Faculty and Staff
Kathryn Anstaett is the 6th grade Social Studies and Earth Science teacher as well as the 7th grade Ancient History teacher at Columbus Collegiate Academy. Prior to joining the CCA staff, Kathryn taught Spanish in St. Louis Missouri at Imagine College Prep. While at Imagine College Prep, Kathryn founded a Spanish club which traveled to Chicago for a Latino cultural event and participated in many local activities. She also established a garden club at Imagine to raise environmental awareness.
Kathryn graduated magma cum laude from Miami (OH) University in 2007 with a degree in International Studies, Spanish, and Latin American Studies. Upon graduation, Kathryn was accepted into the Teach For America program, a highly selective national service corps for recent college graduates. Through this program, Kathryn dedicated two years of service to under-resourced public schools.
Andrew E. Boy is the Founder and Executive Director at Columbus Collegiate Academy. Prior to starting Columbus Collegiate, Andrew was selected in August 2006 as one of thirteen outstanding leaders from across the country to participate in the highly competitive Building Excellent Schools (BES) Fellowship. During the BES Fellowship, Andrew studied the highest performing urban charter schools across the country, completed a school and leadership residency at a high performing urban middle school, and received extensive training in governance, finance, operations, school organization, curriculum development, and school culture. The Columbus Collegiate Academy was founded upon the knowledge and experience he gained through the fellowship and a passion for closing the achievement gap.
As an experienced urban educator, Andrew Boy spent five years at W.E.B. DuBois Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio, an urban charter school that was then rated as excellent or effective by the state of Ohio. At DuBois, Andrew designed the science program as Science Director from 2001-2005, improving students’ proficiency scores from 0% passing to over 80%. During Andrew’s time with this school district he was awarded Teacher of the Year two times, and facilitated several mentoring relationships between students and various Cincinnati professionals. While serving as the Executive Director of Columbus Collegiate Academy, the school has quickly become one of the highest rated urban middle schools in Ohio. Columbus Collegiate was also named one of only 22 schools nationwide to receive the EPIC award by New Leaders for New Schools for dramatic gains in student achievement. Through these achievements and his work in the community, Andrew was selected by Business First as one of Columbus’ Forty Under 40 honorees. Andrew holds Bachelor’s degrees in Education and Communication from the University of Cincinnati and a Masters of Education Administration from Xavier University.
Jennifer Burdine teaches sixth and seventh grade reading at Columbus Collegiate Academy. Prior to joining the teaching staff at Columbus Collegiate Academy, Jennifer taught 7th and 8th grade language arts and social studies at the International Academy of Suriname; an international school located in Paramaribo, Suriname, South America. During her time in Suriname, Jennifer was responsible for high school student council, ESL tutoring, and teaching.
Jennifer is in her fourth year of teaching middle school. Currently she creates and implements the 6th and 7th grade reading curriculum at Columbus Collegiate Academy in Columbus, Ohio. Jennifer Burdine graduated from Cedarville University with a degree in Middle Childhood Education and just recently graduated with her Masters of Education from Indiana Wesleyan University.
Jeaneen Hooks serves as the Operations Manager & Student Recruiter for the Columbus Collegiate Academy. She is responsible for effectively managing the operations of the school such as: facilities, food service, transportation, and administrative functions to ensure success of the academic mission. As the Student Recruiter she markets the cultural and academic tenets of the school to families seeking a better education for their middle school aged student. She also manages the enrollment/orientation process to make certain the family has a well-informed and positive transition to CCA.
Abbey Kinson is a founding teacher at Columbus Collegiate Academy. She currently teaches seventh grade Pre-Algebra and sixth grade Math Procedures. She taught both sixth grade math courses in the school’s founding year. During that time, she led students to make outstanding growth in mathematics. Students meeting the statewide standard for proficiency on the Ohio Achievement Test jumped from 41% to 82%. She also led students to achieve more than two and a half times the “expected yearly growth” as measured by the national Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) test.
Abbey grew up in Brecksville, Ohio, and graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from The Ohio State University. Upon graduation, she taught 6th grade, all subjects, for two years in Southeast Washington, D.C. as a member of the prestigious Teach For America program. During that time, she earned a Masters of Education degree from American University.
Ben Pacht is the Dean of Students and the intervention specialist at Columbus Collegiate Academy, and works to ensure students receive the services they need in order to succeed academically. Before coming to Columbus Collegiate, Ben was a special education teacher at Orr Middle School in Las Vegas, Nevada. He also began a homework help/soccer program at his school that spread to a number of other schools in the Las Vegas valley.
Ben is a graduate of Carleton College in Minnesota, and received a Master of Special Education degree at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Melissa Barrett teaches seventh and eighth grade reading and writing at Columbus Collegiate Academy. Prior to joining the staff at CCA, Melissa visited classrooms across five continents and taught reading and writing to nearly every age and ability level. Her most recent positions include instruction at Kent State University and Wittenberg University, where her students consistently rated her as an “Excellent Teacher.”
Also a writer, Melissa is the author of False Soup, a veg-friendly cookbook from Forklift, Ink (2010). Her poems have received honors from Tin House, Indiana Review, and Gulf Coast, and can be found in Grasslimb, Sotto Voce, and H_NGM_N.
She holds degrees from Wittenberg University, the University of Denver, and Sarah Lawrence College.
Cathy Yoder is the 6th grade Earth Science, 7th grade Life Science, and 8th grade Physical Science teacher. She previously taught 7th and 8th grade Science in Cicero, IL at Unity Junior High School, the largest Junior High School in the United States. During this time, she created and implemented an academic accountability system. This program, which enabled students to be actively involved in their own work, expectations and requirements, was successful enough to be borrowed and applied by other colleagues.
Cathy received her B.A. from Cedarville University in Middle Childhood Education with endorsements in Science and Social Studies. Furthermore, she recently completed an M.A. in Reading from Concordia University (IL).