John Zitzner

 

President of Friends of Breakthrough Schools

 

by Jalen Shambley, crew 3

 

 

From techie to teacher, entrepreneur to educator, and Bradley to Breakthrough. These transitions by one man led to dramatic improvements in Cleveland schools.   

 

John Stanley Zitzner, 59, is the president of Friends of Breakthrough Schools, a network of 10 high-performing charter schools in inner-city Cleveland. Breakthrough Schools comprises the Citizens, Prep, and Intergenerational schools. But before Zitzner decided to become involved in education, he was the founder of Bradley Company, a Cleveland-based software company. He started the company after not getting the raise he asked for at his previous job. Zitzner took a year to prepare to start the company and started off well. “Guess who the first investor in my new company was?” Zitzner chuckled. “My old boss.”

 

In 2001, he got to know a man named Steve Mariotti, a successful entrepreneur who was beaten up and robbed by high-school kids in New York for $10. “Guess what he did?’ said Zitzner. Mariotti quit his job to become a teacher in one of the toughest schools of the South Bronx. “Can you believe it?” Zitzner expressed. Mariotti wanted to understand why a couple of kids would do something like that for $10. And at this moment Zitzner knew that this is what he wanted to do. He even told his wife, Peggy.

 

So that’s exactly what he did. Zitzner sold his company and began researching education. He then initiated an entrepreneurship program for Cleveland high-school students and realized what poor education the kids really had. “These kids in high school can’t do what you can do in the seventh grade.” Zitzner exclaimed. “We’re telling these kids they can graduate from high school but they’re going to fail in life.” Zitzner then met with the head of Cleveland Metropolitan School District about starting his own charter school. They agreed to sponsor the school, and Entrepreneurship Preparatory Middle School was started.

 

After starting E Prep, Zitzner decided that one school wasn’t enough. E Prep had added an elementary school, Village Prep, in 2008, but two schools still wasn’t enough.  He met with other charter schools leaders and they decided to start a network. The naming took time but after hours of discussion, they had it, Breakthrough! Mr. Zitzner became the president of Friends of Breakthrough, which encourages people to donate to and advocate for the organization, and has been in that role for four years. His daily job consists of phone calls, some tours, lots of e-mails, and lots of meetings. His many tasks are necessary because “our goal is 20 schools by 2020,” said Zitzner. He is so dedicated that when asked about retiring, he responded, “Eh, when I’m 82.”