Brownsville Collegiate Charter School

Michelle Arader grew up in Riverside, CT, with one older sister and three younger sisters. She majored in Spanish at Princeton and was in the program of Translation and Intercultural Communication and the Environmental Studies program. She studied abroad in Spain and has also lived in Costa Rica and Portugal. She rowed competitively in high school and freshman year of college before switching from the crew team to the sailing team. Her efforts to spend as much time as possible in boats may stem from her many happy summers taking canoeing trips from a Vermont-based camp where she then returned to work as staff and lead her own trips. She is excited to be around kids again and is looking forward to a great year at BVC!

Katy Berlin Teacher

Katy Berlin earned her BS in Ecology at the University of Michigan in her home state. After graduating from college, she moved to San Francisco and began teaching middle school science. She remained in the Bay Area for graduate school, and earned a Masters in Education Policy from Stanford University. Katy moved to the East Coast last summer for an internship at Williamsburg Collegiate. Since then, she has been working in operations in the shared services office of Harlem Village Academies. She is extremely excited to get back into the classroom, and can’t wait to be working with Uncommon once again as Brownsville Collegiate’s Founding Science Teacher.

Imani Darden Office Manager

Born and raised in the Bronx, Imani S. Darden ventured further northeast to Massachusetts for college. A recent graduate of Smith College, she earned her B.A in Psychology and Portuguese Brazilian Studies. As an undergraduate she was involved in institutional diversity, multi-cultural affairs and mentor programs for underrepresented students. Prior to joining Brownsville Collegiate, she interned at a non-profit organization, Baby Buggy, that supports families and children throughout New York City with essential clothing and infant/toddler gear and products. She is extremely excited to be a part of Uncommon Schools as Brownsville Collegiate's Office Manager and looks forward to being a part of a dedicated and motivated team.

Jamie Davidson Teacher

Born and raised in New York City, Jamie Davidson attended the Spence School and Barnard College. Jamie studied Literature and Education at Barnard; her undergraduate thesis work advanced a literature curriculum designed to enhance general well-being and happiness amongst adolescents. She believes in the power of reading and writing to shape the adolescent sense of self-worth and well-being, and holds that happiness in young adults can actually be quantified using various metrics. Jamie is joining us from Democracy Prep Charter School, where she taught 6th Grade Literature Studies. She is a huge believer in the charter school movement and no excuses schools, is thrilled to be working at BVC next year, and can't wait to meet her new colleagues and students!

Emily Davis Teacher

Emily Davis was born in Oakland, California, but grew up in Springfield, Ohio. She graduated from Stanford with a BA in English in 2009. At Stanford, she was an RA for two years, performed with an improv group, and helped start a mentoring and tutoring club for middle school girls in East Palo Alto (when she wasn’t out frolicking in the California sunshine). She moved to New York in August of ’09 to start working on the Recruitment Team for Uncommon Schools and is absolutely thrilled to be a part of BVC and a 2010 Teach for America Corps Member.

Sarah Engstrom Teacher

A native of Minnesota, Sarah Engstrom earned her B.A. in English and Secondary Education from the College of St. Benedict in 2004. She continued her education at the University of St. Thomas, earning a Master’s Degree in Reading Instruction and a second licensure in K-12 Reading Instruction in 2007. For the past five years, she has enthusiastically taught English and Reading to eager 7th and 8th graders and led a school-wide Girls Group that provides strong female role models to at-risk middle school girls. In her free time, Sarah enjoys training for and running races, broadening her worldview with books and travel, and live music.

Atiya Harmon Teacher

Atiya Harmon was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, where she attended Girard College boarding school from 1992-1998. Following Girard, Atiya headed to Happy Valley to attend Penn State University from 1998-2002 where she earned a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies. Atiya then headed back to her hometown and attended the University of Pennsylvania, earning a Masters of Science in Education in Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development. In January 2005, Atiya became a member of the first cohort of the Philadelphia Teaching Fellows. She has taught middle school math at two charter schools in Philadelphia prior to joining the team at BVC.

Jeannemarie Hendershot-Kim Director of Operations

Jeannemarie was introduced to education while working as a 6th grade ELL and social studies teacher for three years in Los Angeles through Teach For America. Most recently, she served as the Associate Director for Academic Accountability at the NYC Department of Education Office of Charter Schools. During her time at NYCDOE, she managed monitoring and renewal for all Chancellor-authorized charter schools and served as the assessment director for all NYC charter schools. Prior to this Jeannemarie worked in the Education division of Scholastic, Inc. as part of the Research and Validation team, assisting with effectiveness research and data dissemination for several reading intervention products. She holds a M.P.A from the Robert F. Wagner School of Public Service at NYU, a M.A. in Elementary Education from Loyola Marymount University, and a B.A. in Communications and Spanish from Loyola College in Maryland.

Lightning Jay Teacher

Lightning Jay graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in both Religion and Philosophy. In college he played Basketball, Ultimate Frisbee, and many games of rock paper scissors. Lightning has worked with youths in a variety of contexts, from tutoring to conflict resolution work, from working with special needs to teaching summer school. He is excited to begin working as a history teacher at Brownsville Collegiate, and cannot wait to see his students grow towards their potential every day.

Joyce Lundy Teacher

Joyce Lundy was born and raised mostly in New York. She graduated from Hofstra University in 2006 with a degree in Print Journalism and joined Teach For America as a part of the Connecticut Charter Corps in New Haven, CT. She taught 7th grade Language Arts and 7th and 8th grade Bilingual Language Arts in her second year in Connecticut. Along with a fellow Teach For America alum, she started a girl's volleyball team at her school as well as a school-wide newspaper. This past year she taught Social Studies to 8th-12th grades at a private school in Brooklyn and served as an advisor to a newly created Student Council. She is excited to be a part of the new beginnings at Brownsville Collegiate Charter School!

Megan MacDonald Teacher

Megan MacDonald grew up far from the Turnpike in the quaint town of Chester, NJ. She headed to the nation's capitol to pursue an interest in politics at Georgetown University, where she earned her BA in Government and English. During her time at Georgetown, she became interested in the issues facing education in America through her coursework and an internship on education policy at the office of Senator Ken Salazar. Her involvement in a literacy tutoring program in a nearby DC neighborhood inspired her to pursue teaching after graduation. She joined the DC Teaching Fellows as a Special Education teacher, and after a summer of working with high school students she began teaching 6th and 7th grade at Winston Education Campus in Southeast DC. After an extremely rewarding experience helping her students grow as scholars, Megan is excited to relocate to her favorite city to work with the scholars at BVC!

Charmayne Maddox Dean of Students

Native to Brownsville, Brooklyn, Charmayne Maddox earned her B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies from Penn State University in 2004. While pursuing a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction at Penn State in 2005, Charmayne discovered her passion for urban education. She decided to apply for Teach For America, and later served as a corps member in Philadelphia teaching 6th-9th grade scholars with special needs. She went on to earn her M.Ed in Special Education from Chestnut Hill College. After her two-year commitment, Charmayne moved back home to teach 7th and 8th grade ELA at Achievement First Crown Heights Middle School. During her time with AF, she also worked as the Saturday School Director, Director of After School Programs, and 7th Grade Level Chair. She joins BVC as the Dean of Students and is thrilled to be a part of a talented team who is ready to educate, motivate, and inspire!

Tom McDermott Teacher

Tom McDermott earned his undergraduate degree in History at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. He played baseball while in college, and was the captain of the team during his final two years. After college he taught 5th grade in Phoenix, Arizona, as a Teach For America corps member. As a corps member Mr. McDermott's students made drastic measurable gains in reading, writing and math! While in Arizona, he earned his Masters degree in education from Arizona State University. He looks forward to helping Brownsville Collegiate students reach their highest potential!

Cate Mingoya Teacher

Cate Mingoya graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall as a Carl Icahn Scholar in 2004 and earned a B.A. in biology with a minor in early American history from Reed College in 2008. She completed her senior undergraduate thesis on intraspecies recognition in A. burtoni cichlids and in 2010 earned a masters degree in secondary science education from Lehman College. In 2010, Cate completed her second year teaching middle school science with Teach for America. With two feet in the east and a heart in the west, Cate is constantly on the lookout for chances to hike, bike or kayak. Cate’s afternoons and weekends are filled with swimming, art projects, Bikram Yoga, pottery lessons, cooking, listening to "Radio Lab" and "This American Life" and taking long rides (and running short errands) on her red hybrid bike “Leslie Knope.” She’ll be a first time Brooklyner starting in the summer of 2010.

Brett Peiser Founder

As Managing Director of Collegiate Charter Schools, an Uncommon Schools network of middle and high schools in Brooklyn, Brett Peiser is the Founder of Williamsburg Collegiate, Kings Collegiate, Bedford Stuyvesant Collegiate, Brownsville Collegiate, and Collegiate High School. From 1998 to 2005, Mr. Peiser was the Founder, Principal, and Executive Director of Boston Collegiate Charter School, a college preparatory middle and high school serving 450 students. Prior to this, Mr. Peiser taught History at Midwood High School in New York City. Mr. Peiser received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brown University and a Master of Public Policy degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Danielle Shaw Social Worker

Danielle Shaw grew up in Queens, New York. She graduated from Spelman College in 2004 with a degree in Psychology. After graduation she became an inaugural member of the MATCH Corps at MATCH Charter High School in Boston, MA. In addition to tutoring and mentoring, Danielle also advised the Girl's Step Team and organized fundraisers for team uniforms. When her year of service was over, she began studying Marriage and Family Therapy at the University of Southern California. After a few years of working with college students and adults dealing with substance abuse, she decided to come back to Charter schools . Since college she has lived and worked in almost every region of the country and she is so happy to be settled back in her hometown, finally! She is abosolutely honored to be a member of the team at Brownsville Collegiate Charter School!

Sara Sheffer Teacher

Raised on a farm in upstate New York, Sara Sheffer received a B.A in English from the University at Buffalo before going to Las Vegas with Teach For America. After working two years in a Las Vegas elementary resource placement and receiving her Masters in Special Education from UNLV, she moved to Los Angeles to work with Green Dot at Animo Venice. She has served students in a combination resource/ inclusion setting in 11th and 12th grades and was privileged to help organize senior activities, student government, yearbook, and coach cross country. Sara’s big loves will always be hip hop, teaching, the New York Yankees, and the Men of Excellence. She is so excited to be finally moving back home and working with Brownsville students!

Jessica Simmons Founding Principal

Jessica began her career in education as a 2000 Corps Member with Teach For America in Los Angeles. She taught 7th and 8th grade English and ESL and was awarded the Sue Lehmann Award for Excellence in Teaching, given to just six teachers nationally each year. In 2002 she joined the Bay Area Teach For America staff where she launched two new district partnerships and doubled the size of the corps in Oakland. In 2005, she was a School Director at the Teach For America Summer Institute before joining Sankofa Academy as a founding teacher where 90% of her students made an average of two years grade-level growth in reading. Jessica holds a B.A. in English and Women's Studies from the University of Rhode Island and a M.A. in Women's Studies and Literature of the African Diaspora from San Diego State University.

Ben Simon Teacher

Ben Simon was born and raised in Denver, Colorado and received a BA in Public Policy from the University of Michigan. At the U of M, he worked as a photographer for the school newspaper. After graduating, he went to work on a cherry farm in Northern Michigan knowing little about cherries and even less about farming. Turns out, spilling 1,500 lbs of cherries actually sounds worse than it looks. Before joining BVC, he was working as a full-time tutor/teacher-in-training at The MATCH Middle School in Boston. Moving to New York has long been a goal of his since his father, being from the city, raised him as a Yankees fan, which is why he is excited to escape Red Sox territory. He enjoys photography, biking, reading and is trying to learn how to cook.

Christina Szuper Teacher

Christina Szuper grew up in Astoria, Queens and then ventured north for college, completing a Joint Honors in Political Science and International Development from McGill University (Montreal, QC). Upon graduation she joined Teach For America and was placed in Houston, TX. For the past 2 years she has been teaching U.S. History to 140 amazing 8th graders at Ortiz Middle School. Christina is Ukrainian (but born in the U.S.) and continues to be heavily involved in the Ukrainian-American community in New York. She loves to travel, learn about culture, and discuss educational issues. She is overwhelmingly excited to be joining BVC and working to send all of our students to college.

Kelsey Tancabel Teacher

Kelsey Tancabel was born in South Korea and came to the United States at 5 months old to live with her wonderful adoptive family. She was raised in a small town in Minnesota called Litchfield, where there is little diversity. After graduation, she chose to go to Chicago for college and a change of pace, where she attended Loyola University Chicago, receiving a BA in Theatre and minors in Communication and Music. Kelsey started teaching in Los Angeles through Teach For America, where she taught special education self contained science to all grade levels at Dorsey High School. She just graduated from Loyola Marymount University with her Masters in Special Education and is very excited to joining BVC in New York!

Anjya Thomas Teacher

Anjya Thomas earned her BA in History with a concentration in Latin American studies from Williams College in 2005. After college she taught 5th and 6th grade math in Washington D.C. for two years (at a school where President and First Lady Obama read stories in April). Moving to New York in June 2007 she became a founding teacher at Kings Collegiate Charter School, an Uncommon School. Last year she decided to broaden her horizons and taught English as a Foreign Language in Shanghai, China. Ms. Thomas loves traveling, reading, and playing tennis. She is very excited to rejoin Uncommon Schools to help another group of students reach their full potential and begin down their road to college.