The Uncommon Schools team is comprised of professionals who are passionate about improving educational opportunities for under-served youth and communities. Each of our staff members has extensive experience working in education and mission-driven non-profit organizations.

Michael Ambriz   Chief Operating Officer, North Star Academy Network

Michael Ambriz joined Uncommon Schools in May 2008 and serves as the Chief Operating Officer for North Star Academy. Prior to joining Uncommon Schools, Mr. Ambriz served as the Managing Director, National Institute Operations for Teach For America, where he was responsible for overseeing all marketing, admissions, technology, human resources and finance projects related to corps member training. During his time at Teach For America, he held many positions, beginning at the 2003 charter Los Angeles training institute. Having subsequently been responsible for institute operations in New York City and Philadelphia, he then joined the centralized operations team to provide better support nationwide. Prior to joining Teach For America, he worked at the LAUSD Academic Mentor Program, where he helped to recruit community volunteers to tutor at 16 schools across the Los Angeles area, and put systems into place to reduce the transition time between recruitment and placement. He also managed the Cesar Chavez Service and Learning Grant for the California Governor's Office of Service and Volunteerism. Mr. Ambriz holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles. Send e-mail

Paul Bambrick-Santoyo   Managing Director, North Star Academy Network

During Paul Bambrick-Santoyo’s seven years at North Star, the network has seen dramatic increases in performance in student achievement, making North Star one of the highest achieving urban schools in New Jersey. Author of the book “Driven by Data” (to be published February 2010), he has trained over 1,800 school leaders nationwide through his work at Uncommon Schools and as the Data-Driven Instruction faculty member for New Leaders for New Schools, the leading national urban school leadership training program.  Prior to joining North Star, Mr. Bambrick-Santoyo worked for six years in a bilingual school in Mexico City, where he founded the International Baccalaureate program at the middle school level, led significant gains in English test score results, and was named Teacher of the Year in 1999.  He earned a B.A. in Social Justice from Duke University (1994) and his M.Ed. in School Administration via New Leaders for New Schools from the City University of New York—Baruch College (2003). Send e-mail





Sara Batterton   Director of Real Estate

Sara Batterton received her M.B.A. from Columbia Business School in 2007 with a concentration in Real Estate and Finance. During her time at Columbia, Ms. Batterton was a recipient of the Forté Fellowship for Women in Business and a Teaching Assistant for the Real Estate Finance course, and also managed the school’s fundraising efforts for the Social Enterprise Summer Fellowship Program. Ms. Batterton joined Uncommon Schools as Director of Real Estate in the summer of 2008. Prior to this, she worked as an Associate at Jones Lang LaSalle, a commercial real estate firm, providing real estate finance and development consulting to public agencies. Ms. Batterton’s previous experience also includes roles in community economic development with the Higher Education Public Finance group at Lehman Brothers, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions. In these roles she was responsible for managing foundation investments in affordable housing and financial services and also worked to develop innovative financial services delivery programs for low-income families and communities. She received her B.A. cum laude in Political Science and Spanish from Columbia University. Send e-mail





Kristen Bridgeman  Special Projects Coordinator for Human Capital

Lauren Brom joined Uncommon Schools a Special Projects Director in 2008 after serving as a Teach For America corps member in New York City. In her two years as a math teacher, Ms. Brom led her students to achieve a class average of 82% content mastery. Further, 99% of the 7th grade students at MS 317 (KAPPA 2) passed the state math assessment. In addition to teaching, Ms. Brom wrote her school’s 7th grade math curriculum and led an after school program that reinforced remedial math skills and allowed students to develop entrepreneurial skills by creating their own mini-businesses. Outside of the classroom, Ms. Brom created and executed staff workshops on collecting and tracking student data to differentiate instruction and served as the Chair of the School Leadership Team. Ms. Brom received her B.A. in Economics and Media Studies from Pomona College and will soon complete her M.A. in Teaching from Pace University. Send e-mail





Jennifer Camus   Associate Director of Recruitment

Jennifer Camus joined Uncommon Schools in 2008 following a role as a Teach For America corps member in South Los Angeles. During her time as a corps member, she created and taught rigorous Math Prep, Creative Writing, and Journalism curriculums for the newly founded ninth grade elective courses. She led students to achieve a class average of about 85% content mastery in the Math Prep elective, and about 88% content mastery in the Creative Writing/Journalism elective while at her placement site. Outside of the classroom, Ms.Camus established the first ever yearbook, coached the dance team, and served as a lecturer for the Gilder-Lehrman American History Academy. Currently, Ms. Camus is involved in the development of the Writing Our Dreams project, a start-up non-profit organization that empowers inner city youth in Los Angeles and New York City. Jennifer received her B.S. in Public Policy, Management, and Planning with an emphasis in Public Management and a minor in Business from the University of Southern California and her M.A. in Education and teaching credential from Loyola Marymount University. Send e-mail

Kara Christianson   Associate Director of Recruitment

Kara Christianson joined Uncommon Schools in September 2009, after serving as a Curriculum Specialist at Teach For America’s Los Angeles Institute. Prior to this, Ms. Christianson was a Teach For America corps member in Los Angeles, where she taught 6th grade math and science. She also previously worked with Iridescent, a non-profit committed to teaching high-level physics concepts in urban classrooms. Ms. Christianson holds a double major in Business Administration and Theatre Arts from the University of Puget Sound, and an MA in Elementary Education from Loyola Marymount University.

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Abby Cooperberg   Business Manager , North Star Academy

Abby Cooperberg joined Uncommon Schools with extensive experience in management and systems consulting. Ms. Cooperberg worked at Andersen Consulting (currently known as Accenture) for six years on various projects in the government, non-profit, and financial services sectors. She then joined Bankers Trust as a Vice President, where she worked as a senior project manager and systems liaison for the Defined Contribution business. Ms. Cooperberg has most recently taken time off from the business world to focus on raising her family. She has been very active as a volunteer for the Montclair school system, the Junior League of Montclair/Newark (JLMN), and various other organizations. She served on the board of the JLMN, responsible for league projects. Ms. Cooperberg graduated from SUNY Albany with a degree in Accounting and Computer Science. Send e-mail

Bethania Damaso    Office Manager

Bethania Damaso is the Office Manager at Uncommon Schools. Bethania has joined Uncommon Schools after graduating from Union College where she earned a B. A. in Latin American and Caribbean Studies.  In June 2006, Ms. Damaso participated in an internship at Urban Dove, a non-profit organization for inner city high school students, where she guided and supervised youth at a summer day camp. Ms. Damaso was an active tutor at the Kenny Center, a community center for the children of Schenectady. In addition, she also served as Social Science tutor at the Union College campus for students participating in the AOP program, an academic enrichment program at Union College.  Ms. Damaso studied abroad in Brazil where she resided with a host family and interacted with the local community for four months.  Ms. Damaso is also an alum of KIPP Academy. Send e-mail

Emily Davis    Recruitment Coordinator

Emily Davis joined Uncommon Schools in the summer of 2009, after graduating from Stanford University with a B.A in English. While at Stanford, Ms. Davis tutored elementary and middle school students at neighborhood schools in East Palo Alto. She also helped to launch a mentoring program at East Palo Alto Charter School focused on improving self esteem and body image among middle school girls. In addition, Ms. Davis spent three summers working with Stanford’s Educational Program for Gifted Youth, which provided college classes to high-achieving middle and high school students. She also served as a Recruitment Coordinator at the Stanford University Admissions Office, where she was responsible for organizing the Admitted Students Weekend. Send e-mail

Dan Deckman    Chief Operating Officer, True North Public Schools

Dan Deckman is Chief Operating Officer for True North Public Schools Network.  He formerly served as Director of Operations for True North Rochester Prep Charter School.  Mr. Deckman previously worked for two years as Research Analyst & Marketing Coordinator at Civic Builders, a nonprofit real estate development organization that strives to implement facilities solutions for New York City charter schools.  Prior to that, Mr. Deckman developed a deep background in legal and investigative analysis, including over four years as Senior Litigation Paralegal at the firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton.  In addition, he has held roles managing political campaigns at the state and local levels.  Mr. Deckman holds a B.A. degree from Fordham University. Send e-mail

Autumn DiGaetano-Fedoruk   Technology Business Analyst

Autumn DiGaetano-Fedoruk joined Uncommon Schools as an Associate Director of Operations in the summer of 2008, and transitioned into the role of Technology Business Analyst in 2009. Prior to joining Uncommon Schools, Ms. DiGaetano-Fedoruk matriculated into the Teach for America (TFA) 2005 Corps as a Bilingual/ESL teacher in Central Bronx, New York. Teaching Early ESL Reading Intervention to 6th – 8th grade students, she was introduced to and found a love for strategic educational intervention. Following her two year commitment with TFA, she moved to South America to strategically reorganize the marketing structure and recruitment plan of ProWorld Service Corps, a nonprofit organization dedicated to sustainable economic development in developing nations throughout Latin America and Southeast Asia. Ms. DiGaetano-Fedoruk holds an M.S. in Bilingual Education from Pace University and a dual B.A. in Economics and Linguistics from the University of Arizona. Send e-mail

Ebony Dunn   Associate Director of Recruitment

Ebony Dunn joined Uncommon Schools in September 2009 as an Associate Director of Recruitment.  Prior to joining Uncommon Schools, Ms. Dunn received her M.S.W., with a focus in non-profit management and education, from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University.  During her time at the Brown School, Ms. Dunn developed and evaluated programs for the St. Louis Public Schools, and served as a community organizer with Metropolitan Congregations United.  Ms. Dunn was a 2005 Teach for America corps member in Houston, where, during her second year of teaching, she led her fourth grade students to a 96% passing rate on the state writing assessment.  Ms. Dunn also served as a corps member advisor at Teach for America’s Houston Institute in 2009. She received her B.A in American Studies from the University of Virginia, and teacher certification from The University of St. Thomas.

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Terri Ferraguto   National Director of Recruitment

Terri Ferraguto serves as National Director of Recruitment. She worked as Senior Program Coordinator for the Northeast Region of A Better Chance from 2003 to 2006, during which time she helped place more than 300 students of color into more than 100 of the nation’s top independent and public college preparatory schools. Ms. Ferraguto was a 1999 Teach for America corps member in the Bay Area, where she taught fourth and fifth grades at Belle Haven School in Ravenswood City School District. During her second year of teaching, 83% of her students advanced at least two grade levels in mathematics. Ms. Ferraguto has worked as a Corps Member Adviser and an Alumni Recruiter for Teach for America. She received her B.A. in Diversity Studies in Schools and Society, a self-designed major, from Connecticut College and her Ed.M. from Harvard University

Graduate School of Education. Send e-mail

Meghan Fitzgerald   Director of Special Education

Meghan Fitzgerald joined Uncommon Schools as Director of Special Education in 2006. Prior to joining Uncommon Schools, Ms. Fitzgerald served as a Special Education Coordinator at InterActive Therapy Group, where she was responsible for providing special education instruction, coordination, and consultation for over 15 charter schools in New York City.  While working at InterActive Therapy Group, she authored a series of compliance and instructional resource manuals for charter schools in New York City and New York State. Ms. Fitzgerald has presented workshops on best practices in special education for the California Charter School Association, Building Excellent Schools, New York State Charter School Association, New York City Center for Charter School Excellence, and the Chicago Renaissance Schools Fund. She is working with Uncommon Schools to establish collaborative support systems for principals, teachers, and therapists to maximize student achievement. Ms. Fitzgerald holds a M.A. in Learning Disabilities from City University of New York – Hunter College with a specialization in education for gifted students. She earned her B.S. in General and Special Education with a concentration in Spanish from the State University of New York – Geneseo. 

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Lisa Flores     Special Assistant to the CEO and COO

Lisa Flores joined Uncommon Schools in 2009 as the Special Assistant to the CEO. Ms. Flores began her career as a  Teach For America corps member in New York City. As a corps member, she taught 8th grade science in the South Bronx, served as the school’s science team leader, and more than doubled the school’s passing rate on the 8th grade state science test. As an undergraduate, Ms. Flores’ mentored middle school students through Project A.I.Y.M.E., tutored elementary school students through the Stanford Youth Project, and conducted research on colorblind ideology. Ms. Flores holds a B.A. in Psychology with two minors in Spanish and Human Biology, and an M.A.  in Psychology, both from Stanford University. She also holds an M.S. in Teaching from Pace University.

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Antonio Freitas    Associate Director of Recruitment

Prior to joining Uncommon’s Recruitment team, Antonio Freitas taught second grade for six years in New York City. He began his career as a 2003 Teach For America Corps Member at PS 170 in the Bronx. In 2006, Antonio joined Leadership Preparatory Bedford Stuyvesant Charter School as a second grade Lead Teacher. There, Mr. Freitas worked strategically to lead 96% of his students to mastery in math, and 91% of his students to mastery in literacy, according to nationally-normed year-end assessments. Mr. Freitas received his BA in Social Work from Seattle University and his MS in Teaching from Pace University.

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Sandra Franco    Accounting Associate

Prior to joining Uncommon Schools in 2009, Sandra Franco worked as a Bookkeeper at New York Rehab Pain Management for four years. There, she was responsible for the Payroll, Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable of the company.  Prior to this, Sandra was a Senior Accountant at Safe Horizon, a not-for-profit organization in lower Manhattan, where she prepared financial reports for funders; she also prepared budget analysis and projections for cost-based grants. For six years, Sandra served in the United States Army Reserves as a Personnel Administrative Specialist.  She holds a BA in Accounting from Queens College

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Brigid Ganley    Director of Development

Brigid Ganley joined Uncommon early in 2009 from the New York City Department of Education where she served as the Senior Manager of Operations for the Partnership Support Office (PSO). In that role, she led the design of the PSO service model, assessed external partners for the instructional and managerial capacity to serve schools, built partner autonomy, and drove high quality support to 187 schools that chose to align with the partnership organizations. Her first assignment at the Department of Education was designing and implementing the Leadership Development Institute, a cross-functional leadership training program for over 350 administrative staff.  After earning her MBA, Ms. Ganley was a director of Content Delivery at the Corporate Executive Board where she designed and presented best-practice research to Strategy and Corporate Development officers at Fortune 500 companies. Ms. Ganley completed the Broad Residency in Urban Education in 2008. She holds a B.A in English from the University of Virginia, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Send e-mail

Kate Goldenheim    Director of Cultivation

Prior to joining Uncommon Schools in 2008, Kate Goldenheim worked as the Director of Breakthrough New Haven (formerly Summerbridge New Haven), an academic enrichment program for public middle school students that also serves as a workshop in education for high school and college students interested in teaching. While at Breakthrough Ms. Goldenheim was responsible for designing after school and summer programming, recruiting and selecting students, hiring and training teachers, developing partnerships, managing staff members, evaluating all program components, and fundraising. She also taught and advised middle school and high school students at Hopkins School, an independent school in New Haven and Breakthrough New Haven’s host school. She received her B.A. in English from Harvard College and her M.Ed. from the School Leadership Program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Send e-mail

Carolyn Hack   Chief Financial Officer

Carolyn Hack is a 2005 graduate of Columbia Business School, where she was elected to Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society and was awarded the faculty-bestowed prize for Nonprofit and Public Management. Ms. Hack joined Uncommon Schools as Chief Financial Officer in the summer of 2006. Prior to this, she worked as the Associate Executive Director of Development and Administration at Anchor, Inc. While at Anchor, Ms. Hack was responsible for the financial management of the organization, strategic planning, the development of a new evaluation model, the oversight of a capital renovation project, and fundraising. Her previous work experience also includes a summer associate position for the Chief Financial Officer of Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston. Prior to business school, Ms. Hack taught high school mathematics and coached basketball and soccer for five years in Northern California. She received her B.A. in Economics from Johns Hopkins University and her M.A. from Stanford University’s School of Education. Send e-mail

Mina Hai   Technology Project Manager

Mina Hai joined Uncommon Schools in July 2008 as Technology Project Manager. Ms. Hai has over a decade of experience in the technology sector, working across a broad variety of industries. She most recently consulted with a health care organization, helping the organization to define its data warehousing strategy. Ms. Hai’s previous experience includes several years at McKinsey and Co. in the roles of business analyst and project manager as well as a VISTA internship in New York City, where among her responsibilities she conducted job skills training programs for high school students and for homeless adults. Ms. Hai holds a B.A. in History from Cornell University. Send e-mail

Cortney Harris   Public Grants and Special Projects Manager

Cortney Harris has over 10 years of experience in government, youth, and community development programs. Before joining Uncommon Schools as PublicGrants and Special Projects Manager in 2007, Ms. Harris served as the Assistant Director of College and Community Programs at the University of Rochester. There she led the admission office’s diversity recruitment efforts. Previously, she worked in the City of Rochester’s Mayor’s Office for the Pathways to Peace Program. While at the Mayor’s Office, she helped secure over $2 million in federal and state grant funds to support the program. Ms. Harris is the CEO of Roc City Dance and Fitness, a dance studio that focuses on arts and fitness awareness for urban youth and adults. Ms. Harris received a B.A. in Sociology from the University at Albany. Send e-mail

Jessica Hendrix   Director of Organizational Learning

Jessica Ochoa Hendrix joined Uncommon Schools in the summer of 2009 after receiving her MBA with a concentration in Social Enterprise from Columbia Business School. During her time at Columbia, Ms. Hendrix was the recipient of the prestigious Board of Overseers Fellowship, and was awarded the Nathan Gantcher Prize for Social Enterprise. Additionally, she was the founding head of the Education Peer to Peer group and a vice president of the Social Enterprise Club. Ms. Hendrix served as an Education Pioneer at the New York City Department of Education, and also previously worked with Brooklyn Prospect Charter School as a Development Associate. Prior to business school, Ms. Hendrix worked in marketing for the Harvard Business Review and The Economist.  She holds a BA from the University of Texas at Austin.Send e-mail

Diane Jenkins   Special Assistant to the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of North Star Academy

Diane Jenkins joined Uncommon Schools in November 2008 and serves as the Special Assistant to the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of North Star Academy.  Prior to joining Uncommon Schools, Ms. Jenkins served as the Executive Assistant to the Executive Vice President of Growth Strategy and Development for Teach For America, where she assisted in the cultivation and development of new sites.   During her time with Teach For America, she also held a position with the Administration team.  Prior to working with Teach For America, Ms. Jenkins earned a B.A in English from The State University of New York at Geneseo.  During her undergraduate years, Ms. Jenkins served as a tutor with the Advancement Via Individual Determination program.  She also volunteered with the Xerox Center for Multicultural Education, where she developed and implemented academic enrichment programs for students in underprivileged urban schools. Send e-mail

Ahkilah Johnson    Director of Facilities

Prior to joining Uncommon Schools as Director of Facilities in the spring of 2009, Ahkilah Johnson served as Chief of Staff Investment Services at Cherokee Investment Partners. At Cherokee, Ms. Johnson’s responsibilities included investment underwriting, portfolio management, project management and deal structuring. She is LEED (Leadership in Energy an Environmental Design) accredited by the U.S. Green Building Council. She has served on the Board of Trustees for Teaching Firms of America Charter Schools and previously managed a community development proffer that included the design and predevelopment of a 300-student LEED Platinum middle school. Ms. Johnson’s previous experiences include her work with the Clark Construction Group coordinating field construction, as well as negotiating contracts to insure all work was completed in compliance with planned sequences, specifications, budgets and schedules. In addition, she spent two years as an Apprentice-Architect with the architecture firms of Schwartz and Associate Architects and Little and Associate Architects. She received her M.S. in Real Estate Development from Columbia University and her B.S. magna cum laude in Architecture from the Howard University College of Engineering Architecture and Computer Sciences, where she was a Trustee Scholar and the AIA Henry Adams Scholar. Send e-mail

Max Koltuv    Director of Brooklyn Elementary Instruction

Lindsay Kruse   Senior Director of Human Capital

Prior to her role as Senior Director of Human Capital, Lindsay Kruse was the Director of Leadership Development for Uncommon Schools. As Director of Leadership Development, she developed the leadership fellowship program that prepares new instructional and operations leaders to open an Uncommon school. Ms. Kruse started at Uncommon in 2006 as the Director of Operations and developed the Operations infrastructure for Uncommon including defining and developing the role of school-based Operations leaders, developing systems to support those leaders, and managing projects that leveraged scale across schools. She received her M.B.A. from Columbia Business School with a concentration in Social Enterprise in 2006. Winner of the Joanne Martin Award for Excellence in Public and Nonprofit Management, she has experience working with many youth development and poverty-fighting agencies including Ashoka, Robin Hood Foundation, Groundwork, Echoing Green, and the UNDP’s Growing Sustainable Business Initiative. Before earning her M.B.A., Ms. Kruse worked as a management consultant for Ernst & Young /Capgemini.  In this capacity, Ms. Kruse worked on the founding team for the School Evaluation Services project for Standard and Poors, now known as SchoolMatters.com. She is an alumnus of the Broad Residency in Urban Education and holds a B.S. from Cornell University.Send e-mail

Laura Lee McGovern   Chief Operating Officer, Collegiate Charter Schools

Laura Lee McGovern is the Chief Operating Officer of the Collegiate Network of Uncommon Schools. Ms. Lee joined Uncommon Schools in 2007 as the Founding Co-Director of Operations at Kings Collegiate Charter School. Ms. Lee helped establish the systems, processes and cultural foundation that has led Kings to early outstanding achievement and parent/student satisfaction. Ms. Lee also worked as a Summer Fellow and Education Pioneer with Uncommon in 2006. In this capacity, she helped develop school inspection and performance measurement processes. Previously, Ms. Lee worked as a management consultant at Katzenbach Partners LLC, advising companies on strategic and organizational issues, and also served as the founding Director of Analytics in student enrollment at the New York City Department of Education. Ms. Lee received her MBA from Harvard Business School, where she was a Baker Scholar and co-leader of the Education Leadership Group. Ms. Lee earned her A.B. in Social Studies at Harvard College and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.Send e-mail

Doug Lemov   Managing Director, True North Public Schools

Doug Lemov is the Founder of School Performance, an Albany-based non-profit that provides diagnostic assessments, performance data analysis, and academic consulting to high performing charter schools. He is a founder and the former principal of the Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter School in Boston, regarded as one of the highest performing urban charter schools in the country. After leaving Academy of the Pacific Rim, Mr. Lemov served as the Vice President for Accountability at the State University of New York Charter Schools Institute, the leading authorizer of charters in New York, where he designed and implemented a rigorous school accountability system. He has since served as a consultant to such organizations as KIPP, New Leaders for New Schools, and Building Excellent Schools. Mr. Lemov is a Trustee of the New York Charter Schools Association and of KIPP Tech Valley Charter School. He has a B.A. from Hamilton College, an M.A. from Indiana University, and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. Send e-mail

Crystal Leveillee    Associate Director of Development and Marketing

Crystal Leveillee joined Uncommon Schools in 2009 as Associate Director of Development and Marketing.  Prior to joining Uncommon Schools, Ms. Leveillee was a Marketing Associate at FLAG Capital Management.  In that role, she was responsible for supporting investor relations and fundraising activities for FLAG’s Private Equity and Real Assets funds based in Boston.  Previously, Ms. Leveillee served as an Analyst in the Energy Investment Banking Group at J.P. Morgan, where she worked on M&A and equity transactions in the Power space.  She also held summer positions at Merrill Lynch and the Laboratory for Financial Engineering at MIT Sloan School, and taught in elementary schools in Nicaragua with Global Learning.  Her volunteer work in the education field includes directing the Wellesley Words on Wheels tutoring program in Framingham, MA public schools and volunteering at the Boston Renaissance Charter School.  Ms. Leveillee received a B.A. in Economics from Wellesley College.

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Tara Marlovits    Chief Operating Officer,  Preparatory Network

Tara Marlovits is the Chief Operating Officer of the Preparatory Network of Uncommon  Schools.  She previously served as the Co-Director for Operations and Finance at Leadership Prep Bedford Stuyvesant Charter School, a member of the Uncommon Schools network.  Ms. Marlovits joined Leadership Prep in 2006 as the Founding Director of Operations, and was instrumental in the school‘s growth from its launch, through its start-up phases, to becoming a high-performing elementary school serving 330 students in Kindergarten through 4th Grade. On the 2009 New York State Exams,  89% of Leadership Prep Bedford Stuyvesant students scored Advanced or Proficient on the English Language Arts exam, and 100% scored Advanced or Proficient in Math.  Prior to joining Leadership Prep, Ms. Marlovits was the Associate Executive Director of Anchor, a nonprofit organization that designs and builds urban boarding schools in Brooklyn.  She began her career in education as the Founding Director of Programs at The Neighborhood Academy, a private high school serving low income students in Pittsburgh, PA. Ms. Marlovits holds a B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross and an M.A. from Harvard University.

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Searcy Milam    Associate Director of Recruitment

Searcy Milam joined Uncommon Schools in 2008 following a role as a Teach For America corps member in East Los Angeles. During her time as a corps member, she taught three different levels of middle school ESL as well as 7th grade English. In her second year of teaching, her students achieved an average of approximately 1.5 years of reading growth due in large part to a systematic and tailored approach to the Accelerated Reader program. Outside of the classroom, Ms. Milam served on the school’s five-person governing body, managed the teacher expenditure budget, and chaired the 7th Grade House committee. Originally from the Mississippi Delta, she studied abroad in Spain in 2005 through a foreign studies fellowship and discovered her interest in ESL education through tutoring elementary-age Spanish students. Ms. Milam received her B.A. in English and Hispanic Studies from Rice University.

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Allison Million    Business Manager

Allison Million joined Uncommon Schools in 2008 and serves as a Business Manager on the finance team. Before joining Uncommon, Ms. Million worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Houston, Texas as a Systems & Process Assurance Associate. At PricewaterhouseCoopers she was involved in Sarbanes-Oxley 404 external and internal audit assessments, focusing on both business process and IT-related control activities. She also participated in risk assessment and identification of internal controls for the financial audit team. Further, Ms. Million worked as a tax associate during a six-month tax rotation during which she assessed tax implications of business financial information. While at PricewaterhouseCoopers she served as a Junior Achievement volunteer, educating young people about business and entrepreneurial concepts. Ms. Million is a CPA and a CISA. She holds a Master of Accountancy and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baylor University.Send e-mail

Jenny Ng   Senior Business Manager

Prior to joining Uncommon Schools, Jenny Ng worked for Kiwi Partners Inc. as an accounting consultant responsible for general accounting, audit preparation, financial reports, and grant reporting. In her role, Ms. Ng worked with an array of non-profit organizations, ranging from start up non-profits to large, well-established organizations, and including The Brain Trauma Foundation, Water Aid USA, and International Network for Public Schools. While at Kiwi Partners, she assisted in developing a set of standard accounting systems for organizations across various social sectors. Ms. Ng is a certified non for profit accountant and received an M.P.A. in Non-Profit Management from City University of New York – Baruch College. She earned her B.A. in Financial Investment from CUNY – Baruch. Send e-mail

Brett Peiser   Managing Director, Uncommon New York City

Brett Peiser is Founder and former Principal and Executive Director of Boston Collegiate Charter School. Boston Collegiate, a college preparatory middle and high school serving over 500 students, is one of Massachusetts’ highest performing schools. In 2005, Mr. Peiser founded Collegiate Charter Schools, an Uncommon Schools network of middle and high schools in Brooklyn, New York. The network's first and second schools – Williamsburg Collegiate and Kings Collegiate Charter Schools – were the #2 and #6 ranked middle schools in all of New York City on the Department of Education’s 2009 progress reports. Since those schools began, Mr. Peiser has also helped start two new middle schools, Bedford Stuyvesant and Brownsville Collegiate Charter Schools, as well as Uncommon Charter High School which will serve students from all of Uncommon’s New York City elementary and middle schools. In 2009, Mr. Peiser became Managing Director of Uncommon New York City, overseeing nearly 2,000 students across Uncommon’s 10 elementary and secondary schools in Brooklyn. Uncommon New York City will ultimately grow to serve 7,000 students across 20 schools. Mr. Peiser is a graduate of New York City Public Schools and a resident of Brooklyn where he taught History at Midwood High School and founded an after-school community basketball program for Midwood/Flatbush teenagers. Mr. Peiser received a BA from Brown University and a MPP degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he also earned the 2001 Rising Star award.Send e-mail

Melinda Phelps   Video Project Manager

Melinda Phelps joined Uncommon Schools in September 2008 as a Video Analyst, and transitioned to the role of Video Project Manager in August 2009. Prior to joining Uncommon, Ms. Phelps served as Documentarian at KIPP SHINE Prep in Houston, Texas, where she was responsible for the production of media used for professional development, public relations, and recruitment. While at KIPP SHINE, Ms. Phelps introduced the Literacy Through Photography program, taught photography and writing to second grade students, and also co-taught a Pre-K class.  In addition, Ms. Phelps previously taught Photojournalism to high school students at the Urban Assembly School of Business for Young Women. As an undergraduate, Ms. Phelps held internships in the Education and Outreach department of Houston PBS and with Scribe Video Center, a non-profit media training center in Philadelphia. Ms. Phelps earned her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College in the Growth and Structure of Cities with a Concentration in Media.Send e-mail

Joshua Phillips   Chief Operating Officer

Joshua Phillips joined Uncommon Schools as COO in the summer of 2008. He was previously the Co-Director of Roxbury Preparatory Charter School in Boston. In 2007, Roxbury Prep’s 8th graders had the highest math MCAS scores in the entire state of Massachusetts. As of 2009, nearly 80% of Roxbury Prep’s college-aged graduates are currently enrolled in college – over seven times the national average for low-income students. A Co-Director at Roxbury Prep for six years, Mr. Phillips brings a track record of results and extensive operational and management experience to the role of COO. He previously served as the Enrichment Coordinator and sixth grade World History teacher at Roxbury Prep. Mr. Phillips also was a History teacher-intern at the John D. O’Bryant School of Math and Science while earning an Ed.M. in Teaching and Curriculum from Harvard University. He received his B.A. in Political Science from Colgate University and his M.A. in Political Science from the University of California at Santa Barbara. Send e-mail

Frank Rosado    Chief Technology Officer

Frank Rosado is the Chief Technology Officer at Uncommon Schools. Prior to joining Uncommon Schools, Mr. Rosado was the Technical Consulting Manager for NPower NY. Mr. Rosado helped develop the NPower Basic program. NPower Basic is an outsourced technology infrastructure solution that delivers non-profits a top notch "in-a-box" technical infrastructure. This, in turn, provides a model that enables graduates of NPower NY's Technology Services Corps to deliver high impact serivces to the everyday operations of an array of non profits. He also led the effort to improve the quality of technology consulting that NPpwer NY provided to their non profit clients. Prior to joining NPower NY, Mr. Rosado worked at Marsh Inc. where he provided network support and disaster recovery expertise. Prior to joining Marsh, Mr. Rosado helped start Henry Street Settlement Youth Services Division's computing environment for education and administrative purposes. Mr. Rosado has a B.A. in History and Political Science from Williams College, an M.S. in IS from Baruch College, as well as several technical certifications. Send e-mail

Evan Rudall   Chief Executive Officer

Prior to becoming CEO in July 2008, Evan Rudall served as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer for nearly three years. Mr. Rudall is the Founder and former Co-Director of Roxbury Preparatory Charter School, a nationally recognized urban college preparatory public school that was recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as one of eight of the highest-performing charter schools in the country. After founding Roxbury Prep, Mr. Rudall served as Special Assistant to the Deputy Chancellor for Teaching and Learning of the New York City Department of Education. Prior to founding Roxbury Prep, Mr. Rudall directed Summerbridge Louisville, a non-profit academic enrichment program. He also taught, coached, and served as Assistant Middle School Director at Kentucky Country Day School. Mr. Rudall received his B.A. from Wesleyan University, his Ed.M. from Harvard University, and his J.D. from Columbia Law School, where he was a senior editor of the Columbia Law Review. Send e-mail

Julie Shah    Associate Director of Development and Marketing

Prior to joining Uncommon Schools in 2008, Julie Shah taught fifth grade math at North Star Academy in Newark, NJ. Ms. Shah began her career as a 2004 Teach For America corps member in Philadelphia, where she taught sixth grade math and reading. As a corps member, Ms. Shah helped to develop and pilot the school’s Inclusion program, designed and presented professional development on Inclusion in Special Education, and coordinated school-wide events such as College and Career Week. As an undergraduate, Ms. Shah served as Business Manager of the internationally-distributed Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, managing the operations and budget of the Journal as well as developing its first strategic business plan. She also traveled to India where she researched and published a report for the Gujarat State AIDS Control Society on the potential for NGO networks to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in high-risk populations. Ms. Shah received a B.S. in Foreign Service (magna cum laude) from Georgetown University and a M.S. in Education from St. Joseph’s University. Send e-mail

Leah Shalev    Director of Outreach

Leah Shalev joined Uncommon Schools in 2007 following a role as a Corps Member Advisor for Teach For America. In this role, she helped prepare a group of 2007 New York City corps members for their teaching commitment. Ms. Shalev started her career in education as a Recruitment Fellow with Teach For America, where she worked to recruit college seniors from six southern colleges and universities to apply to the Teach For America corps. She then joined Teach For America as a 2005 corps member and taught at P.S. 138 in the Bronx for two years as a second grade teacher. In her years at P.S. 138, Ms. Shalev worked to ensure that her students achieved a class average of 83% math content mastery and that they made gains equivalent to one and half years in reading. She also served as a school team leader. Ms. Shalev received her B.A. in History from Northwestern University and her M.S. in Teaching from Pace University. Send e-mail

Denise Thomas    Director of Human Resources

Denise Thomas joined Uncommon Schools as the Director of Human Resources in the summer of 2009. Most recently, Ms. Thomas was the Director of Retail Analytics at Longs Drugs/CVS where she ran an operations analysis team charged with identifying and monitoring performance improvement opportunities. Prior to Longs, Ms. Thomas was a merchant at the TJX Companies, a management consulting associate at Booz Allen Hamilton, and an operations consultant at Frito-Lay.  At the beginning of her career, Ms. Thomas was awarded an Echoing Green Fellowship to co-found mytown, a non-profit organization that combines urban history and youth development. At mytown, Ms Thomas was responsible for developing the organization’s internal structures, programs, and partner relationships. She holds an MBA from Stanford, a BA from Yale and has served on several non-profit boards in Boston and New Haven. Send e-mail

Amanda Warco   Special Projects Coordinator for the Collegiate, Excellence and Preparatory Networks

Amanda Warco joined Uncommon Schools in July of 2009 as Special Projects Coordinator for the Collegiate, Excellence and Preparatory Networks. Prior to joining Uncommon, she worked at the MATCH Charter Public High School in Boston, where she served as a tutor and Teaching Assistant to the freshman English teacher. In 2008, she was a founding member of the MATCH Charter Public Middle School, where she held the role of Building Manager and oversaw the school’s AmeriCorps program. Ms. Warco graduated from Wake Forest University with a B.A. in English and French.

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Craig Zimmerman    Director of Finance

Craig Zimmerman joined Uncommon Schools as Director of Finance in 2009.  Mr. Zimmerman began his career as a strategy consultant for Bain & Company, where he worked for nearly six years in Chicago and Madrid.  After leaving Bain, Mr. Zimmerman focused on entrepreneurship, and helped to grow multiple companies.  Most recently, he was Senior Vice President for Tom Colicchio’s Wichcraft, a multi-city restaurant group, where he led the finance, human resources, and technology departments.  Mr. Zimmerman holds a BBA degree with highest distinction from the University of Michigan Business School, where he was elected Phi Beta Kappa .

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