About me...
I began my work as Founding Executive Director of Citizens of the World Charter Schools - Kansas City on July 1, 2015, having been heavily involved in the launch of CWC Kansas City in the months preceding this start date. Over the next two years, I worked to guide the school through the process of securing a facility, recruiting and enrolling students, hiring the founding faculty and staff, supporting the Board of Directors, and building partnerships with stakeholders across the city - all while creating and sharing the vision of the mission and model of CWC Kansas City.
I have been a professional educator for more than 25 years, teaching elementary, undergraduate, and graduate students, as well as serving in administration. I played a role in charter school leadership for the last 18 years. In 1999, a colleague and I were founders of Mountain View Montessori Charter School in Victorville, CA, where I negotiated the governance structure with the district, served as head of curriculum, and developed/implemented a teacher evaluation system. This was the school in which my own son began his schooling in Kindergarten. In 2008, I became the founding principal at Larchmont Charter School - West Hollywood (LCW), growing the school to K-8th grade, and overseeing the merger with the Larchmont Charter School network. In 2013, I was appointed Head of K-8 for Larchmont Charter Schools, overseeing instruction for 1,100 students across four campuses. While serving as leader, LCW, another "diverse by design" school, received an Academic Performance Index (API) score of 932 in 2013, compared to a district wide score of 750 and statewide score of 790.
As a young student, I attended Holland Hall school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I graduated from Duke University and hold a Masters and Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of California - Los Angeles.
Across these experiences, I have had the privilege of working with teams of talented, intelligent, creative, and driven educators from whom I have learned and grown. I have formed relationships with families and watched children grow and achieve their goals. I am most powerfully influenced by my own family - each one of whom has been an educator in some area and at some level.
I have been a professional educator for more than 25 years, teaching elementary, undergraduate, and graduate students, as well as serving in administration. I played a role in charter school leadership for the last 18 years. In 1999, a colleague and I were founders of Mountain View Montessori Charter School in Victorville, CA, where I negotiated the governance structure with the district, served as head of curriculum, and developed/implemented a teacher evaluation system. This was the school in which my own son began his schooling in Kindergarten. In 2008, I became the founding principal at Larchmont Charter School - West Hollywood (LCW), growing the school to K-8th grade, and overseeing the merger with the Larchmont Charter School network. In 2013, I was appointed Head of K-8 for Larchmont Charter Schools, overseeing instruction for 1,100 students across four campuses. While serving as leader, LCW, another "diverse by design" school, received an Academic Performance Index (API) score of 932 in 2013, compared to a district wide score of 750 and statewide score of 790.
As a young student, I attended Holland Hall school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I graduated from Duke University and hold a Masters and Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of California - Los Angeles.
Across these experiences, I have had the privilege of working with teams of talented, intelligent, creative, and driven educators from whom I have learned and grown. I have formed relationships with families and watched children grow and achieve their goals. I am most powerfully influenced by my own family - each one of whom has been an educator in some area and at some level.