Kathryn Anstaett is the Director of Curriculum and Instruction (DCI) and the 7th grade Ancient History teacher at Columbus Collegiate Academy. In previous years, Kathryn built the social studies curriculum for 6^th, 7^th, and 8^thgrade, as well as the 6^thgrade earth science curriculum.  Kathryn was a member of the 2009-2010 CCA teaching team that received the EPIC Gold Award, which is a national award for charter schools that achieve the greatest student-growth across a single school year. Her leadership role at CCA began in 2010-2011 through serving as an assistant DCI for the social studies and science departments. In her capacity as DCI, Kathryn collaborated with other members of the CCA leadership team to design and implement a comprehensive teacher evaluation system.  Kathryn conducts a cycle of informal and formal observations for the staff at CCA and participates in the teacher evaluation process. In order train new teachers in CCA's culture of excellence; Kathryn helped to develop and implement a teaching taxonomy focused on the skills teachers need to employ while in front of students. This program is based on Doug Lemov’s Teach Like a Champion book as well as in-person conferences with Doug Lemov. Kathryn also implemented a holistic curriculum construction and review process at CCA which included the adoption of best practices from successful schools across the nation, close alignment to state standards, facilitating collaboration among teachers, and careful monitoring of individual student progress through extensive data collection.  

Prior to joining the CCA staff, Kathryn taught Spanish in St. Louis, Missouri at Imagine College Prep as a Teach for America corps member.  The Teach for America program is a highly selective national service corps for recent college graduates with a focus on disadvantaged populations. Kathryn graduated magma cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Miami (OH) University in 2007 with a degree in International Studies, Spanish, and Latin American Studies. 

Melissa Barrett teaches reading and writing at Columbus Collegiate Academy. In 2011, 100% of her eighth grade reading students were proficient on the Ohio Achievement Assessment—the highest passing rate in Franklin County. 
 
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” through the IDEA Center’s diagnostic form reports.
 
Melissa coaches Power of the Pen at CCA and is a writer herself. For her poems and critical writing, she is a recipient of an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award, a Tin House summer conference fellowship, a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Prize, and the Allen J. Koppenhaver Prize from Wittenberg University. Her writing has appeared in Narrative, Boxcar Poetry Review, H_NGM_N, Another Chicago Magazine, No Tell Motel, Front Porch, and The Yalobusha Review.  She holds degrees from Sarah Lawrence College, the University of Denver, and Wittenberg University. 
 

Sarah Boulard teaches sixth grade reading and writing and seventh grade reading at Columbus Collegiate Academy.  Prior to joining the teaching staff at CCA, Ms. Boulard taught high school English at Excel Academy in Newark, Ohio.  During her time there, she designed and implemented the English curriculum for the high school.  Additionally, Ms. Boulard worked as a writing consultant for several years in the writing lab at the Ohio State University while she was a student there. Furthermore, during her time at Ohio State, she was a member of the first undergraduate panel to present its research at the College English Association’s annual conference in St. Louis. 

Ms. Boulard holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Rhetoric and Grammar from The Ohio State University and a Master of Arts in English Education from Mount Vernon Nazarene University. 

Andrew E. Boy is the Founder and Executive Director at Columbus Collegiate Academy. Prior to starting Columbus Collegiate, Mr. Boy 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, Mr. Boy 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, Mr. 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, Mr. Boy designed the science program as Science Director from 2001-2005, improving students’ proficiency scores from 0% passing to over 80%. During Mr. Boy’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 also received the national EPIC award by New Leaders for New Schools for dramatic gains in student achievement in 2010 and 2011. Through these achievements and his work in the community, Mr. Boy was selected by Business First as one of Columbus’ Forty Under 40 honorees. Mr. Boy holds Bachelor’s degrees in Education and Communication from the University of Cincinnati and a Masters of Education Administration from Xavier University.  

Jennifer Cuculich is the 6th Grade Math Problem Solving and 8th Grade Algebra teacher at Columbus Collegiate Academy.  Prior to joining the CCA staff, Jennifer taught Algebra in Chicago at EPIC Academy High School.  While at EPIC, Jennifer developed project-based curriculum for first-year school and led a math intervention that resulted in significant gains for her students.  Jennifer is also the coach of CCA's MathCounts club.
 
Jennifer graduated cum laude from Boston College in 2000 with a degree in Economics and Psychology.  In 2003 she graduated cum laude from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and went on to practice law in Chicago for nearly six years.  While working as a litigator, she also dedicated many pro bono hours to children and families seeking asylum in the United States.  During that time, she decided to return to school and pursue a career in education.  In 2009, she earned her M.A.T with honors from National Louis University. 

John A. Dues returned to Columbus Collegiate as the School Director for the 2011-2012 school year after spending the previous year running two charter schools in northeastern Ohio.  In the School Director role, Mr. Dues is responsible for all internal operations of the school including the academic program and school culture.

During his first stint with Columbus Collegiate, Mr. Dues was the Co-Director for Curriculum and Instruction, overseeing the curriculum, instruction, and assessment of Columbus Collegiate’s students.  Columbus Collegiate is the top-rated public middle school in Columbus, Ohio based on the school’s performance on the Ohio Achievement Assessment.  In addition, Columbus Collegiate was named as one of twenty-two charter schools in the United States and the only school in Ohio to win the prestigious EPIC award.

Prior to joining Columbus Collegiate, Mr. Dues served as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction at West Denver Preparatory Charter School.  During his tenure as West Denver Prep’s instructional leader, WDP became the top-rated middle school in Denver Public Schools as measured by the School Performance Framework’s growth measure. In addition, students annually made an average of more than two years of progress in reading, language, math, science, and social science as measured by the Stanford 10 during his time there.

Mr. Dues is a veteran urban educator having taught and led schools in Houston, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia; Denver, Colorado, and Columbus, Ohio.  Mr. Dues graduated with Honors from Miami (OH) University and holds a Master of Education degree from the University of Cincinnati.  He is also an alumnus of Teach For America, a highly selective national service corps of recent college graduates of all academic majors who commit two years to teach in under-resourced public schools. 

Jennifer Felbaum is a founding teacher at Columbus Collegiate Academy.  She is in her sixth year of teaching middle school reading and writing.  During this time, her students have made outstanding progress. In the 2010-2011 school year her students grew from 52% proficient in fifth grade to 86% proficient in sixth grade. They also achieved three times the normal growth for a 6th grade class as measured by the NWEA.  She has been awarded the Spotlight Teacher award from EPIC and Teacher of The Year Award from the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools. 

Jennifer graduated from Cedarville University with a degree in Middle Childhood Education earned 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. 

Lauren Jeltes is the 6th grade Math Procedures teacher and a 6th grade physical education teacher. Lauren graduated cum laude with a Bachelor's of Science degree from Otterbein University and summa cum laude from Otterbein University with her Master's of Arts in Teaching. While attending Otterbein University Lauren was the leader of OCF, the largest school organization on campus. She also participated in the University's Study Abroad Program serving in Rwanda with various projects including an AIDS Clinic, Street Children Program, Impampazi Orphanage, and Batsenda School.  
 

Trevor Manendo teaches 7th Grade Pre-Algebra and Advanced Problem Solving at Columbus Collegiate Academy. Prior to joining the teaching staff at CCA in 2010, Trevor spent over four years teaching college level courses in biology at the University of Vermont.  During this time, Trevor developed novel curriculum for courses in introductory and advanced biology.  In addition, Trevor has been awarded numerous research grants including one from The American Museum of Natural History in New York City and has authored scientific articles in leading journals.  His research has been presented at major conferences in the United States and abroad.  Trevor has served as an editor for the Journal of Phylogenetics and Evolution from 2004 to 2007 and assisted in the refurbishment and curation of the Zadock Thompson Natural History Collection at the University of Vermont. 
 
Trevor holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Biology from The Pennsylvania State University and a Masters of Science degree in Biology from The University of Vermont. 

Luke McClellan is the 6^th grade Social Studies and Earth Science teacher as well as the 8^th grade US History teacher at Columbus Collegiate Academy. Prior to joining Columbus Collegiate Academy, Luke taught Social Studies and Science in Des Plaines, IL at Joseph Academy. While at Joseph Academy, Luke was the Lead Teacher of the Turn Around Alternative Program (T.A.A.P) for at-risk high school and middle school students in the Chicago region. He also established a Life Skills Program at Joseph Academy for educational, job skills and health awareness development.

Luke holds an undergraduate degree from the Ohio State University in History and earned his Master’s in Teaching from Muskingum University.  

Ben Pacht is the Dean of Students, Special Education Coordinator, and Athletic Director at Columbus Collegiate Academy. He is responsible for implementing the STRIVE behavior system at the school, maintaining a positive school culture with activities both during and after the regular school day, and ensuring students receive the supports they need in order to succeed at CCA. Before transitioning into his current role, Ben was a sixth grade reading teacher and intervention specialist at CCA. He received an EPIC Spotlight Teacher Award as a result of the academic growth of his students during the 2009-2010 school year. Before coming to Columbus Collegiate Academy, Ben was a special education teacher at Orr Middle School in Las Vegas, Nevada through Teach for America. 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 earned a Master of Special Education degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Michelle Williams is the High School Placement Coordinator for Columbus Collegiate Academy. She is responsible for guiding students and families through the high school application process throughout the school year. Prior to coming to CCA, Ms. Williams was a High School Placement Coordinator at Entrepreneurship Preparatory School in Cleveland, Ohio. Ms. Williams earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Creative Writing/ Film Production from Cleveland State University, in Cleveland OH; and her Master of Fine Art degree in Creative Writing from National University. 

 
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).