2029
- ESL supplemental
- Special Education 6–12
- AP US History, College Board endorsed
Also current
- CPR, AED and first aid
- Concussion protocol, UIL annual
- Google Certified Educator, Level 2
- Driver certified for activity buses
Looking for a classroom in DFW next year.
Happy to talk about curriculum, about AP results, or about what a social studies department needs when it is rebuilding. If your campus also needs a baseball coach, that is a conversation too.
Last updated 20 September 2026