What drives me

Here's the thing that keeps me up at night: we know so much about how kids learn to read. The science is clear. But there's still this massive gap between what researchers have figured out and what's actually happening in most classrooms. I've watched schools adopt the latest program, spend the money on training, and then watch it all fall apart within a year because nobody built the systems to make it stick.

​

Kids can't wait for us to get our act together. Every year without solid literacy instruction is a year that changes their trajectory. That urgency is what gets me out of bed. I don't just teach the 'what' – I obsess over the 'how to make it last.'

My approach

I blend the Science of Reading with implementation science – because evidence-based practices are useless if they don't survive contact with a real school building. When I work with districts, we're not just training teachers on new strategies. We're building the infrastructure, the coaching systems, the feedback loops that turn one-off workshops into permanent changes in practice.

Whether I'm designing learning experiences for 500+ educators across multiple states or coaching a single instructional team through a curriculum shift, my goal stays the same: change that actually shows up in student data.

​

Where I've been

My journey started where it matters most – in front of students. Twelve years as a middle school language arts teacher taught me that good curriculum means nothing if kids don't trust you and won't engage. From there, I moved into administration because I realized I could impact more students by supporting more teachers.

​

Some highlights that shaped how I think:

• Took Harrison Elementary from "Underperforming" to "Commendable" state designation – not through magic, but through relentless focus on data-driven instruction and teacher support

• Trained 500+ educators nationwide in Science of Reading implementation at 95 Percent Group, turning complex research into practical classroom strategies

• Earned a doctorate in Organizational Change and Leadership from USC, focusing on family engagement during crisis – research that proved immediately useful during COVID

• Delivered 1,200+ books to families via minibus during remote learning – because sometimes leadership means dressing up as the Purple People Eater if that's what gets kids excited about reading

​

Each role taught me something different about what it takes to actually move the needle on student literacy – and what doesn't work no matter how good it sounds in theory.

​