About Us

What is your role with The Center, and what are you most excited about?
I am The Center’s newly appointed Director of the Statewide Family Engagement Center. After working as a school leader in a community with a large ELL population, I am most excited about improving opportunities for districts and schools to meaningfully engage with our diverse families in Louisiana.

What is your background?

I am certified to teach PK-8th grade. I also hold certification as a school leader, district supervisor, and superintendent. I am a native of Savannah, GA. I earned a B.A. from Dillard 4 University and an M.Ed. from the University of New Orleans. I completed the Executive Leadership Program at The University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. I have 30 years of experience as a teacher, instructional coach, principal, district and state supervisor. My experiences as a primary grades teacher in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans in the early 1990s opened my eyes to the disparities in public education. I am committed to ensuring all children have access to high-quality instruction in a safe, supportive, and inclusive school environment.

What is your role with The Center, and what are you most excited about?
My role is the Family Engagement Specialist, and I am most excited about working with schools and families across the state of Louisiana to make a positive impact on family engagement.

What is your background?
I am a native of New Orleans and have served as a certified educator for 25 years in New Orleans. I am a proud product of Orleans Parish Public Schools. I attended Southern University in New Orleans and received a B.A. in English Education. My post-graduate education continued at Xavier University, and I received an M.A. in Educational Leadership. As a lifelong learner, I have completed fellowships at Tulane University and the John Maxwell Leadership Distinguished Team for public speaking. My experience includes working as a five-year high school English teacher and becoming a principal. My proudest career experience was when I was charged with leading the first community-based school in New Orleans, which went on to receive several awards and accolades for the dedicated work in the community we served.

What makes Family Engagement personal to you?
Family engagement is personal to me because I truly believe in the proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child.” This proverb means that an entire community of people must provide for and interact positively with children for those children to experience and grow in a safe and healthy 5 environment. I have witnessed this belief, and I know it can be accomplished when diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the forefront of compelling student impact.

 

What is your role with The Center and what are you most excited about?
I am a Family Engagement Specialist and I'm looking forward to collaborating with our team to fulfill our objective of increasing Louisiana families' capacity to support their children's academic success.

What is your background?
I am fully bilingual in English and Spanish. Although my degree is in Drama and Communications, I worked for 18 years in the Jefferson Parish Public School System with English Language Learners. I worked in different capacities from parent advisor to interpreter/translator for the different departments. ELLs and their families need lots of resources to learn English, navigate the school system, and be more engaged to help guide their students toward success, regardless of the level of English proficiency they may have.

What makes Family Engagement personal to you?
Family Engagement is personal to me because I’ve seen how it can help influence all students’ educational experiences positively. For ELL students and their families, it’s even more important for family engagement to be handled with respect and cultural sensitivity, for positive results.

What is your role with The Center and what are you most excited about?
I am a Family Engagement Specialist with the Louisiana Statewide Family Engagement Center team. I am excited to work with the team to bring more awareness to the mental health and social needs of children that impact learning. I am also excited to provide the necessary resources to families, educators, and districts to increase positive student outcomes through family engagement!

What is your background?
I graduated from the University of Holy Cross in 2019 with my B.A. in English. I then went on to graduate with my MSW from Tulane School of Social Work in 2020 and became a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW). In 2021, I became a school social worker in the Jefferson Parish Public School System. I worked with a diverse student population with students from different cultural, economic, and social backgrounds by facilitating one-on-one therapy, SEL presentations, and intervening in crises. I also worked with students who were classified as special education on behavioral and social needs. In 2022, I began working part-time at Children’s Hospital of New Orleans assessing and addressing patient and family needs. I went on to become full-time at Children’s Hospital with the role of Trauma Team Social Worker where I spent a lot of my time providing support to families and building long-lasting, meaningful relationships with the people I served. My passion has always been to work with children and their families to help create positive experiences that promote life-long success.

What makes Family Engagement personal to you?
With my experience as a school social worker, I have seen first-hand how family engagement impacts students’ well-being and ability to actively engage in learning. Effective family engagement is a partnership between families, educators, and schools that addresses not only the academic needs of the student but also addresses outside factors that affect learning. Many factors including student well-being play a huge role in a student’s academic achievement. If students see that the adults in their lives are working together to help them succeed, they are more motivated to do so.