Staff
Scott Van Beck, Executive Director
Scott A. Van Beck is a 23-year veteran of Houston ISD, having served as a teacher, a principal and most recently, West Region Superintendent from 2005 to 2007. As superintendent, Scott was responsible for 60 elementary and secondary schools, 3,200 teachers and 54,000 students. From 1999 to 2005, he served as principal for Revere Middle School, which was awarded the Annenberg Lamplighter Grant from Houston A+ Challenge, and principal for Westside High School, which during his tenure was rated as "TEA Recognized" and ranked in the top 20 Advanced Placement Programs by the College Board. Scott also has served as a coach and mentor for area principals through Houston A+ Challenge's New Visions in Leadership Academy. He serves on the board of directors of the Houston West Chamber of Commerce, and is the Vice-President of Making It Better, a non-profit committed to improving afterschool programs in West Houston. Scott is a native Iowan; he holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Iowa, and Master of Arts degree in History from the University of Houston. He has been married for more than 24 years to his wife Sarah, and is father to four native Texans – Wesley, Helen, Sam, and Neil. In his spare time, he referees high school basketball games.
Tom Monaghan, Director of School Performance
Tom comes to A+ with 27 years of experience in Houston ISD, most recently having served as Executive Principal in the West Region. In that position, he worked closely with six middle schools and four high schools to build leadership capacity and transform secondary school cultures. He is a longtime member of the A+ network, having graduated from our New Visions in Leadership Academy in 2002 and serving as an Academy coach up through 2009-10 school year. During his tenure as principal of Lanier Middle School from 1998 to 2005, he lead the implementation of the school’s Houston Annenberg Challenge Beacon School grant.
Sheri Miller-Williams, Director of Leadership
Sheri has served as Director of Leadership for Houston A+ Challenge since April 2008. Since then, she has guided all aspects of the Regional Principal Leadership Academy for aspiring principals, and helped solidify partnerships with the local public school districts that host Academy Interns. She also oversees the New Visions in Leadership Academy for seated school leaders, and the Executive Leadership Council for district leaders. Prior to joining Houston A+ Challenge, Sheri served as Vice President of Educational Services for Edison Schools, assigned to the School District of Philadelphia. During her six-year tenure with Edison, she provided training and supervision for principals and developed programs with partner schools and districts across a 10-state territory. As Edison's Vice President of Achievement, she designed and implemented curriculum, instructional learning, student management and professional development programs for struggling schools in Charleston, South Carolina. Sheri is a visionary educator with a reputation as a 'turnaround specialist,' having earned a number of teaching and leadership awards, including two "Double Four Star Principal" awards -- Edison's highest honor for student achievement improvement, school fiscal and operational management (2002-03 and 2004-05). Sheri holds a B.A. in Elementary Education from Dillard University, a Master's of Educational Administration from Prairie View A&M University, where she is currently completing a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership.
Marilu Garza, Director of Development
Marilu joined Houston A+ Challenge in July 2010 and brings a wealth of experience, enthusiasm and dedication in the realms of public education and nonprofit management. Most recently, she served as Development Director for Memorial Assistance Ministries, a local faith-based organization that helps provide rent and utility assistance to those in need. From 2003 to 2009, Marilu worked as a regional bilingual consultant for textbook publishers Houghton Mifflin and Harcourt. She started her career in 1978 as a first grade bilingual teacher at Wharton Elementary in Houston ISD, eventually advancing to become an assistant to former Superintendent Billy Reagan. She chaired the Cattle Barron's Ball in 2002, and has served as Vice President of Projects for Houston Junior Forum and as Chairman of Spring Branch ISD's Hispanic Advisory Committee.
Melissa Milios Davis, Director of Communications
Melissa has been with Houston A+ Challenge since January 2007, after serving the Los Angeles Unified School District as Director of Communications for the Board President. Prior to that, she worked as a K-12 and higher education reporter for the Daily Breeze newspaper in southern Los Angeles County, where she received a Copley Ring of Truth Honorable Mention for her thoughtful education coverage. She spent three years as a news content producer for the Austin American-Statesman’s web site, Austin360.com, and a year as content manager of a sister site in San Antonio. She also has worked at National Public Radio affiliates in Los Angeles and the Voice of America in London. Melissa holds a B.A. in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Southern California. She was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio.
Catherine Reed, CPA, Director of Finance
Catherine came to Houston A+ Challenge after 19 years at the Greater Houston Partnership, where she was vice-president for finance and administration. Before joining the Partnership, she was an audit manager for Deloitte Haskins & Sells. Catherine graduated summa cum laude from Rice University with a Bachelor of Arts degree and a Master of Accounting degree, and is a Certified Public Accountant. She has served as treasurer for Trinity Episcopal Church, the PTO at T.H.Rogers School and the National iMIS Users Group for membership database software.
Charlotte Parker, Leadership Coach
Charlotte Parker is a 33-year veteran of Houston ISD with a long track record of improving student success in schools at all levels. Most recently, she served as principal at Kashmere High School, where she was recruited to help turn the school around after four straight years on the state’s low-performing list. After just 10 months on the job, the school escaped closure as it shed the failed rating and moved up to Academically Acceptable. Charlotte began her career as an elementary school teacher; in 1992, she was appointed to her first principal position at Roosevelt Elementary, where her leadership helped the school attain the state’s Exemplary rating for five consecutive years. She was hosted at the White House by President Bill Clinton, and she and Roosevelt were featured on an episode of the CBS News program “60 Minutes”. The school was identified by the state as a model of excellence and a mentor school, and in 1999 Charlotte was named Principal of the Year by the National Alliance of Black School Educators and a Texas Reading Leader by the Texas Education Agency. She was named Principal of the Year for Houston ISD’s North Central District in 2005, and the next year was named Region 4’s Principal of the Year from Houston ISD’s North Region. Dr. Parker holds a B.S. in Elementary Education, a Master’s in Public Administration, and a Doctor of Education degree, all from Texas Southern University.
Lachanda Landry, Leadership Coach
Lachanda comes to Houston A+ Challenge from Shotwell Academy in Aldine ISD, where she served as International Baccalaureate Coordinator and provided teacher training and curriculum supervision. She spent three years as an Assistant Principal at Lamar High School in Houston ISD, and also has more than eight years of experience as a high school English teacher. Lachanda holds an Ed.D. in Education Administration and Foundations and an M.Ed. in Education Mid-Management, both from Texas Southern University, as well as a B.A. in English from Dillard University in New Orleans. She has attended the New Principals' Academy at Trinity University, The Principals' Center at Harvard University, Houston A+ Challenge's Critical Friends Group training, and she is also an examiner for the University of Texas Center for Performing Excellence Baldridge National Quality Program.
Torrey Conerly, Performance Coach
Since 2007, Torrey has worked as a Math Content Specialist in Houston ISD’s West Region, a successor to Houston A+ Challenge’s successful ExxonMobil Math Initiative. In this role, Torrey provided model lessons, formal and informal teaching assessments, interventions, coaching and mathematics leadership to teachers and grade-level teams. She is a certified trainer for Laying the Foundation/Advanced Placement Strategies, and has five years of classroom teaching experience in mathematics at the middle school level.
Jennifer Fowler, Performance Coach
Jennifer started teaching middle school in Houston ISD in 1995, and served as a cluster leader and department chair until 2007. She then spent a year as a campus-level middle school literacy coach, before moving to the West Region as a content specialist. In that position, she worked with 15 secondary schools to improve their literacy programs, also providing model lessons, instructional strategies and student data reviews for teachers.
Cicely Greene, Performance Coach
As a literacy content specialist in Houston ISD’s North Region, Cicely spent the past two years coaching teachers and school administrators to improve classroom instruction through critical thinking, research-based strategies, and analysis of student data. Her coaching style is informed by seven years of exemplary, student-centered teaching experience, including bilingual and English as a Second Language (ESL), as well as several campus-based teacher leader positions.
Liz Mangus, Performance Coach
Liz is a Fulbright Scholar and a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She started her career in education in 2001 as a Teach For America corps member at Golfcrest Elementary in Houston ISD. As a classroom teacher and teacher leader at Franklin and Port Houston Elementary Schools, she routinely led groups of students to 1.5 to 2 year academic gains in one year, and led teams of teachers to design and implement data-driven instruction, interventions, and professional development.
Jennifer Mascheck, Performance Coach
Jennifer started at A+ in May, after spending the 2009-10 school year as a Secondary Numeracy Curriculum Specialist in Houston ISD’s West Region. For the 10 years prior, she worked as a Mathematics Coordinator for the Upper School at St. Stephen’s Episcopal. In both roles, Jennifer served as a teacher of teachers, with responsibilities ranging from the development of mathematics curriculum and assessment tools to the recommendation and coordination of professional development.
Michael Webster, Performance Coach
Michael has worked for A+ since 2006. In that time, he has served as a Teacher Leadership Coach, assisted in the development of curriculum for the Regional Principal Leadership Academy, and managed a major expansion of the ExxonMobil and Reasoning Mind mathematics initiatives. Immediately prior, Michael served as a literacy coach in Houston ISD’s Reagan High School, where he spearheaded reform efforts in literacy and whole-school transformation.
Betsy Broyles Breier, Program Coordinator
Betsy has been involved in school reform and with Houston A+ Challenge since 1996, when she helped to write the original Annenberg Beacon School grant for Poe Elementary. Since that time she has been active in non-profit work in the environmental and education areas. Betsy has served as PTO president at Lanier Middle School and Challenge Early High School in Houston ISD, and worked at the Center for the Reform of School Systems writing teaching case studies and helping to develop training programs for school boards. Betsy earned an MBA from Harvard, worked for Exxon Chemical Americas for 9 years, and co-produced an Academy Award™-nominated documentary about the Apollo lunar missions, For All Mankind.
Terrie Roberts, Events Coordinator
Terrie comes to Houston A+ Challenge from Professional Packaging Systems, where she was operations manager for more than nine years. She was also a Co-Director for an annual writing retreat for teachers sponsored by the New Jersey Writing Project in Texas. Terrie is currently pursuing a degree in computer graphics from the University of Houston and also owns Metropolitan Meals, a catering/personal chef business.
Imelda Cardoza, Administrative Assistant
Imelda was born and raised in the Rio GrandeValley in South Texas. Imelda attended the former Pan American University, now The University of Texas at Pan Am, in Edinburg, Texas. Imelda worked as a Human Resources Administrator with the University of Houston for approximately 19 years, her most recent role as Supervisor of Employment and Employee Relations. Imelda joined Houston A+ in April 2001 from River Oaks Elementary, after serving two years as a lecturer in the after school program and five years as the school’s vanguard program administrative assistant.
Donna O'Neil, Administrative Assistant
Donna is a native Houstonian. She has seven years of experience as an executive administrative assistant in Houston ISD, starting at Westside High School as a clerk for three Deans, then promoted to school secretary, then in the district's West Region Office. Donna also has worked as a manager for Hallmark, Inc. stores and as an administrative assistant for a large investment banking/brokerage firm.
