Faculty and Staff

The Foundation Academy Charter School 2007-08 Faculty and Staff are:

• Ronald C. Brady, Head of School
• Benjamin Dale, Music Director and Teacher
• Robyn Douglas, Teacher
• Susan Hanlon, School Nurse
• Carla Hill, School Factotum
• Lisa Kemp, Teacher
• José A. Lozada, Network Administrator
• Tara Pepe, School Social Worker
• Jennifer Rak, Teacher
• Stephanie Segall, Teacher
• Ralonda Smith, Teacher

Ron Brady has 13 years of experience in education administration, focused primarily on improving urban schools. Between March 2003 and June 2005, he served as the School Director and Middle School Director of a charter school in Trenton. Under his leadership, the students, faculty, parents and administration worked together to raise student achievement on the New Jersey state standardized achievement test by double digits in all three subjects in a single year. Prior to his work in Trenton, Mr. Brady served as the Director of the CLASS Project in the Paterson Public Schools, where he was the lead planner to open five new small schools over three years. Mr. Brady has also served as the Director of the Office of State Operated School Districts in the New Jersey Department of Education, and as a Special Assistant in the Office of the Chancellor of the New York City Board of Education. Mr. Brady is the author of the 2003 Thomas B. Fordham Foundation report, entitled Can Failing Schools be Fixed?, an analysis of the process of school turnarounds in the era of No Child Left Behind. Mr. Brady has served as the Chairman of the New Jersey Community Advisory Board of Teach for America and as a member of the Massachusetts Charter School Advisory Council. Mr. Brady has a MPA from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a BA in History and Government from Bowdoin College. Mr. Brady lives with his wife and two children in Villanova, PA.

• Email: rbrady@foundationacademy.org
• Phone Number: (609) 920-9200

Benjamin Dale is the Music Director and teacher at Foundation Academy Charter School. From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Dale worked as a music teacher in New York. In this position, he directed the district fifth grade orchestra and the district string orchestra, he gave cello and bass lessons to students in grades four through twelve, and he coached string quartets with advance students in grades ten through twelve. Since 2001, Mr. Dale has also provided private lessons to students of all ages. Mr. Dale has participated in several summer institutes throughout the country and in Italy. He participated in a Mentor Fellowship at the Aspen Summer Music Festival, during which he mentored and led the cello section. He has performed with various orchestras, and he has experience in providing music therapy. Mr. Dale graduated with Honors from the Eastman School of Music at the University of Rochester with a Bachelor of Music in Cello Performance, Music Education (with an instrumental concentration), and Musical Arts (with a music therapy concentration).

• Email: bdale@foundationacademy.org
• Phone Number: (609) 218-0458

Robyn Douglas is a teacher at Foundation Academy Charter School, and also served as the Mathematics Curriculum Writer. She has worked at The Youth Center Summer Day Camp since 2001, where she has served as Camp Director, Assistant Camp Director, Birthday Party Coordinator, and a Basketball and T-Ball Coach. From 2005 until 2007, Ms. Douglas taught sixth grade Accelerated Language Arts Literacy at Somerville Middle School in Somerville, NJ. Prior to this, Ms. Douglas taught middle school Language Arts at a charter school in Trenton. She was also the Assistant Boys’ Basketball Coach, as well as the Head Tennis Coach. Ms. Douglas has also worked as a substitute teacher and a 5th grade teacher covering maternity leave at Scotland School for Veterans’ Children in Scotland, Pennsylvania. Ms. Douglas graduated with Highest Honors with a B.S. in Elementary Education and a B.A. in Psychology from Shippensburg University. She is a member of Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society in Education, Psi Chi National Honor Society in Psychology, and Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education. Ms. Douglas possesses a NJ Elementary Education K-8 Standard Certificate and is highly qualified in both Mathematics and Language Arts.

• Email: rdouglas@foundationacademy.org
• Phone Number: (609) 218-0459

Susan Hanlon is the School Nurse at Foundation Academy Charter School. Ms. Hanlon is a Registered Nurse and a Certified School Nurse in the state of New Jersey. She has twelve years of experience as a manager of school health programs in multiple settings, including Bordentown public schools, a charter school in Trenton, and a private special education school. In these positions, Ms. Hanlon was responsible for establishing, implementing, managing, and maintaining all school health services, and she gained a reputation for exceeding the regulations set by NJ State law. She conducted all state mandated health programs, including immunization compliance and health screenings. She provided prevention, recognition, and treatment of illnesses and injuries to staff and students, and she delivered health education and counseling to students, staff, and families. Prior to her work in schools, Ms. Hanlon has fifteen years of experience in providing primary nursing care and health education in the hospital, home, and community environments. Ms. Hanlon received her B.S. in Nursing from Trenton State College.

• Email: shanlon@foundationacademy.org
• Phone Number: (609) 218-0540

Carla Hill is the School Factotum at Foundation Academy Charter School. Ms. Hill has over 15 years of experience working with at-risk students and special needs adults in careers in the fields of education and social services. From 2003 until 2007, Ms. Hill served as the Parent Liaison in a Trenton charter school, where she has spearheaded the school’s parental involvement efforts. Under her stewardship, documented rates of parental involvement, parental volunteerism, parental satisfaction and parental attendance at the school’s Home and School Association meetings have all seen triple-digit growth. Prior to her work in Trenton, Ms. Hill was a Residential Coordinator for the New Jersey Deaf and Blind Association, where she supervised group homes, monitoring each site for compliance with federal and state health, safety and quality of care requirements. Ms. Hill previously worked for the Saint Lewis School in Texas, an elementary school for severely handicapped children. During her time there, she developed a reputation as the “go to” staff person for dealing with some of the most behaviorally challenged students in the school, ones with which most other staff members refused to work.

• Email: chill@foundationacademy.org
• Phone Number: (609) 218-1215

Lisa Kemp is a teacher at Foundation Academy Charter School. In the summer of 2007, she participated in a teacher exchange program between the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education and teacher educators and administrators from Sri Lanka. In order for the participants to gain international perspectives on education, they collaborated in classes at the Graduate School of Education, and then they went to Sri Lanka to study the educational system there. Prior to this, as a Master’s candidate, Ms. Kemp taught in both a district and charter school in Philadelphia. She also has several years of camp counselor experience. Ms. Kemp is a 2006 magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University, and she has recently received her Master’s degree in Education at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa Academic Honor Society.

• Email: lkemp@foundationacademy.org
• Phone Number: (609) 203-8708

José A. Lozada is the Network Administrator at Foundation Academy Charter School. From 2003 until 2007, Mr. Lozada worked as a Network Administrator in another Trenton charter school. His skills extend into the fields of computer programming and technical repair. In his work, Mr. Lozada assists teachers to develop and use technology skills to enhance instruction. He provides technology-based solutions to help minimize the amount of paper work needed to manage a school, allowing for more time to be focused on the needs of students. Mr. Lozada was the valedictorian of his graduating class at Trenton Central High School, and he remains a resident of Trenton. He is currently working toward a degree in computer science at NJIT.

• Email: jlozada@foundationacademy.org
• Phone Number: (609) 920-9200

Tara Pepe is the School Social Worker at Foundation Academy Charter School. She is a certified school social worker and a Licensed Social Worker (LSW) in the state of New Jersey. From 2005 until 2006, Ms. Pepe worked as an In-home Therapist for the Community YMCA in Ocean County. Prior to this, she served as the School Social Worker at a charter school in Trenton for three years. In this role, Ms. Pepe provided individual, group, and crisis counseling to regular and special education students, coordinated the school’s character education program, created and implemented a peer mediation program, provided consultation with staff and parents, conducted home visits, monitored student attendance, and served as the liaison between the school and community agencies. Ms. Pepe drafted several school policies and procedures, and she served as the Coordinator of the Intervention and Referral Services Committee and the school's Section 504 Officer. Prior to this, Ms. Pepe worked for the Children's Home Society in Trenton, where she served as a social worker at the Family Resource Center and worked as a school social worker in Holland Middle School. Ms. Pepe graduated with Highest Honors with a BA in Social Work from Muhlenberg College, and she received her Master’s in Social Work (MSW) from the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa Academic Honor Society and a member of the National Association of Social Workers.

• Email: tpepe@foundationacademy.org
• Phone Number: (609) 920-9200

Jennifer Rak is a teacher at Foundation Academy Charter School, and also served as the Social Studies Curriculum Writer. Previously, she taught high school and middle school social studies as well as second grade at a charter school in Trenton over the course of two years. Ms. Rak has been both Head and Assistant Basketball Coach, as well as a GEPA tutor, and she served as the Social Studies' Curriculum Coordinator. Though new to teaching, over the course of her tenure at the charter school, Ms. Rak was asked to conduct several professional development workshops for her colleagues and was offered by her supervisors as someone other teachers should observe and emulate. Prior to teaching in Trenton, Ms. Rak attended Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Camden Campus, graduating with High Honors with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Ms. Rak possesses multiple New Jersey certifications—Elementary Education, Secondary Social Studies and Psychology. Ms. Rak is a member of Phi Beta Kappa (Alpha Chapter) Academic Honor Society, Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education, Psi Chi National Honor Society in Psychology, and Athenaeum, Rutgers University-Camden College of Arts and Sciences Honor Society.

• Email: jrak@foundationacademy.org
• Phone Number: (609) 218-0481

Stephanie Segall is a teacher at Foundation Academy Charter School. Previously, she spent two years teaching in the Las Vegas Valley as part of Teach for America, a national initiative aimed at promoting educational equity. During this time, Ms. Segall created and implemented reading intervention strategies which led 85% of her students to gain two or more grade levels in reading ability over the course of one school year. Ms. Segall was able to design and implement educational and behavioral intervention plans for students with diverse needs and backgrounds, and she distinguished herself as a source of support and advice for her colleagues. She also served as Multicultural Committee Chairperson and National Junior Honor Society Advisor. Ms. Segall graduated from Smith College, with a B.A. in Government and Public Policy, and she received her Master's in Special Education (M. Ed) from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

• Email: ssegall@foundationacademy.org
• Phone Number: (609) 203-8564

Ralonda Smith is a teacher at Foundation Academy Charter School. Ms. Smith has twelve years of experience in the field of education. From 2004 to 2007, she served as a first grade teacher at a charter school in Trenton. Prior to this, she served as the technology teacher at a private school, and as a Program Manager at Sylvan Learning Center. From 1998 until 2003, Ms. Smith worked at another charter school in Trenton, serving as an eighth grade language arts teacher, a second grade teacher, and a kindergarten teacher. During this time, Ms. Smith also served as a lead teacher. She began her career in teaching as a second and third grade teacher at a public school in Ewing. Ms. Smith received her B.S. in Elementary Education from Delaware State University, and her M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix. She is a member of Kappa Delta Pi International Education Honor Society and Alpha Kappa Mu National Honor Society.

• Email: rsmith@foundationacademy.org
• Phone Number: (609) 218-0457