De’Shawn C. Washington teaches a fourth grade inclusion classroom at Maria Hastings Elementary School in Lexington, Massachusetts. He holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting and finance, a Master of Education in elementary education and a Master of Education in special education from the University of Massachusetts Boston. He is working on a doctorate in educational leadership and policy from Vanderbilt University.

In addition to teaching, Washington is a member of his district’s diversity, equity and inclusion community input team, elementary schedule review committee and student success team. He is also a member of the school site council. Prior to his work in Lexington, he taught in Boston Public Schools.

Outside of school, Washington runs workshops at the University of Massachusetts Boston to help pre-service teachers pass the Massachusetts Tests for Education Licensure, has presented and published about culturally responsive instruction and volunteers at his church and as a Big Brother. He received Lexington Public Schools’ Core Values Award in April 2021 for building and sustaining a sense of community in his classroom. As part of his practice, he develops his students’ ability to work together and resolve disagreements. Washington believes his role is to cultivate change-makers, and his students have successfully advocated for policies such as a different recess structure.