Through July 4, The Post, in conjunction with the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream, is featuring US citizens explaining what the American dream means to them in 2026 — including Jayda Pugliese, principal and president of the Nazareth Academy Grade School in Philadelphia.
The American dream has a very deep meaning for me because I come from a background in which both of my parents didn’t graduate from high school.
I have been hearing impaired from a very young age. I would sit in the front of the classes, and I would try to keep up, but I always felt a step behind my peers. It was really my teachers that helped keep me in the loop. I wore hearing aids, but it was still a struggle. And at that age, [I] just didn’t understand the dynamics of being a disabled person in a hearing world …
As I got older, I started speaking a lot when I was in high school about what it meant to be hearing impaired … I was a camp counselor at a deaf camp. I got to really involve myself in the disabled community. And we shouldn’t even call them disabled, because everybody has exceptional abilities.
I graduated with a bachelor’s in special education and I just took off. I just enjoyed every moment of being a special education teacher in the early part of my career. That really gave me an exceptional foundation of teaching and learning, but also being able to relate to students that have any need.
Every student deserves a champion — someone who loves them and cares for them and will build a relationship with them.
Schools deserve teachers that care about education, care about every single child and value their education and understand that every child can learn no matter what.
My parents realized that, in their blue collar jobs, that they weren’t able to move forward the way that they wanted to … but they could [help me] move forward by providing me with the education they felt that I deserved.
I get emotional because — full circle — I’m now the principal of the school that I attended. Education is the foundation of building an American dream.
The American Dream Video Project showcases real stories that illuminate pathways to opportunity. Featured at the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream (MCAAD), this series is part of the Center’s celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. MCAAD is Washington, DC’s newest cultural institution, offering interactive exhibits and stories about achieving the American Dream. For more information, visit mcaad.org.
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