Julio Murcia – Ánimo Leadership Charter High School Julio Murcia was born in Villavicencio, Colombia and immigrated to California when he was eleven years old along with his mother and two younger sisters. He moved to Santa Monica, where he attended John Adams Middle School and Santa Monica High School. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Education from California State University, Northridge, and he received Masters degrees from Loyola Marymount University in Counseling and in Administration. Julio has worked in education for over 13 years and he says that he "can honestly say that [he] loves what [he] does." He has been a tutor, a teacher, a counselor, an activities director, a bilingual coordinator, an Assistant Principal, and now a Principal. Education is his passion and he intends to continue working in this realm for many years. His ultimate goal is to work to improve academic performance among the Latino community now and in the future. |
Annette Gonzalez – Ánimo Inglewood Charter High School Ms. Gonzalez has served as the principal of Ánimo Inglewood since the 2006-2007 school year. Prior to becoming the principal, Ms. Gonzalez was the Assistant Principal for the 2005-2006 school year. Before moving into administration, Ms. Gonzalez taught for eight years, three at the high school level and five at the middle school level. She taught 9th grade English at Ánimo Inglewood for three years and was chair of the English Department. Ms. Gonzalez served as a mentor teacher for three years at Ánimo Inglewood providing support for first and second year teachers. Prior to coming to Green Dot, she was an English and History teacher for five years in the Santa Monica/Malibu School District. While in Santa Monica, she served as a team leader and Governance representative. Ms. Gonzalez also presented at conferences around the country including the Coalition of Essential Schools Fall Forum. In 2001, she received National Board Certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards in the area of Early Adolescence English/Language Arts. Ms. Gonzalez received a bachelor of arts degrees in English and History from the University of California, Riverside. She received a Masters Degree in Educational Administration from Cal State Northridge. |
| Kris Terry – Oscar De La Hoya Ánimo Charter High School Kris Terry has been a leader at Oscar De La Hoya Ánimo since the school's beginning in 2003. She was an Assistant Principal at the school from 2003-2005, and has since served as the school's principal. She has great experience as an educator. She has worked in the Compton and Inglewood Unified school districts for ten years as a high school history teacher, and even tutored students in the Upward Bound after school program during her time as an undergraduate. Ms. Terry has written several school site plans and grants for both Compton and Morningside High Schools, consulted for schools throughout Southern California, and taught in Compton's Small School of Arts and Technology. This is where she found her true passion to help students adjust to working in a small learning environment. She went on to serve as the Smaller Learning Communities Program Grant Coordinator for Morningside High School, which eventually led her position with Green Dot. She earned her Bachelors degree at the University of California Berkeley, and a Masters degree in Educational Technology from Pepperdine University. |
| Gordon Gibbings – Ánimo South Los Angeles Charter High School Gordon Gibbings has served as the Principal of Ànimo South Los Angeles since August of 2007. Previously, Mr. Gibbings was an Assistant Principal at Jordan High School and before that taught elementary school for four years as a member of Teach For America. As Principal, Mr. Gibbings is responsible for serving as the instructional leader of the school; leading professional development; ensuring student and staff safety; managing the budget; evaluating teachers and staff; and working with all stakeholder groups to ensure that they all have a voice in the decision-making process. Mr. Gibbings graduated with a Masters in Educational Policy from the University of California, Berkeley and is currently completing his Doctorate of Education at the University of Southern California. |
Tommy Chang – Ánimo Venice Charter High School Tommy Chang has been the principal of Ánimo Venice since the school's founding in 2004. He began his career in education through the Teach for America (TFA) program. After he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in Biology and Religious Studies, TFA sent him to Compton High School in Los Angeles, where he achieved tremendous success as a teacher and leader. He created an AP Biology program at Compton High, and succeeded in having the first students in Compton Unified history to pass the exam. Mr. Chang also held positions as the science department chair, new-teacher trainer and mentor teacher. Mr. Chang says that his greatest accomplishment at Compton High School centered around his students; he is proud of "motivating [his] students to attain their educational goals of going to and being successful in college." |
Chad Soleo – Ánimo Pat Brown Charter High School Chad Soleo has served as the principal of Ánimo Pat Brown since the 2006-2007 school year when the school first opened. Mr. Soleo also consults with Green Dot Public Schools in its latest school-opening venture in New York City, and has begun teaching within the charter school leadership cohort for Loyola Marymount University's School of Education administrative credentialing program. Previously, Mr. Soleo began teaching English language arts through Teach for America at Alain Leroy Locke High School in South Los Angeles. He implemented the very successful college preparatory program, AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination), at Locke High School contributing to a significant increase in college awareness and a graduation rate in 2005 that nearly doubled that of the previous year. He taught reading, 10th grade English and honors English, and guided his journalism class through the publication process of The Saint City News, Locke's monthly newspaper. Mr. Soleo led a team of impressive educators in the establishment of The School of Social Empowerment, a small learning community serving over 400 students. This small learning community achieved significantly higher attendance rates and California High School Exit Exam scores within one year of its founding. Mr. Soleo became an assistant principal at Locke in 2005, coordinating Locke's effort to reorganize itself into seven small learning communities. He has lead professional development in Los Angeles Unified School District, within the Southern California AVID community, and within the Teach for America organization. Mr. Soleo received a bachelor of arts degree in English Literature from the University of Arizona. He also received a masters degree in Secondary Education from Loyola Marymount. |
| Xochitl Avellán – Ánimo Ralph Bunche Charter High School Xochitl Avellán has served as Assistant Principal of Ánimo Justice Charter High School since its opening in August 2006, and is now the Principal of Animo Ralph Bunche. Ms. Avellán oversaw the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at Ánimo Justice, the first program directly serving recent immigrants at any Green Dot school. Prior to working for Green Dot, Ms. Avellán worked for Los Angeles Unified School District for nine years - six years as an English teacher at the middle school level and three years as a Literacy Coach at the high school level. In addition to teaching, Ms. Avellán was an active member in numerous projects at LAUSD - Reading Program, Saturday School, School Site Council at Berendo Middle School, Community Liaison, 8th Grade Honors Coordinator, School Site Council Chairperson, Department Chair for the English Department at Stevenson Middle School, and Literacy Coach for Local District 5 assigned to Roosevelt High School. Ms. Avellán has vast experience in coordinating and presenting professional development for a variety of audiences. In 2007, she received National Board Certification from the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards in the area of Early Adolescence English / Language Arts. Ms. Avellán received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of California at Berkeley. She received a Masters degree in Educational Administration from California State Northridge University. |
| Lori Pawinski – Ánimo Jackie Robinson Charter High School Lori Pawinski has served as the principal of Animo Jackie Robinson since the school's first day in 2006. Dr. Pawinski is an adjunct professor at Loyola Marymount University in the School of Education. Her focus is educational instructional leadership and addressing the issues of race, gender and poverty in urban education. Dr. Pawinski began her teaching career at St. Bernard Catholic High School in Playa del Rey, California. During her tenure of fourteen years, she taught both science and social studies, held several administrative positions and coached the girl's basketball team to 3 state championships. Upon leaving SBHS she served as Administrative Dean at Santa Monica High School for one year. Dr. Pawinski then became an Assistant Principal at Roosevelt High School, where she was responsible for the Small Learning Community Reform effort. She worked closely with students, teachers, parents and the community to establish effective small learning communities to address the low graduation rate of the school. Dr. Pawinski received her bachelor of arts, masters degree from Loyola Marymount. In May 2007 Dr. Pawinski received her doctorate degree from Loyola Marymount in Leadership for Social Justice. |
| Steve Bachrach – Ánimo Film & Theatre Arts Charter High School Bio coming soon. |
| Tom Nichols – Ánimo Justice Charter High School Tom Nichols, Principal of Animo Justice Charter High School, joined Green Dot in 2006. Tom began his career in education in 1993 at North Hollywood High School serving as a social studies teacher for two years before earning his credential at as a Resource Specialist with an emphasis on emotionally and behaviorally disturbed students. Tom served as LEARN Lead Teacher and Resource Specialist at Amelia Earhart Continuation HS for five years. During the summers he worked in at different continuation high schools as a teacher and counselor, including two summers at Mc Alister HS, a pregnant minor's school. He also worked in LAUSD's Expulsion Placement Unit. While earning his Masters in Education and Administrative Credential at Cal Lutheran University, Tom served as Dean of Students at North Hollywood High School. Tom's first administrative position was as Assistant Principal at Roosevelt High School with an enrollment of 5300 students in Boyle Heights. While at Roosevelt for two and a half years, Tom supervised mathematics instruction, managed technology, operations and facilities, athletics, and also supervised all classified staff. He was also responsible for designing a plan to transform Roosevelt HS into smaller learning communities. Tom then had the opportunity to open Santee Education Complex in south Los Angeles; the first newly built and designed comprehensive high school in LAUSD in over thirty years. At Santee, Tom served as Principal of one of the small learning communities, the School of Travel, Tourism and Culinary Studies while also serving as an assistant principal for the complex. Tom earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from UCLA in 1986. |
Dinah Consuegra – Ánimo Locke Tech Charter High School Dinah Consuegra has served as the principal of Animo Watts I since the 2007-2008 school year when it first opened. Prior to Green Dot, Ms. Consuegra taught English and Film for seven years in the Los Angeles Unified School District. She was active in the small learning community movement developing the two most successful small schools at Franklin High School which both focused on innovative ways to engage students in the learning process. She also served as Dean of Students for three years. Ms. Consuegra graduated with honors from Occidental College, receiving her Bachelor of Arts degrees in English and Comparative Literary Studies. It was during her undergraduate program that she began working with teenagers on creative writing and video projects. Her passion for working with historically underrepresented youth has continued to inform her credo of transforming public education through the use of technology, popular culture, and media arts. Ms. Consuegra has also completed her Master's of Arts degree at Claremont Graduate University and received her Masters of Education from UCLA's Principal Leadership Institute. |
Vanessa Morris – Ánimo Watts 2 Charter High School Vanessa Morris has served as the Principal of Animo Watts II since the 2007-2008 school year when it first opened. Prior to Green Dot, Ms. Morris worked at Locke High School from 2000-2007 as a science teacher and science department chair. With several colleagues, Ms. Morris created and ran The School of Math and Science, a small school within Locke. Ms. Morris received two undergraduate degrees in Marine Biology and Environmental Studies and a Masters of Education from the University of California, Los Angeles. |
