Spencer Blasdale. Spencer is Chief Executive Officer of SchoolWorks. He provides leadership and decision-making for all operations and staffing at SchoolWorks and has the authority to develop and execute a strategic and operational vision for SchoolWorks that is in alignment with its mission and core values. Before joining SchoolWorks, he was Executive Director of the Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter Public School in Boston, Massachusetts. He has spent the past 18 years in the field of education, beginning with a teaching internship at The Park School in Brookline, Massachusetts. He spent another three years as an independent school teacher at Beaver Country Day School in Brookline and then moved to work with City Year and the Boston Public Schools. Spencer moved from Boston to Chicago to launch the City Year Chicago site and served as its Executive Director. He then returned to graduate school and began working with a team to found The Academy of the Pacific Rim. Over ten years, the school has grown from 100 sixth and seventh graders to 475 students in grades five through twelve. The school has been recognized as one of the top-performing charter schools in Massachusetts and has more than 100 alumni enrolled in four-year colleges and universities. Since 2004, he has served on the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association as Board Chair. Spencer holds a BA in history from Princeton University and an M.Ed. from Harvard University.

Ledyard McFadden. Ledyard is the Chairman of SchoolWorks. He has more than 19 years’ experience in education. Ledyard began his career as an ESL teacher in Costa Rica and, later, at Chelsea High School in Chelsea, Massachusetts. Ledyard is a founder of the Bridge School in Chelsea, Massachusetts. In 1995, Ledyard became the Director of Finance and Operations of City on a Hill Charter School in Boston, Massachusetts. Later, he served as the Northeast Regional Manager for Beacon Education Management, where he developed several charter school applications, as well as coordinated and assisted in the opening and start-up of these schools. As founder and President of SchoolWorks, Ledyard has been instrumental in the development and implementation of charter school renewal protocols for the Massachusetts Department of Education, New York State Education Department, Indianapolis Mayor’s Office, New York Charter Schools Institute and New Hampshire Department of Education. From 2002 to 2004, he assisted in the development and implementation of Philadelphia’s school accountability system for the Philadelphia School Reform Commission. He has served on multiple school quality reviews and has provided support to charter schools, public school districts, departments of education and other educational organizations throughout the United States. He has recently assisted in developing improvement teams for urban schools. Ledyard holds a BA in English from Pomona College and a Masters in Education from Harvard University.

Monica Liang Aguirre. Monica is a Project Associate at School Works. She started her career in education as high school Spanish language teacher in the South Bronx and then later served as Program Director for Teach For America in Phoenix, Arizona. As a pioneer in the charter school movement, she co-founded one of the first charter schools in Arizona – a dual-language charter school that targeted Phoenix’s large immigrant population – and served as its principal for 10 years. She has extensive experience working with second language learners, both with bilingual instruction and specially-designed academic instruction in English, teacher professional training and school culture development. Monica holds a Bachelors degree in Spanish language and literature from Oberlin College and a Masters in Education from Harvard University.

Robin Coyne Hull. Robin is a Project Manager at SchoolWorks. Prior to joining SchoolWorks, Robin worked as a Massachusetts charter school leader for 11 years. She began her charter school work in 1995 at South Shore Charter Public School – the first to open in Massachusetts. Also, she was head of school for the Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School – one of the highest achieving charter schools in Massachusetts. Robin holds a dual license in Massachusetts – superintendent and grades 1 - 6 elementary teacher. She is also certified as an AMS Montessori elementary teacher. During her 30 years in education, she has taught and led schools from pre-school through middle school levels. She has experience in public and private schools and has a broad knowledge in project-based education, classical education, multi-age programs, character education and the Montessori method. Robin served four years on the Massachusetts Charter Public School Association as chair of the technical assistance committee. She has volunteered for the Massachusetts Department of Education, reviewing charter school applications and serving on school quality site team visits. She has presented at the Core Knowledge National Conferences. Robin holds a BA in English from the University of New Hampshire and an M. Ed. from Bridgewater State College.

Anne Lane. Anne is a Project Associate at SchoolWorks. Anne has more than 30 years of experience in education, as a teacher, administrator and staff developer. She has a broad knowledge of pre-school, elementary and middle school curricula. Prior to joining SchoolWorks, Anne worked as a preschool and elementary principal in Massachusetts and Connecticut. Anne is the recipient of the NAESP Distinguished Principal Award. From 1993-2005, she led the Academy Avenue School in Weymouth, Massachusetts – one of the highest achieving schools in Massachusetts and named a Commonwealth Compass School in 2003 and a National NCLB Blue Ribbon School in 2004. Anne holds a BS in Elementary Education from the Boston State College and an M. Ed. in School Administration from Bridgewater State College.

Emily McFadden, Ed. D. Emily is the Business Manager for SchoolWorks. She has more than 15 years of experience in education, both as a teacher and curriculum developer. Emily began her career as a mathematics teacher for elementary, middle and high school students at the Brimmer and May School in Newton, Massachusetts. While working on her doctoral dissertation from 1994-1997, she taught courses on methods of teaching mathematics to undergraduate and graduate students at Boston University, as well as algebra and pre-calculus courses at Emerson College. Emily served as a grant assistant at Boston University, where she assisted a mathematics education professor to improve mathematics teaching in the Chelsea Public Schools as part of the Boston University-Chelsea Schools Partnership. Later she worked for the Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications (COMAP) in Lexington, Massachusetts, where she assisted in the development of professional development materials for elementary mathematics teachers, using University of Chicago’s Everyday Mathematics Program. Emily conducted mathematics training sessions piloting the BRIDGES materials for elementary school teachers at various schools across the country. Emily holds a BS in Education and her Ed. M. and Ed. D. in Mathematics Education from Boston University. Her doctoral dissertation investigated the relationship between the formal study of algebra and the recognition of the mathematical structures of word problems.

Erin F. Patterson. Erin is a Project Associate at SchoolWorks. Prior to joining SchoolWorks, Erin worked in public education for 13 years. She has worked as an elementary school teacher, middle school administrator and teacher coach in several public school systems in Massachusetts. Erin worked for the Massachusetts Department of Education as an Education Specialist, where her assignments included coordinating the review of underperforming schools across the Commonwealth, monitoring the improvement processes of underperforming schools and providing targeted assistance to underperforming public schools in a number of urban areas. Erin graduated from the College of the Holy Cross with a Bachelor of Arts and she holds a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from Rivier College, where she also completed advanced graduate work in the area of School Leadership and Administration. She is licensed in Massachusetts as a teacher, principal and superintendent of schools.

Karl A. Smith. Ed. D. Karl is a Project Associate with SchoolWorks. Prior to joining SchoolWorks, he worked as a language arts teacher and, most recently, as a middle school principal. He has more than 30 years’ experience in a variety of settings. Karl has chaired the New England Association School and College visits and, as well, has served on the Rhode Island School Reviews – SALT Visits. In addition, he has taught graduate courses in Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment for Lesley University. Karl has worked with Rhode Island College, teaching a support class for teachers seeking National Board Certification and was a State Facilitator for National Board Teachers in Rhode Island. Most recently, he has done extensive research and implementation in the area of Professional Learning Communities. Karl has also been trained as a Mentor for Aspiring Principals through a Kennedy Grant. Karl holds a BA in English from Ottawa University, a Masters of Education in Reading from Boston State College, a Masters in Education in School Administration from Bridgewater State College and a Doctorate in Reading and Language from Boston University.

Fred Steenkamp. Fred is the Operations Manager at SchoolWorks. He worked as a senior project manager at Commonwealth Corporation’s Center for Youth Development and Education (CYDE). He was responsible for providing technical assistance to school administrators in their implementation of the Diploma Plus model - a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded initiative - in Brockton, Boston and New York City. In New York City, he worked with the Department of Education to change its alternative school programs into small learning communities for under-credited and over-age students in Harlem, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Prior to joining CYDE, he was the Director of Curriculum and Training for Youth Tech Entrepreneurs (YTE), which partnered with schools and teachers committed to integrating community service and business concepts into information technology courses. Fred holds a Masters in Business Administration and a Masters in Education.

Megan Tupa. Megan is a Product Manager for School Quality Reviews at SchoolWorks. In her four year relationship with SchoolWorks, Megan has been involved in the management and implementation of nearly 100 school and district reviews. She has been instrumental in the development and implementation of site visit monitoring and renewal protocols for the Indianapolis Mayor’s Office, the New York State Education Department and the Chicago Public Schools. Megan has conducted and managed numerous evaluative and diagnostic reviews in underperforming district schools on behalf of the Massachusetts Department of Education.  Megan has ten years experience in special education that includes work in research settings, Early Intervention programs and as a teacher to children with autism spectrum disorders. As an Associate at the EK Shriver Center/University of Massachusetts Medical School, Megan developed, designed and taught distance learning curriculum to train parents and professionals who work with individuals with developmental disorders. For two years, Megan did advocacy and outreach work for Boston Medical Center, assuring that children on the autism spectrum and their families receive appropriate educational placements and services. Megan has a BS in Child Development and Psychology from Vanderbilt University, an M.Ed. in Special Education from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Masters in Health Administration from Suffolk University.

Bill Wibel. Bill is a Project Manager at SchoolWorks. Bill began his career in Cecil County, Maryland, where he taught in a sixth grade self-contained setting. Later he went on to middle level education, where he taught and administered several schools. He spent 18 years on a military reservation as principal of three different schools. Bill is a founding Board member of the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School in Orleans, Massachusetts. He has served on the Advisory Board of the Harvard Principals' Center, where he has been a member for more than 20 years. Bill serves as a supervisor for Harvard University, assisting with graduate students in the principal's certification strand. Bill holds a BS in Elementary Education from Tennessee Wesleyan College, a Masters in Education from Tennessee Technological University and Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study from Northeastern University.

SchoolWorks Consultants
Bertha Asbury, M. Ed.
Dominique Astier, M. A.
Leslie Beaulieu, M. Ed.
Paula Brimhall, Ed. D.
Tom Buffett, Ed. D.
Nancy Clair, Ed. D.
Ann Dinsmoor, Ed. D.
Kendra Ferguson, M. A.
Herb Green, Ed. D.
Tom Harvey, Ed. D.
Susan Henry, M. Ed.
Pamela Herrup, M. A.
Marlene Hilkowitz, M. Ed.
Joseph Jacovino, Ed. D.
Susan Jamback, M. Ed.
Mihran Keoseian, M. Ed.
Dennis P. McKnight, Ed. D.
Linda Moriarty, CAGS, M. Ed.
Zita Samuels, M. Ed.
Linda Shearon, Ed. D.
Myka-Lynne Sokoloff, M. Ed.
Joseph Trunk, M. A.
Ryan Tyler, Ph. D.
Barbara Wotherspoon, M. Ed.