MEET THE CANDIDATE. 1) What has been your personal involvement with education in our community?

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1 Candidate Name: Jana Thomas My daughter just began attending Kindergarten at Sarah Smith and we are very pleased. I am currently a teacher at The Schenck School and have taught and/or tutored students with dyslexia for 10+ years. I have my Associate Level Certification through the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators. 1) Why would you like to serve on the Local School Governance Team (GO Team)? I feel that I have a lot to offer as a teacher who has tutored students in APS-I owned my own tutoring business while I was home with my daughter and tutored students from Springdale Park and Marylin Elementary. I see what these students need and can offer strategies to reach all students. I strongly believe in the public school system, and also recognize the struggle that teachers have to implement an increasingly full curriculum with diverse learners. Many times education decisions are made by people who have never taught in a classroom and it is important to have the input from teachers who understand what a day to day classroom is like. 2) Describe your vision for our school. Sarah Smith has the potential to be a model public school. We can create a curriculum that challenges and meets the needs of all students, with parent support. All parents need to be a part of this process in furthering the school. A differentiating curriculum can be designed that helps students achieve academic goals, challenges gifted students, supports and offers research-based appropriate remediation for students with learning disabilities, as well as teaches students whose native language is not English.

2 Candidate Name: Laura Troup I was elected to the Local School Council last spring and began serving this past summer. I would love to continue to serve on the go team. I went to the Peabody College of Education at Vanderbilt University and I have a Master Degree in Counseling with a focus on children. I have worked in both public and private schools across Atlanta and am passionate about children and their education. I love Sarah Smith and the wonderful neighborhood school that it is and I believe that we can make it even better! The new charter system has huge potential to allow us to tailor our cirriculum and special programs to the needs of our school. My experience working in schools, as a parent, and as a passionate supporter of public education makes me a great candidate for this position. I would be so grateful for the opportunity to serve by helping find solutions to new and existing areas of improvement. I see Sarah Smith as a top elementary school in our city. We have a wonderful history as a standout school and we will build on that to become even better! Our strengths are so many including our rich diversity and our high achieving students and we can use them all to better the school. I see SRS utilizing the new charter system to implement programs that keep our highest achieving kids raising the bar as well as raising the scores of ALL children, including reaching those who need an extra boost.

3 Candidate Name: Elizabeth Cox I am currently serving as Co-President of the Sarah Smith PTA. Last year I served as the Vice President for Social and Community with the Sarah Smith PTA and I have volunteered in many capacities at the school. I have two children attending Sarah Smith. My term as Co-President of the PTA concludes at the end of this year and I would like to continue being active in the school community. I have enjoyed serving as an officer on the PTA Board and building relationships with school administration, teachers and other parents. I have worked closely with the principal, PTA Committee Chairs and the leaders of the Sarah Smith Education Foundation and would like to use this experience to contribute to our school's future success. Sarah Smith's best asset is that it is truly a neighborhood school. SRS is a centerpiece of the community and its success benefits not only its students, but the community as a whole. Sarah Smith must continue to provide a world-class education and opportunities for students to learn in an environment that is both safe and fun. I believe that children are born with a thirst for knowledge and that elementary school must be a place where that thirst is quenched. Sarah Smith is also blessed with an active, vibrant and diverse parent community--this incredible resource must remain engaged and passionate about our school. I would like our school to continue in its IB tradition as a place where every student can learn and thrive.

4 Candidate Name: Shirley Cruz Currently, I serve as the Assistant Director of LaAmistad which is a nonprofit organization serving the Latino community in four schools in Atlanta Public Schools. My role require a high degree of involvement with advocacy towards education as well as the policy and processes within the school system. I also work with the Junior League of Atlanta as the Early Childhood Education advocate. I am interested in serving on the GoTeam for two primary reasons, to provide a level of diversity and inclusion to the parental participation as well as to help identify strategies that will help increase parental engagement and educational attainment for the school. My vision for the school is to provide students, teachers, families and communities is to inspire a passion for learning.

5 Candidate Name: Dawnitra Quigley I am currently one of the Co-Presidents for the North Atlanta High School (NAHS) PTSA. I have been actively involved in the PTAs at every level for our cluster of schools - Smith, Sutton and NAHS -for the past ten years. I attend the school board budget meetings, NAPPS meetings and stay informed with our Local School Council at NAHS as an ex-officio member. I am concerned about our students. And I would like to use my skills, experience and knowledge to help the community. I believe that my experience with all levels from elementary to high school gives me a unique perspective to assist with curriculum. I am also taught high school math for three years. I hear and understand the frustration of parents and students. I would like to help as much as possible. My vision for Sarah Smith elementary is that we will continue to thrive in teaching young minds how to read, write and perform math functions. But beyond that, I envision that we will truly and deeply embrace the IB mentality and culture. It is important that students communicate effectively with one another and are open to learning from one another. Additionally, I envision that the families of this community will embrace our differences and uphold them to teach our children how to be productive, caring and inspiring young people.

6 Candidate Name: Anke Schnell I have been a room parent at Sarah Smith for the past 2 years, I volunteer with CHOA, I have been an advocate of full immersion Spanish at our school. With a rising 2nd grader and a soon to be Kindergartner I am committed to making our school the best it can be for our children and community! My vision is that the school is fully integrated with technology and prepares our children for the complex world we live in by instilling a love of learning and respect for all people.

7 Candidate Name: Karen Kerness I began my own teaching career in Dallas, TX, where I worked as an eleventh grade Advanced Placement and grade level English teacher in a diverse high school. For the past twelve years, since starting my own family, I have managed my own tutoring business, though which I assist students with writing programs and with their preparation for college entrance examinations and essays. It has always been my passionate belief that the secret to greater success in large, city school districts must lie in their division into a system of increased local control. I am the mother of three Sarah Smith boys, one fifth grader and two second graders; while I have always been involved as a classroom volunteer, I feel that â as both a mother and an educator - I have more to offer the school. For six years, our family has been thrilled to be associated with the excellence that is Sarah Smith. I recognize that our school is far more diverse, ethnically and socioeconomically, than it once was and that we still have work to do to achieve the same level of achievement for all of our students. I would be excited to help shape the next chapter in our schoolâ s history and to be a part of the charter system vision in which I firmly believe.

8 Candidate Name: Beth Anne Stanford Iâ ve been an active SRS parent since I regularly volunteer my time for schoolwide and in-classroom events. Iâ ve been very involved with Read-a-Thon, serving on the committee in and as a room parent representative in two other years. I am also a co-leader of a Girl Scout troop comprised of twelve SRS second-graders. Additionally, I give financial support to the SSEF and the PTA. Sarah Smith has given my children an incredibly strong and positive education foundation. I would like to give back to the SRS community by serving on the Go Team, and I am excited about the opportunity and flexibility that the school will have in the new Charter system. As a lawyer by trade, I would use my training for unbiased and objective decision-making in the Go Team governance process. To ensure that the 21st Century educational needs of the entire Sarah Smith student body are served, to maximize the impact of the core strengths of Sarah Smithâ s faculty, administration and programs, and to preserve the warm community spirit that makes Sarah Smith such a special school.