Jessica Calefati

Jessica Calefati is an education investigative reporter for The Baltimore Banner focused on what Maryland kids need to be successful in school, college and careers. She previously covered Johns Hopkins University for the Banner. Before that, she covered colleges, universities and workforce development for POLITICO. For nearly 15 years, Jessica has been writing about students and families, working first in New Jersey, later in California, and then in Pennsylvania. At The Star-Ledger, her hometown paper, she covered Chris Christie and Cory Booker’s campaign to transform Newark’s struggling school system. At The Mercury News in California, Jessica investigated a chain of online charter schools that turned a profit while failing to educate students. And at The Philadelphia Inquirer, she exposed staggering levels of teacher turnover at schools serving vulnerable children. Jessica graduated from George Washington University with a degree in journalism and political science. Her work has been recognized by the Gerald Loeb Awards, the National Headliner Awards, the Keystone Media Awards, the Society of Professional Journalists NorCal, the New Jersey Press Association and others. Jessica lives in Washington with her husband and daughter. She’s also a certified yoga instructor and hopes to teach in Baltimore.