Nearly 12 years ago, Otistine “Tracey” Jackson of Verona visited a friend in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She spent two weeks in the city and fell in love with it. Within a year of her trip, Jackson returned to Dubai to work, staying six years before coming back to Wisconsin.
Now Dubai calls again, and Jackson cannot deny herself the opportunity to work and live in a place she enjoys so much. Her move to Dubai this month is a win-win for her, personally and career-wise.
“Dubai is a beautiful, extremely safe place, filled with diverse people,” said Jackson. “The culture has a great work/life balance, work weeks are four and a half days, income is tax free, my employer covers housing and utilities—those are powerful reasons to go.”
Jackson always wanted to be an educator. She began her career as a special education teacher for the Madison Metropolitan School District, then became a coordinator/teacher of the Transition Learning Center, the first web-based alternative, individualized education program model in Madison, which she helped create and implement.
She earned her principal certification in 2008 and subsequently became Associate Principal at Verona Area High School, where she worked for eight years.
In 2012, she visited a friend who was teaching English in Dubai. Not long after her trip, she applied for a position abroad.
“I thought, ‘let me try,’ so I applied for the position as Head of Secondary at the American Academy in Al-Mizhar,” said Jackson. Her intent was to stay in Dubai for a year.
She got the job, and she ended up staying in the position for two years before accepting a new position as Secondary Principal at Bradenton Preparatory Academy in Dubai, where she worked for three academic years. At her last school in Dubai, she served as the Assistant Head of School at North American International School.
“My first school was an academy for girls, including members of the royal family,” said Jackson. “I was charged with Americanizing the school, so I had to stop the princesses’ nannies from carrying their backpacks and serving tea during the school day.”
She described the school as a nice mesh of cultures with amazing young ladies. Her second position was for a larger, co-ed international academy, where she served as the Head of Secondary for grades 6-12.
“I loved the country and people,” she said. “Unfortunately, there were some racist incidents that helped convince me to come home for a while.”
Dr. Dean Gorrell, former Verona Area High School superintendent, invited her back to the district. She returned to Wisconsin in 2019 with her new husband, Ahmed, and rejoined the Verona staff as a Special Education Coordinator before becoming the Director of Pupil Services.
This spring, Jackson earned a doctorate in education leadership from Edgewood College. With a dream to be head of an international school, Jackson once again applied for a position in Dubai.
“I applied on a whim to the American School of Dubai, and I was chosen for the job out of several hundred applicants,” said Jackson.
She will serve as Director of Student Services, a role much like the one she holds at Verona Area High School, in which she supports the students through the pupil services teams: counselors, health services, psychologists, restorative practices and social workers, along with special education services.
“I’m excited to gain new skill sets and build my resume,” she said.
The move sets her on the pathway for a top-tier leadership role at an international school, where she can empower students to achieve their dreams, much like she is achieving hers.
Jackson said she will miss her Verona school family, but welcomes this opportunity to return to a place that feels like her and her husband’s second home, a place she loves and finds fascinating, a place where friends and a bright future await her.
