Announcing New Leaders

May 2, 2019

Dear Team DPS,

It’s hard to believe it’s May and school will be out in just over four weeks. In the past few months, I’ve already met with over 900 individuals both inside and outside of our district who’ve shared their aspirations for Denver’s children, what they perceive is working in our schools, as well as what’s not. I look forward to receiving your continued feedback as we all strive toward and focus on our shared vision that Every Child Succeeds. I encourage you to share your thoughts with me through the Key Questions survey .

In the coming weeks, our senior leadership team will conduct a series of meetings to set goals and develop plans for the 2019-20 school year. I’m excited about the work ahead and thrilled to share news about colleagues who are joining DPS or moving into new leadership roles.

As you know, we are undergoing a restructure of many functions and teams across DPS, and over the past several weeks our leadership has been interviewing talent from across our district and across the country to build teams who'll work together to accelerate our student’s progress.

It's a great pleasure to welcome these leaders to their new roles.

Deputy Superintendent of Schools Michael Ramirez

Michael J. Ramirez will join DPS this summer and report to me. He’s currently Cadre Director for the Office of School Performance and Accountability with Broward County Public Schools in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the nation’s sixth largest school district serving 271,000 students. Michael supervises high schools providing support, coaching and evaluation. His primary responsibilities include increasing academic achievement; graduation rates; college/career life readiness; and overall school culture.

Michael’s accomplishments include leading a strategic initiative monitoring students on-track for graduation, developing and facilitating professional learning for principals, increasing student achievement on end-of-course exams in algebra and geometry, and redesigning the schedule for all high schools to include a personalization period designed to better support the academic and social-emotional needs of students.

Michael is completing his 24th year in education. He has served as a high school principal, assistant principal and teacher. He has served as an adjunct college professor and as President of the Florida Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (FL-ALAS). Michael is a graduate of two Superintendent Academies that have fueled his beliefs in equity leadership.

Associate Chief of Schools Grant Guyer

Grant Guyer will report to Deputy Superintendent of Schools Michael Ramirez and oversee Early Education and School Improvement. Since joining DPS in 2004, Grant has served DPS in a number of different roles, including the Executive Director of Accountability, Research and Evaluation (ARE), the interim Deputy Chief of Staff during the most recent board election, and most recently as the Senior Advisor to the Elementary and Secondary Education Divisions. During that time, he has led and supported a variety of large-scale projects, including the School Performance Framework (SPF), the transition to online state assessments and the shift to the new graduation requirements.

Assistant Regional Instructional Superintendent for Near Northeast Nadriene Jackson

Nadriene Jackson will report to Regional Instructional Superintendent Kevin King. She’s previously served as the School Leader Development and Pathways Partner for the Lead in Denver Team, where she has co-managed LEAD Onboarding, the Denver Lead Today Alternative Licensure Program, Principal Induction Program and the THRIVE Teacher Leader Fellowship.

Prior to relocating to Denver in 2017, she was a secondary school administrator for eight years in Knoxville, Tennessee. She and her team were recognized as a Tennessee Reward School. Reward Status is the top distinction a school can earn in Tennessee. While Nadriene has a true fervor for leadership in education and building capacity in school leaders, she most enjoys traveling and spending time with her husband Roderick and her family.

Assistant Regional Instructional Superintendent for Far Northeast Dr. Sheri Charles

Dr. Sheri Charles will report to Regional Instructional Superintendent Tony Smith, and most recently served in strategic human resources support for DPS. Dr. Charles began her career in education more than 20 years ago in the state of Florida. She has a wealth of experience in education having served as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, principal supervisor and central office administrator. She obtained her bachelor's and master's degrees from Florida A&M University, and her doctorate from Florida State University.

Operational Superintendent for Near and Far Northeast Rachel Payne

Rachel Payne will report to Lead Operational Superintendent Amber Elias. Since 2012, Rachel has been principal of Marie L. Greenwood Academy, a K-8 school. Her focus has been building strong teams and leveraging teacher leadership and collaboration to achieve desired student results. Rachel has served in various roles in DPS including as a teacher, facilitator, gifted specialist, district math and science partner and assistant principal. For her work with the school instructional leadership team, Rachel received the DPS Teacher Leadership and Collaboration Award. She is the proud wife of Howard and mother of Mia and Jalen Payne.

As a reminder, the role of Operational Superintendent was created to allow Regional Instructional Superintendents to prioritize instructional support and strategic leadership for schools in order to accelerate student achievement. Operational Superintendents are equipped to navigate schools’ engagement with central teams and support with the non-instructional needs of our schools and leaders.

Executive Director of Equity and Culture Leslie L. Juniel

Leslie L. Juniel will report to Senior Deputy Superintendent for Equity Allen Smith. Leslie is passionate about making positive contributions to the community. She has a large family whose history and legacy are deeply rooted in Denver. Leslie previously served as Senior Program Manager of Equity Initiatives on the Culture, Equity and Leadership Team in Denver Public Schools. She led implementation of African-American Equity Task Force recommendations and other equity initiatives and also served as Manager of Training and Employee Development.

Leslie is an alumna of DPS (Montbello Warriors) and is proud to represent five generations of DPS attendees and graduates! Leslie has also worked for INROADS, Inc., the Rocky Mountain News, YouthBiz, Inc., Girls Incorporated of Metro Denver, Girls Scouts Mile Hi Council and the Colorado Marrow Donor Program at Bonfils Blood Center.

Executive Program Director of Culturally Responsive Education Theo Shaw

Theo Shaw will report to Deputy Superintendent of Academics Tamara Acevedo. Theo has a strong school background and focus on Culturally Responsive Education (CRE). He has administrative experience at the middle and elementary level, where he used strategic school planning as a key lever to lead, fund and implement best practices for CRE and rigorous instruction, leading to significant improvements in student performance and school culture.

In addition to his deep knowledge of K-12 education, Theo is experienced in leading change management, community engagement and curriculum design. Theo believes that every child has gifts that can be leveraged to make our community a better place, and that our responsibility as educators is to ensure that we provide every child with the learning environments and supports that nurture their academic and socio-emotional well-being.

Senior Executive Director of College and Career Readiness Bernard McCune

Bernard McCune will report to Deputy Superintendent of Academics Tamara Acevedo. He returns to DPS from RootED -- a philanthropic organization in Denver dedicated to a quality public education for all students -- where he served as a founding partner and Chief Portfolio and Talent Officer. Prior to joining RootED, Bernard served the Oakland Unified School District as Deputy Chief of Post-Secondary Readiness, providing leadership for district schools, principal supervisors and principals implementing college and career initiatives. Bernard held a similar role in DPS from 2012-14 as the head of the Office of College and Career Readiness, developing strategies that led to increased achievement in graduation rates, Advanced Placement, concurrent enrollment and the growth of career and technical education.

Bernard spent nearly a decade working in Chicago Public Schools, where he teamed with then-Superintendent Arne Duncan to create what became a national model for increasing college access and success among low-income students, and with then-Senator Barack Obama to increase federal funding for district initiatives that increase post-secondary readiness and success.

Chief Financial Officer Erik Johnson

Erick Johnson will report to Deputy Superintendent of Operations Mark Ferrandino. As CFO, Erik will have oversight of general accounting, accounts payable, finance, treasury management, payroll and risk management. He has served in leadership positions in the DPS’ Financial Services department since 2013. Since 2015, Erik has been the Executive Director of Finance responsible for leading the financial planning and analysis, budgeting, grant management, state and federal data submissions and Federal Programs (ESSA) teams for the district.

Prior to serving the students of DPS, Erik led the Financial Planning and Analysis group for Coresite, a national leader in colocation, cloud connectivity and interconnection data centers and served in several leadership positions in the finance group of CenturyLink/Qwest communications, the third largest telecommunications company in America. Erik and his wife are proud parents of a DPS student and enjoy gardening and the outdoors of Colorado.

Congratulations to Mike, Grant, Nadriene, Sheri, Rachel, Leslie, Theo, Bernard, and Erik!

Please check the Our Shared Vision page on The Commons for updates on the reorganization, including new organizational charts.

We're in the midst of filling other key positions and will share more updates soon.

Warm regards,

Susana

Note: We send many DPS communications via this platform. Please do not unsubscribe from these messages or you will not receive future and important messages. If a specific message doesn't interest you, simply delete it and stay tuned for a future communication that will be of more interest. If you have any questions, please email newsletters@dpsk12.org .