Jesse DiMartino
Founder and Practitioner, Heart Centered Practices
Meet the founder
From a young age, I knew I wanted to be an educator. As early as high school, I felt called to be a positive male role model, someone who could lead with connection, consistency, and compassion. Over the years I have discovered that creating connected school communities is not just my passion, it is my purpose.
Children have always been my people. I am the teacher who brings humor, heart, and a whole lot of dad jokes, but students also know me as someone who sees them, hears them, and believes in them.
I started Heart Centered Practices because I kept seeing the same thing everywhere: systems built to punish, when what people actually needed was to be seen, heard, and taught the skills to regulate and repair.
Professional background
A decade-plus across three states, in the classroom and at the district level.
- Dean of Culture, Herbert Akins Road Middle School, Wake County Public Schools
- Instructional Specialist, Central Office, Wake County Public Schools
- Teacher, Smith Elementary, Wake County Public Schools
- Dean of Culture, Columbine Elementary, Denver Public Schools
- Teacher, Origins High School, New York City Public Schools
Jesse is a certified Health and Physical Education teacher with a Master's degree in Teacher Leadership and a North Carolina Administrative License. He has led adult professional learning in restorative practices, Zones of Regulation, the Community Resiliency Model, school culture, mediation, and de-escalation.
Certifications and specialized training
- Teaching Licensure, New York, Colorado, and North Carolina Physical Education Certifications
- Administrative Licensure, North Carolina
- Restorative Practices Trainer and Practitioner
- Community Resiliency Model Trainer and Practitioner
- District Mediator and Trainer, Campbell Law Partnership
- Crisis Prevention Institute, NCI Certified
- NYC DOE Therapeutic Crisis Intervention for Schools, Trauma-Informed Training
Heart Centered Humans build a Heart Centered World.With love, Jesse, Founder and Practitioner