Board of Directors
Ventura Charter School strives to balance a meaningful level of participation by all constituencies - parents, teachers, and the board in the selection of new board members. Ventura Charter School, therefore, embraces a shared governance model - which is essentially a system of differential democracy, recognizing that the three primary constituencies each have an important role to play in making governance decisions.
The Board of Directors meets monthly to ensure the school's viability and academic success by focusing on financial, legal, and personnel issues. The Board oversees the implementation of the Charter and approves necessary revisions to its bylaws, policies, and procedures. The Board's major roles and responsibilities include establishing and approving all major educational and operational policies, chairing committees as needed, approving all major contracts and the school's annual budget, overseeing the school's fiscal affairs, selecting and evaluating the administrative staff, and attending major school functions. Members of the Board serve on a volunteer basis for terms of one year.
Current Board Members
Representatives are responsible for collecting input from parents for agenda items, establishing an agenda for each PTC meeting, and assisting in the functioning of school committees. There will be two Executive Committee representatives responsible for attending Board meetings and acting as the official PTC liaisons to the Board.
Andrew Gilman, M.A., President
Marketing Manager, Behavioral Science Technology, Inc.
Vice President and Managing Director, The Agora Foundation
Andrew Gilman has worked for an international consulting firm, BST, for sixteen years managing the marketing and communications for the company and assisting in organizational culture change and leadership development initiatives for its clients. His education includes a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts from California Institute of the Arts and a Masters degree in Liberal Arts from St. John's College. In addition to his role at BST, Andy is Vice President and Managing Director for the Agora Foundation in Ojai and is a locally performing musician. Andy's education and experience include fine art, writing, leading high-performing teams, and music. His graduate work includes work in philosophy and mathematics. His involvement in Ventura Charter School is directed in helping to create an environment where investigation and wonder are encouraged, where the whole child's learning is attended to, and where a cohesive and nurturing community is sustained. He brings his leadership and management skills to Ventura Charter School to help build the systems necessary to create a high-quality school, and his marketing expertise to help sustain it.
Dr. Matthew Cahn, Vice President
Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, California State University, Northridge
Dr. Matthew Cahn is Professor of Public Policy and Chair of the Department of Political Science at California State University Northridge, where he has taught since 1991. He serves on the Steering Committee of Teachers for a New Era, a $5 Million Carnegie funded initiative focusing on aligning teacher education with improved pupil outcomes. His current work focuses on the relationship between undergraduate general education requirements and teacher preparation, with specific attention to improving disposition and content knowledge acquisition for future teachers.
Dr. Roni Adams
Assistant Professor, Coordinator, Master of Arts in Teaching Program School of Education
Southern Oregon University
Roni Adams received her B.A. in English in 1969 and teaching credential in 1970 from Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo. She has a Master's degree in Counseling Psychology from Southern Oregon University and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, specializing in Teaching and Learning, from University of California, Santa Barbara. Roni has been an educator since 1970, first as a teacher of high school English, then as an Open Classroom head teacher, and finally as university professor of Teacher Education.
She was one of the founding parents of Open Classroom in the mid-1970's, fulfilling many volunteer roles while her three children attended the program, and finally joined the Open Classroom faculty in 1990. Roni has always been passionately committed to educational innovation and reform. Collaborating with teachers and parents on writing the start-up grant proposal and the charter for Ventura Charter School of Arts and Global Education was inspiring and empowering and was the fulfillment of a dream for her. Her 35 years of experience in educational research and practice currently inform and guide the school's operations and policies.
David Cook, M.A., E.A.
Tax Specialist
David Cook has been a volunteer in Ventura schools for fifteen years. His adult children attended Open Classroom, and he served as President and Treasurer of the Parent Teacher Organization during their attendance, and drafted the organizing documents of the PTO. He served two years as President of the Ventura High School PTA, and seven years as Treasurer of the PTO for the GATE program within Ventura Unified School District. For over thirty years he has been a partner in a tax practice serving individuals and businesses. He has extensive experience in the compliance requirements of tax exempt organizations before the Internal Revenue Service, and State of California. He graduated with a B. A. and M.A. in psychology from CSUN and also took the required accounting courses there to pass the CPA exam.
Rosie Ornelas Armstrong
Volunteer Coordinator for the City of Ventura
Rosie has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Purdue University with a double major in Spanish and Political Science. She also has her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Southern California Law Center. Rosie received her teaching credential from California State University at Channel Islands. She taught in a dual language immersion school for four years and worked two years as the Coordinator of the Two Way Immersion Program. In addition to her research and writing skills, Rosie brings her knowledge of teaching English Learners and her passion for multicultural education. Rosie Ornelas Armstrong has been an Open Classroom/Ventura Charter School parent for eight years. Her daughter, Linda, is a graduate of the Open Classroom Program that Ventura Charter School is based on. Her son, John, is currently an 8th grader in the School.
Geoffrey Glick
Senior Software Developer for LJT & Associates, Inc. at Naval Base Ventura County
Geoffrey Glick graduated cum laude from California Lutheran University with a BS in Computer Information Systems and has worked with computer and information systems throughout his professional career. He also has experience with Federal (DOD) accounting systems off and on for the past 19 years. Geoff has proudly participated in Open Classroom, an Open Education Alternative program, for six years, running teacher-directed centers, maintaining computer equipment, and performing various other duties. Geoff got involved with the Open Education movement because he believes there are better ways of educating children than the traditional model he grew up with. He learned at a young age that there was a clear distinction between taking tests and getting good grades, and actually learning and gaining knowledge. He is completely committed to the success of Ventura Charter School.
Rebecca Willhite, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Rebecca Willhite is a long time Ventura resident, graduate of Ventura High School, and wife and mother of two daughters. Her oldest daughter entered Kindergarten at Ventura Charter School for the 2007-2008 school year. Rebecca is honored to be a board member for the School, and hopes to contribute to the School’s success and longevity in offering families a choice for educating their children in Ventura County. Rebecca has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Masters Degree from the University of Hawaii, Manoa. She is a licensed clinical social worker (L.C.S.W.) with a background in childhood/adolescent mental health disorders and has extensive experience serving severely emotionally impaired youth in the public school system in the state of Hawaii. She was previously a board member for the National Association of Social Workers, Hawaii Chapter. Currently, Rebecca is a Human Resources Manager for the Ventura County Probation Agency and she resides with her husband and children in Ojai.
Sara O’Conlon, CPA
Director of Finance, Child Development Resources of Ventura County, Inc.
Sara O’Conlon is a graduate from UC Santa Barbara with a BA degree in Business Economics. Sara has dedicated her professional career to children social services and related educational issues. She is a CPA and has been the Director of Finance for Child Development Resources of Ventura County Inc. for the past 13 years, the largest social service nonprofit in Ventura County. She has extensive experience working collaboratively with schools, nonprofit and governmental agencies on financial operations and related systems design and maintenance of operations that are multi-funded (Federal, State and private). She has served on a variety of boards and has provided leadership throughout the State of California developing key strategic planning processes, including budget development and process implementation for various education and children service based organizations. She and her husband have a son currently attending Ventura Charter School. Sara is deeply committed to the success of the School and finding much needed resources to help children become well rounded, teaching them the skills to be effective problem solvers, critical thinkers, and self-motivated learners.
Additional Resources
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