Our Team | Meridian Charter Schools

We Set the Stage for Success Through a Collective Effort

Meet Your Meridian Leadership

School Leadership

“Never limit yourself because of other’s limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination.”
– Mae Jemison

Valencia Bush

Assistant Principal

CICS Wrightwood Elementary

“Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, only this time more wisely.”
– Henry Ford

Dennison Cordell

Assistant Principal

CICS Northtown Academy

“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” – W.B. Yeats

Jim Fusco

Assistant Principal

CICS Northtown Academy

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
– Nelson Mandela

Marivenus Garcia

Assistant Principal

CICS Northtown Academy

“The mind is everything. What you think, you become.”
– Buddha

Rebecca Glaser

Multilingual Education Coordinator

CICS Northtown Academy

“I am the me I choose to be.”
– Sidney Poitier

William Johnson

Assistant Principal

CICS Wrightwood Elementary

“Never mistake activity for achievement.”
– John Wooden

Ariel Kattan

Instructional Coach

CICS Northtown Academy

“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think!”
– Albert Einstein

Katherine Kreiling

CICS Northtown Academy

“…Intelligence plus character is the goal of true education”.
– MLK, Jr.

Dr. David A. Lewis

CICS Wrightwood Elementary

“The purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows.”
– Sydney J. Harris

Eileen McBride

Instructional Coach/Athletic Coordinator

CICS Northtown Academy

“Liberating education consists of acts of cognition, not transferals of information”
– Paulo Freire

Jacob Morgan

CICS Ralph Ellison

“Education as the practice of freedom affirms healthy self-esteem in students. It encourages them to feel that they are valued and valuable.”
– Bell Hooks

Dr. Rashida Restaino-Daniels

Assistant Principal

CICS Ralph Ellison

school support team

“Every child deserves a champion-an adult who will never give up on them. Who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.”
– Rita Pierson

David Alfafara

Director of Human Resources

Meridian Charter Schools

“There needs to be a lot more emphasis on what a child can do, instead of what he cannot do”
–Temple Grandin

Sarah Allworth

Special Education Coordinator

Meridian Charter Schools

“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”
– Vincent Van Gogh

Adrian Alvarado

Building Manager

Meridian Charter Schools

“When you learn, teach. When you get, give.”
– Maya Angelou

Ebony Blair-Jones

Special Education Coordinator

Meridian Charter Schools

“Education does not change the world, it changes the people who are going to change the world.”
– Paulo Freire

Maria Carolina Bastos

Deputy Chief Education Officer

Meridian Charter Schools

“Change is the end result of all true learning.”
– Leo Buscaglia

Edmund Furlan

Director of Education Technology

Meridian Charter Schools

“Every student can learn, just not on the same day or in the same way.”
– George Evans

Kira Haley

Special Education Manager

Meridian Charter Schools

“Work hard until you no longer have to introduce yourself.”

Alan Jackson

Managing Director of Technology

Meridian Charter Schools

“Well done is better than well said.”
– Benjamin Franklin

Luis Laboy

Building Manager

Meridian Charter Schools

“I follow three rules: Do the right thing, do the best you can, and always show people you care.”
– Lou Holtz

Jose Santiago

Director of Culture & Climate

Meridian Charter Schools

“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.”
– Albert Einstein

Kelly Smith

Chief Education Officer

Meridian Charter Schools

“All students deserve to attend schools that continuously improve.”
– Forman et. al.

Dr. Joanne M. Tanner

Chief Executive Officer

Meridian Charter Schools

“Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your community and world better than you found it.”
– Marian Wright

Vicki Tsirtsis

Chief Operating Officer

Meridian Charter Schools

Join the Meridian Team

At Meridian, we welcome educators who are passionate about helping students, strengthening community, and setting higher standards for themselves. If you’re eager to contribute to an environment of innovation, growth, and inclusivity, we invite you to explore our opportunities.

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P: (312)-733-6790
F: (312) 733-8470

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