Faculty and Staff

Tarik was born and raised in Harlem, New York. He moved to the DC area to attend Howard University, where he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business Marketing. Although he initially planned to go into business, a love for education brought him to teaching.

In the Cranston household, Tarik’s mother, Sonia Cranston, a teacher in Manhattan, ensured that her children understood the importance of education. In fact, education came second only to discipline and personal responsibility, stressed by his father, Frederick Cranston, a detective in the New York City Police Department. Tarik always had many positive illustrations of teachers surrounding him throughout his childhood, including his uncle and aunt. His mother’s brother is a teacher in Philadelphia and his father’s sister has been in the Fairfax County school system for over twenty years. One teacher that was very influential in Tarik’s life was his favorite teacher, Mr. Carrington. Mr. Carrington was his seventh grade math teacher, and he pushed Tarik to pursue academic and social excellence. Mr. Carrington had a huge impact on Tarik’s life; he hopes to have this same effect on each one of his students.

Before he came to Two Rivers, Tarik taught middle school math and second grade. Tarik looks forward to a new year with Two Rivers!