Meet Our Team
Simon Hauger
Co-founder
Simon Hauger is a Co-Founder of the Workshop School, a project-based high school within the School District of Philadelphia, where he served as principal for 8 years. Simon developed a passion for experiential, problem-based learning early in his career. He started the West Philly Hybrid X Team where his students designed and built award-winning hybrid and electric-powered vehicles. In 2010 and again 2014, Simon and his students were honored by President Obama at the White House. The Workshop School continues to be a powerful example of what students and adults are capable of when they are trusted, challenged and equipped to do meaningful work as the basis for the learning experience. Simon continues to support the Workshop School as he and Matt take this model of education into the postsecondary world.
Matthew Riggan
Co-founder
Dr. Matthew Riggan is also Co-Founder of the Workshop School. As Executive Director of the school's nonprofit arm, Matt directs research and development, designs and develops systems to support the school's instructional model, and advocates locally and nationally for schools bringing project-based learning and authentic assessment to high-need communities. Matt is also a co-founder of the Philadelphia Learning Collaborative, which seeks to create or improve the conditions for student-centered, deeper learning to thrive in district, charter and independent schools throughout the Philadelphia region. Prior to launching the Workshop School, Matt was a Senior Researcher at the Consortium for Policy Research in Education at the University of Pennsylvania. He remains at Penn as an Adjunct Assistant Professor.
Tia Rideout
Workforce Learning Manager
Tia D. Rideout is currently the Workforce Learning Manager for Workshop U. Prior to this, she served as an educator specializing in College and Career Readiness for the School District of Philadelphia. Through her leadership, Tia headed the #ReachHigherPhilly College Signing Day ultimately hosting Former First Lady Michelle Obama to host the 2018 National event in Philadelphia.  Prior to working at the school district, Tia worked as an Intensive Case Manager at CATCH, Inc. serving children and families with severe mental health disabilities. Tia is a Philadelphia native and a first-generation college graduate. She holds a Master’s degree from Eastern University in Nonprofit Management and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently working on obtaining a PMP certification. When Tia has downtime, she enjoys life as a foodie and spending time with her beautiful 11-year-old daughter, Classie.Â
Grace Greenwald
Program Manager
Grace works to develop schools that reimagine traditional educational models and think differently about what school can be. She served on the start-up team that built Outer Coast, a nascent liberal arts college in the rural island community of Sitka, Alaska – working in program design, development, and as a coach to students in academics, self-governance and communal living. Grace also helps to tell the story of emerging small-scale, place-based schools and their communities through 'portraiture', research, and writing with the Springboard Foundation. Grace graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Human Biology concentrating in Neuroethics, and received her M.Ed from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she studied education leadership and school design.Â
Cindy Hauger
Operations & Development Director
A graduate of the Wharton Business School of the University of   Pennsylvania, Cindy incorporated and assisted in the founding of the nonprofit Workshop Learning, where she oversees a wide range of responsibilities including fundraising, financial management, organizational operations, and human resources. Before joining Workshop Learning, Cindy served as the Executive Director of a national youth service organization, which placed over 130 full-time young adults annually in four major cities across the country who worked with local nonprofits serving the needs of their communities. Earlier in her career, Cindy held the position of Director of Marketing and Development at the Brandywine Workshop, an African-American printmaking workshop and gallery. Beyond her professional endeavors, Cindy is deeply involved in her community. She has served on the Board of Trustees and Elders at two local churches and held leadership positions in local public schools.Â
Erin Owen
Coaching Program Advisor
Erin is a leadership and executive coach who specializes in coaching rising leaders, especially those navigating the complexities of cross-cultural and cross-generational leadership. Since 2004, she has worked with over a thousand clients from more than 25 nationalities, leveraging her change management and OD background, knowledge in neuroscience, and inspiration from thousands-year-old wisdom and practices from Asia to the high Andes. For Workshop U, Erin designed and leads the Critical Skills for Leadership, Life, and Success course, in which students are teaching her how to make the skills of coaching, peer coaching, and young adult leadership development relevant and accessible to their lives. Erin is accredited by the International Coaching Federation as a Master Certified Coach. She holds a MBA from Kellogg School of Management, a graduate certificate from Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies-Nanjing University, and a BA in Chinese from Grinnell College.Â
Project History
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Nearly 15 years ago, we set out to invent a new kind of high school focused on authentic learning, real-world skill building and a deep sense of community. We believed that each student has unique gifts, interests and talents. Our job as educators was to help them discover and cultivate those gifts and carry them forward into adulthood. In the wake of the federal No Child Left Behind legislation this work was especially needed for the most disadvantaged students, who were being subjected to endless testing, remedial curriculum and “zero tolerance” discipline policies.
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That vision became the Workshop School, which we founded in 2012. The school is housed within the School District of Philadelphia, a large, bureaucratic organization that many believed could not sustain innovation. Unlike many progressive schools, the Workshop serves students facing high levels of adversity both in and out of school. It is organized around a real-world curriculum featuring project based learning, hands-on work, internships and dual enrollment opportunities.
It is a place where students routinely report that the work they do is relevant to their lives and their futures, and where they know that adults care about them. And it shows: Workshop School students consistently outperform peers in demographically similar area high schools, and our waiting list tops 500 students. In 2021, students achieved an 86.8% graduation rate compared to 74.1% in demographically similar high schools (our pre-pandemic 2020 graduation rate was 98%). 60% of Workshop School students have 95% or better attendance versus 35% of students at high schools district-wide, demonstrating student connection and engagement in their learning environment.
The experience of launching the Workshop over a decade ago has taught our team that bold, ambitious change is possible, even in systems with scarce resources. These hard-won lessons in school creation and development gave us the solid foundation from which we launched Workshop U.
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