Meet the Team

Gillian Williams assumed the Presidency of The Rensselaerville Institute in the spring of 2010. Her appointment by the Board of Trustees was grounded in the achieved success of School Turnaround which she founded and developed at The Rensselaerville Institute. Gillian is focusing and streamlining the programs, consulting, and tools offered by all three groups of The Institute as she leads the entire organization to higher levels of impact through these core offerings.

As the Founder and Chief Academic Officer of School Turnaround, Gillian grew the organization from a summer conference into a multi-faceted, nationally established initiative. She works with principals and superintendents across the country to lead change by example using leadership characteristics and strategies that are proven effective in turning around low-performing schools. The initial research and thinking for the current turnaround movement is grounded in the work that Gillian created and undertook.

Under her leadership, School Turnaround demonstrates consistently high gains for student achievement. School Turnaround is designed specifically for schools and districts where someone in power perceives a current failure that requires urgent intervention. While most educational initiatives geared toward demonstrating student achievement take place over a long time period, School Turnaround is designed to bring about urgency and time-compressed change. It stands apart from others in the field by offering a money-back warranty that guarantees achievement on high stakes tests will increase in one year’s time.

Gillian became an educator as a member of the Teach For America Charter Corps in 1990. She began her teaching career as a bilingual teacher at Public School 98 in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. In 1997, Gillian became the youngest elementary school principal in New York City at Public School 63 in the South Bronx. In her first year at Public School 63, Gillian led a turnaround that lifted the school from its dismal standing on the state’s list of persistently failing schools—a distinction it had held for all eleven years of that list’s existence.

Gillian is a national leader in education and was featured twice on the CBS Television program Sunday Morning as well as NPR radio segments. She has appeared in numerous publications, including, The New Yorker, The New York Times, US News and World Report and Education Week.

Lisa Jemison has over ten years of project management and supervisory experience in educational profits that deliver effective programs with demonstrated measureable results. As the Director of Education for the Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Lisa facilitated regional and place-based watershed programs that served urban populations in New York City and rural populations in the Catskill watershed. Upon entry into her role, she completed a full scale evaluation of decade-old procedures, staffing structures and budgets and quickly created stronger, more effective programs at reduced costs by leveraging core strengths and improving system efficiencies. She managed large scale budgets, participants and staff across a wide geographic region through effective communication systems and positive leadership.

Prior to her work in the Catskills, Lisa was on the original leadership team that opened the world class natural history museum, The Wild Center in Tupper Lake, NY. There she project managed the budgets and installation of entire exhibit spaces in this 35,000 square foot building that cost $35 million to build. She hired and managed a team of paid consultants and temporary staff, co-managed volunteers and was a leader in staff utilization of educational best practices.

At School Turnaround, Lisa is responsible for overseeing the implementation of leadership training programs nationwide. She ensures that our systems are working while continually seeking ways to maximize our capacity while delivering results.

Lisa’s work on creating systems of operations under budgetary constraints has brought her invitations to present at national conferences, include the North American Association for Environmental Education, the National Association for Interpretation, and the Upstate History Alliance in New York State.

Mildred Toliver received her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education, Masters of Science in Elementary Education and her Certification for Elementary School Administration from Grambling State University. Mildred served as principal of Atkins Elementary School from 1990-2000. Over the course of her ten years at Atkins, Mildred more than tripled her second and third grade reading scores, surpassing the state averages in a school that had previously lagged behind.

Eager for a new challenge, Mildred moved to Fort Worth, TX to become the principal of SS Dillow Elementary School – the most beleaguered elementary school in the Fort Worth Independent School District. In her first three years at Dillow, Mildred nearly tripled third grade reading scores, with assistance from School Turnaround in her third year. By 2004 the school matched the state average for in the number of proficient students, in the same year that Mildred accepted a staff position at School Turnaround.

Mildred was the Project Lead and a Specialist in Hawaii from 2007-2009, most notably assisting Kahuku Elementary with making AYP in 2009. Mildred has coached principals with making double-digit gains in Seattle, WA, Osceola, AK, Richmond, VA, Fort Worth, TX, and most recently in St. Louis, MO. She also does consulting and training for “Developing Multiple Intelligences”, Community Parenting, Effective Black Parenting Program and KEYPAR, Inc. She has worked as a reviewer for Harcourt Brace. Currently Mildred is writing a handbook for effectively involving parents in student success.

Nicole Johnson earned a B.B.A in Actuarial Science from Howard University and a M. Ed. in Educational Administration from Texas Christian University. She became an administrator in 2000, working as an assistant principal in middle, high, and alternative schools.

Nicole joined School Turnaround in the summer of 2005, as a participating principal of Leonard Sixth Grade Center in Fort Worth, TX. At the end of her first year in School Turnaround, Leonard Sixth Grade Center started to show gains up to 12% in both subject areas. After two years with School Turnaround, Nicole’s campus had received the state Gold Performance Award for 51% of the students scoring commended in reading. The following year in 2008, Leonard Sixth Grade Center earned “Recognized Status” from the Texas Education Agency, which is the second highest achievement rating in the state of Texas. The school had even shrunk historical achievement gaps from as wide as 20 points to less than 9 points.

Nicole has been working as a Senior Specialist for School Turnaround since 2007. She was the Project Lead for Hawaii in 2008-2009 and the Specialist for Maili Elementary, which made AYP that year for the first time since 2005. In 2008 Nicole was awarded the Phenomenal Citizen Award for her work in education by the National Women of Achievement. In 2010 she was honored as an Exceptional Educator and Community Service Leader and studied Educational and Cultural Awareness at the University of Ghana in Accra. Nicole is currently enrolled in the doctoral program in Educational Leadership at Texas Christian University. Her current School Turnaround work is in St. Louis, MO.

Loretta Blanks earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from East Carolina University and a Masters Degree in Education from The College of William and Mary with a concentration in school administration. Loretta became principal of Rockledge Elementary School in Prince William County, VA in 1991 and was asked in 1993 to take her knowledge and leadership skills to Dumfries Elementary School. At Dumfries, Loretta found a school that ranked at or near the bottom in all areas measured by Prince William County. Loretta led Dumfries in making marked improvements, including a 23% improvement in fourth grade writing scores in one year. Loretta continued her work as a turnaround principal at Eastern Elementary and John Small Elementary Schools. At John Small she worked with the staff to design a school-wide remediation and enrichment program that was developed around quarterly benchmark testing with special focus on reteaching target students. Test scores improved from 56% proficiency in reading and mathematics to 81% proficiency and John Small being recognized as a School of Distinction by the North Carolina Department of Education.

Loretta has been a Turnaround Specialist since 2007 and has worked in Florida, Arkansas, New York, North Carolina and Hawaii. She has been the Project Lead for Hawaii since 2010. She is currently working with Waianae Intermediate in its third year of Turnaround and Nana’ikapono Elementary School in its first year.

Margarita Garcia earned her Bachelors degree in Education at the University of Texas at El Paso and her Masters degree in Administration at the University of Texas at Arlington. In 2003, Margarita became the principal of Washington Heights Elementary in Fort Worth, TX, a campus serving a majority of second language learners and over 90% economically disadvantaged students. In the summer of 2004, Margarita joined School Turnaround as a participating principal. At the end of her first year in School Turnaround, Washington Heights was demonstrating significant gains in all academic areas, in some areas more than 40 percentage points. Previous passing rates of less than 50% are now approaching 80-90% in all subjects and all tested grades. Margarita has been a Specialist with School Turnaround since 2006.

Debbie Duty Deery is a graduate of the School of Education at Montana State University. After serving on the Governor’s Task Force on Education, she became a principal in 1991, when she was responsible for Title IX and Multi-age Programs for the Havre School District. Following that post Debbie became a principal in Billings, Montana Public Schools and in 2000 relocated to Reno, NV to become a principal in Washoe County Public Schools. Debbie’s leadership led the school from a Title school in need of improvement to a Nationally Distinguished Title School. Debbie was the recipient of the Nevada Commissioner on Governor’s Committee on Educational Excellence award in 2007. Debbie serves on the Nevada State Department of Education Commission on Educational Excellence. Debbie has been working as a Specialist for School Turnaround since 2009. Her work is currently based out of St. Louis, MO.

Algie Davis earned his Doctor of Educational Administration from Walden University in Baltimore, Maryland, a Master’s degree in Education from Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, and a Bachelor’s degree from Wheeling Jesuit College in Wheeling West Virginia.

In 2002, Algie became principal of D.M. Therrell High School in Atlanta where he transformed a low performing school into one of model achievement with a culture of success. Under his leadership, Therrell High School made AYP over multiple years and the graduation rate climbed from a low of 29 percent in his first year to over 80 percent. In three years SAT scores increased by over 300 points and the number of students attending college increased substantially. Therrell High School went from one of the worst high schools on state writing assessments to one of the two best in the city of Atlanta.

In 2006, Algie became Deputy Superintendent for Student Achievement for the Glynn County School District in Brunswick Georgia, a district of over 12,000 students. During his time in that role all Glynn County High Schools and Elementary Schools made AYP as well as 3 out of 4 Middle Schools. Algie has been a Turnaround Specialist with School Turnaround since 2008, during which time he has assisted principals with double digit gains in Northampton County, NC and St. Louis, MO.

Mike DeGuire earned his Masters in Elementary Education and his Doctorate in Educational Administration and Supervision from the University of Colorado. He has served as principal at five schools in four major school districts in the Denver, Colorado metro area. Since 2000, he has been the principal at McMeen Elementary in Denver, Colorado. Mike led his school to an upward trajectory in test scores, most notably for the last two years, in which the school has received the Center of Excellence award from the Colorado Department of Education as a result of sustained high median growth in student achievement. Under his collaborative leadership, McMeen Elementary students ranked for the last four years in the top ten highest-ranking public schools in the district. In November, 2009, he was recognized by U.S. Senator Michael Bennet as an outstanding leader for education and received a flag flown over the U.S. capital in his honor. Mike has been a Turnaround Specialist with School Turnaround since 2009 in St. Louis, MO.

Sheena Alaiasa has an undergraduate degree from in Elementary Education from Brigham Young University of Hawaii. Her Masters degree in Educational Administration from University of Hawaii will be completed in summer 2011.

Sheena was a participating principal for Heeia Elementary beginning in 2007. With the help of School Turnaround, Heeia made gains of up to 19 points her first year. Following her success Sheena transferred from a participant to a specialist role in 2009 as she became the principal at King Intermediate. Under Sheena’s leadership, King’s reading scores climbed 9 points in 2010, surpassing the state average. Sheena is currently working as the specialist for Makaha Elementary School, which is in its first year of School Turnaround.

Dale Castro is in his 6th year as principal at Mililani Waena Elementary School. Under his leadership, Mililani Waena has made annual strides that top the charts with respect to annual gains at Hawaii School Turnaround schools. Mililani made AYP Dale’s second year, which he has held on to and accomplished every year since. As a School Turnaround principal from 2007-2009, Dale showed third grade gains of over 30 points in 2008 and bigger gains for fourth grade scores in 2009. Once a failing school with scores in the twenties and thirties, Mililani now boasts scores 82% proficiency in reading and 77% proficiency in math, well above the state average in both subjects.

Dale has been a Specialist with School Turnaround since 2009. He is currently working as the specialist to Wahiawa Elementary, which climbed 18 points in third grade reading and 19 points in third grade math in 2010, and improved overall reading and math scores by 7 and 13 points the same year.

Wade Araki grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii and attended Chaminade University of Honolulu, where he earned a Bachelors Degree in Secondary Education and Social Studies, and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where he earned his Masters degree in Educational Administration.

In 2003, Wade became the principal of Reverend Benjamin Parker Elementary School in Kaneohe, Hawaii, a campus serving 66% economically disadvantaged kids, with a large Special Education population (95 of 320 students qualified for IDEA). Under his leadership, the school has been recognized for its high achievement based on rapid and dramatic increases in student performance in reading. In 2007, Benjamin Parker received the Alaka’i Na Keiki Award for Reading. The school was one of only 13 schools statewide that had achieved more than a 25% gain in student proficiency in their overall reading scores during the course of three years (2004-2006).

Wade continues to sustain a turnaround that has lifted his school from one that had never made Adequate Yearly Progress, to one that is now in good standing for reading and has made AYP for math three out of the last five years. Wade’s efforts and the success of the school have been highlighted in the media. In April of 2008, Wade was one of six state nominees for the National Distinguished Principal Award. He is currently serving as the specialist at Heeia Elementary and Nanakuli High and Intermediate.

Mickee Pomeisl is the Operations Manager for School Turnaround and has been with the organization since 2009. She is responsible for all administrative operations of the program and provides support research and analysis. Specifically, Mickee handles all client invoicing, assists with contract generation, approves and submits payroll and expenses for employees, and provides marketing assistance, where needed. Mickee’s hands-on approach and strong research aptitude help ensure the overall efficiency and effectiveness of School Turnaround’s operations.

Prior to joining the School Turnaround team, Mickee was the head Paralegal/Manager and Title Clerk for an extremely busy Law Office in Albany, New York. In this role, she prepared legal documents and correspondences and interacted with clients, attorneys and the Court system. Mickee provided extensive research, charts, graphs, reports, and monitoring of all accounts, along with overseeing other staff and maintaining payroll.

Mickee earned her Associated Degree from Herkimer Community College where she majored in Paralegal Studies as well as taking extra Business Management courses.