Meredith Anderson graduated magna cum laude from Lehigh University with a BA in Biological Science and Political Science. After school she spent a year doing medical research at the Lehigh Valley Hospital as a Pool Scholar. In 2006, Ms. Anderson entered the field of education as a Teach for America Corps Member. She taught Science at MS 113 in Brooklyn, NY for three years. During that time she received her Masters in Teaching Secondary Science from Pace University. This past year Ms. Anderson taught Elementary Science at Harlem Success Academy 1 in Harlem, NY. Since 2008 she has been a volunteer and team leader with AYUDA, American Youth Understanding Diabetes Abroad.

T.J. Burkett Fifth Grade Reading Teacher

Thomas Burkett came to Brooklyn East Collegiate in 2010 from Democracy Prep Charter School in New York, NY where he was an 8th grade Reading teacher and Language Arts Department Facilitator for two years. Prior, Mr. Burkett was a Teach for America Corps Member, and taught at MS 321 in New York City. Mr. Burkett earned a BA in English Literature at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is an active community member involved in various fundraising, church-related, and volunteer groups and organizations.

Danny Burnside Special Education Teacher

Danny Burnside graduated from Penn State with a background in Finance. After working for some time with Johnson & Johnson and Bloomberg L.P he decided to follow his passion for education by joining Teach for America and build upon his college experience working with and tutoring children. Danny taught summer school for 5^th and 6^th grade Special Education at Bronx Prep Charter School during his TFA Institute training and is very excited to begin work with the B’East!

Lauren Caracciola Special Projects Coordinator

Lauren Caracciola joins Brooklyn East as the Special Projects Coordinator. She graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA in English and Psychology. She joined Teach for America as a member of the 2009 corps and taught high school ELA at Progress High School in Bushwick, Brooklyn for two years. She received her MA in education in 2011 from Fordham University.

Kate Cushing Director of Operations

Kate Cushing began the planning for Brooklyn East with Eric Green in July 2009, when she joined Williamsburg Collegiate as an Operations Fellow. Prior to joining Uncommon, Kate was the Director of Operations at Roads to Success, a college and career preparation program for middle and high school students. She graduated from Brown University, where she majored in Education/Public Policy and ran Track and Field.

Gina Diaz Social Worker

Virginia Diaz graduated from Seattle University in Washington State with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Spanish in 2004. From 2005-2006 she worked in Ireland at the Dublin Simon Community, with homeless adults in both one-on-one and group settings. Upon returning to the States, Ms. Diaz worked with The Doe Fund, Inc. as a senior graduate services advisor in Brooklyn, NY. From 2007-2010 Ms. Diaz worked at Good Shepherd Services in the Bronx, as a family counselor and adolescent substance abuse specialist. She graduated from Hunter College in 2010 with her Masters in Social Work and joined Brooklyn East Collegiate as a founding member in July 2010.

Eric Green Principal

Prior to starting Brooklyn East Collegiate, Eric was a sixth Grade Math Teacher and Math Department Chair at Williamsburg Collegiate Charter School, in Brooklyn. Eric is a proud graduate of the University of Pittsburgh. After graduating from Pitt in 2002, he taught English in Japan via the JET Program. Then, in the summer of 2003, Eric moved to New Orleans to be a part of the 2003 GNO corps. After two years of teaching 6th grade math at Jones Elementary School, he moved to Philadelphia to work in the Teach For America Philadelphia office. From Philadelphia he made the leap to New York to join Uncommon Schools and Williamsburg Collegiate.

Lauren Vance Associate Managing Director, Uncommon New York City (5-8)

Prior to serving as Associate Managing Director with Uncommon Schools, Lauren Harris co-founded Kings Collegiate Charter School in 2007, and served as Principal from August 2007 – June 2010. Before moving to New York City to join Uncommon Schools, Lauren taught 7th and 8th grade mathematics at Roxbury Preparatory Charter School in Boston, MA, and Ferndale Middle School in High Point, NC. During her last year at Roxbury Preparatory Charter School, her students ranked #1 out of all districts statewide on the 8th grade Math MCAS exam. While at Roxbury Prep, she also served as Grade Level Team Leader and Numeracy Inquiry Group Facilitator. Ms. Harris earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Middle Grades Education at Appalachian State University in North Carolina and a Master of Education degree at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.

Kevin Havelda Fifth Grade Writing Teacher

Kevin Havelda joined Brooklyn East Collegiate in 2010 as the Fifth Grade Writing teacher. Prior to joining our team he taught at two schools in New Orleans, Louisiana after participating in the Teach for America Summer Institute in Arizona. Mr. Havelda received his undergraduate degree in English and International Studies from Centre College while competing on the school’s varsity men’s soccer team.

Candice Horton Office Manager

Candice Horton joined Brooklyn East Collegiate as the Office Manager in 2010. Prior to joining BEC, Candice was a Program Associate at New Visions for Public Schools where she worked with the Community Engagement and College and Career Pathways teams. She designed and facilitated 9th grade college readiness workshops for parents and students. Ms. Horton holds an undergraduate degree from Indiana University in English Education.

Laura Lee McGovern Chief Operating Officer, Uncommon New York City (5-12)

Laura Lee McGovern is the Chief Operating Officer of the Collegiate Network of Uncommon Schools. Ms. Lee joined Uncommon Schools in 2007 as the Founding Co-Director of Operations at Kings Collegiate Charter School. Ms. Lee helped establish the systems, processes and cultural foundation that has led Kings to early outstanding achievement and parent/student satisfaction. Ms. Lee also worked as a Summer Fellow and Education Pioneer with Uncommon in 2006. In this capacity, she helped develop school inspection and performance measurement processes. Previously, Ms. Lee worked as a management consultant at Katzenbach Partners LLC, advising companies on strategic and organizational issues, and also served as the founding Director of Analytics in student enrollment at the New York City Department of Education. Ms. Lee received her MBA from Harvard Business School, where she was a Baker Scholar and co-leader of the Education Leadership Group. Ms. Lee earned her A.B. in Social Studies at Harvard College and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Karina Liu Sixth Grade Math Teacher

As a Math for America fellow, Karina Liu recently received a Masters degree in Mathematics Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. Previously, Ms. Liu worked on the Operations Team at DonorsChoose.org, an online education non-profit, where she managed the High School Internship Program. Born and raised in New York, Ms. Liu graduated from Stanford with a degree in English and a minor in Mathematics.

Anna Myers Fifth Grade Social Studies Teacher

Anna Myers comes to Brooklyn East Collegiate from the YES Prep Public Schools in Houston, Texas. There she taught Social Studies and Science in 7th grade, and led student trips to West Texas, New Mexico, and internationally as part of the International Aid Service Group. She also coached the school’s basketball team. Prior to teaching, Ms. Myers was an Economics major at Texas A&M where she spent her spare time working as a substitute teacher in Bryan, Texas and as a Youth Development Professional at the Boys and Girls Club of the Brazos Valley.

Brett Peiser Managing Director, Uncommon Schools New York City

Brett Peiser is Founder and former Principal and Executive Director of Boston Collegiate Charter School. Boston Collegiate, a college preparatory middle and high school serving over 500 students, is one of Massachusetts’ highest performing schools. In 2005, Mr. Peiser founded Collegiate Charter Schools, an Uncommon Schools network of middle and high schools in Brooklyn, New York. The network's first and second schools – Williamsburg Collegiate and Kings Collegiate Charter Schools – were the #2 and #6 ranked middle schools in all of New York City on the Department of Education’s 2009 progress reports. Since those schools began, Mr. Peiser has also helped start two new middle schools, Bedford Stuyvesant and Brownsville Collegiate Charter Schools, as well as Uncommon Charter High School which will serve students from all of Uncommon’s New York City elementary and middle schools. In 2009, Mr. Peiser became Managing Director of Uncommon New York City, overseeing nearly 2,000 students across Uncommon’s 10 elementary and secondary schools in Brooklyn. Uncommon New York City will ultimately grow to serve 7,000 students across 20 schools. Mr. Peiser is a graduate of New York City Public Schools and a resident of Brooklyn where he taught History at Midwood High School and founded an after-school community basketball program for Midwood/Flatbush teenagers. Mr. Peiser received a BA from Brown University and a MPP degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he also earned the 2001 Rising Star award.

Bernex Richardson Dean of Students

Prior to joining Brooklyn East Collegiate, Bernex Richardson taught middle school at the Mary D. Coghill Accelerated School. Bernex is an alumnus of the Teacher for America program, and a graduate of North Georgia College and State University. At NGCSU Bernex was a member of numerous student government organizations and the cross country team. He received his Master’s Degree in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania.

Alison Rosenberg 6^th Grade Writing Teacher

After graduating from the University of North Carolina, where she studied Religion and History, Alison Rosenberg joined Teach for America in New York City. She taught 6^th grade English and Social Studies at MS 117 in the South Bronx for three years, while earning her Master’s in Teaching from Pace University. This past year, Ms. Rosenberg lived in Beijing, China, where she taught English to kindergarteners through Scholastic Asia.

Matt Sack 5^th Grade Math Teacher

Matt Sack came to Brooklyn East Collegiate from the MATCH Charter Public High School in Boston where he served as an AmeriCorps Urban Education Fellow in the MATCH Corps. Prior to joining MATCH, Matt graduated magna cum laude from NYU’s Stern School of Business where he majored in economics and international business, minored in French, and wrote an honors thesis on microfinance. His passion for economic development and education took him to India during the summer of 2011 to volunteer as a 3^rd-5^th grade math teacher at the Shanti Bhavan Children’s Project in rural Tamil Nadu. Matt is currently pursuing a graduate degree at the Relay School of Education.

Craig Sini 6^th Grade History Teacher

Craig Sini came to Brooklyn East Collegiate from Democracy Prep Charter School in New York, NY where he was the 9^th grade Global History teacher and 9^th grade level chair. Prior, Mr. Sini was part of the team at Boston Preparatory Charter Public School teaching 8^th grade World History. He began his education career studying history and education at Northeastern University earning a masters degree in teaching. Craig loves the outdoors and is excited to teach Brooklyn students how ancient civilizations impact their lives every day.

Dena Soffer 5^th Grade Science Teacher

Dena Soffer is a graduate of Georgetown University where she majored in English and graduated Magna Cum Laude. During her time at Georgetown Dena spent time in South Africa and the Dominican Republic while interning for two different organizations, Tu Mujer, and Think Impact. She is a Teach for America Corps Member.

Samantha Spaeth 5^th Grade Reading

Samantha Spaeth joins Brooklyn East after teaching at Democracy Prep Charter School. Prior to teaching at Democracy Prep, Samantha was a member of the MATCH Teacher Residency Program where she taught 6^th grade. Samantha graduated from Wake Forest University and majored in English.

Matthew Stehle Fifth Grade Math Teacher

Matt Stehle is in his 2^nd year at Brooklyn East as a 5^th grade Math teacher and is a Teach For America Corps Member. Prior to joining Brooklyn East he spent four years in finance, most recently at Glenview Capital Management in NYC. During his years in NYC he has spent time volunteering as a mentor for both Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Minds Matter. Mr. Stehle received his undergraduate degree in Government from Harvard University where he captained the men’s basketball team.

Kevin Torres Apprentice Teacher

Kevin Torres is a Brooklyn native and summa cum laude graduate from NYU, Kevin received his undergraduate degree in Social Studies Education with a concentration in U.S. history. As a Dean's List student, Kevin received the School of Education Scholarship and the Pi Lambda Theta Rho Award. Kevin graduated with departmental honors for his senior thesis, which examined the role of teachers in implementing current events in the social studies curriculum and the implications of its inclusion or exclusion from the curriculum. Prior to pursuing a degree from NYU and a career in education, Kevin served two combat tours in Iraq as a U.S. Army infantryman with the 101st Airborne Division. Currently, Kevin is pursuing a Masters degree in Education, Politics, and Advocacy at NYU, where he hopes to get one step closer to unlocking the secret to building equitable schools.

Charisse Terry Special Education Coordinator

Charisse Terry, Special Education Coordinator for Brooklyn East Collegiate, graduated from the Boston College Lynch School of Education with a BA in Early Childhood Education and Psychology in 2001. Post-graduation she taught sixth grade in Dorchester, MA for a year before moving to the Boston Renaissance Charter School in Boston as a second grade teacher, where she stayed until 2007. Later that year Ms. Terry went back to the Lynch School of Education to receive a Masters in Special Education as a Donovan Urban Teaching Scholar. After her four years in Boston, she moved to Achievement First Crown Heights Charter School in Brooklyn where she taught second grade, as a learning specialist for students with IEP's, and served as the Special Education Coordinator for the middle school.

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