Speakers
Heather Wendling
Terry Croy Lewis
Jessica Welch
Hot Topics
The definition of “college and career readiness” is rapidly evolving. Families, communities, and employers are seeking schools that not only prepare students for higher education, but also for meaningful, future-focused pathways into the workforce. This session will highlight cutting-edge innovations in charter schools that expand the traditional view of readiness to include workforce-aligned models, industry-recognized credentials, apprenticeships, and real-world learning experiences.
Attendees will hear from the National Charter Schools Institute, recently awarded a federal Charter Schools Program grant to codify and disseminate best practices from workforce-driven schools across the country, alongside leaders from the Colorado Charter Schools Institute, a local authorizer committed to advancing quality and innovation. Together, presenters will share both national trends and Colorado-specific examples, offering insights that are relevant to authorizers, school leaders, and policymakers who want to strengthen career-connected opportunities for students.
The format of this session will be an interactive panel presentation with opportunities for Q&A and discussion. Presenters will share exemplars and lessons learned that attendees can adapt to their contexts.
As NACSA’s Vice President of Consulting Services, Heather leads NACSA’s consulting work with authorizers and education leaders across the country on customized projects designed to strengthen authorizing practices and outcomes for students.
Heather previously worked as a Project Director for WestEd, leading a three-year grant to establish and operate NY-RISE, New York State’s first technical assistance resource center and provide professional development to its 351 charter schools.
Formerly, Heather was the Director of Learning at NACSA. In that position, she served as an authorizing field expert in a variety of projects with all types of authorizers and developed resources critical to strengthening quality in the sector, including a comprehensive Special Education Toolkit for Authorizers. Prior to joining NACSA, Heather served as a Senior School Evaluator and the Director for New Charters at the SUNY Charter Schools Institute.
Earlier in her career, Heather spent eight years working in charter and traditional public schools as a Teach for America Corps member, and as a special education teacher, coordinator, and instructional coach in both elementary and middle school settings. Heather earned her BA in Political Science from SUNY Stony Brook University, her MST degree from Pace University, and her JD from the University of Connecticut School of Law.
My name is Terry Croy Lewis, and I have served as the Executive Director of the Colorado Charter School Institute (CSI) since 2016. Moreover, I contribute to state and national organizations as a member of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA) Strategic Advising Council, and as a board member of the Colorado Association of Charter School Authorizers (CACSA) and the American Academy of Liberal Education (AALE).
Before joining CSI, I served as the Vice President of School Quality and Support at the Colorado League of Charter Schools. I was also a founder of High Point Academy (HPA), which opened in 2006, and I served as the Executive Director/Principal at HPA for eight years.
Prior to my work with HPA, I contributed to the development of several other charter schools in Colorado, both as an independent consultant and as a consultant with a national organization focused on creating new charter schools. In 1997, I helped found my first charter school, Platte River Academy.
With over 25 years of experience in the charter school sector, I have worked in urban, suburban, and rural communities, serving in various capacities such as authorizer, founder, school leader, governing board member, and consultant. Additionally, I earned my doctoral degree from the University of Maryland and have taught at several universities in Colorado, Maryland, and Illinois.
In my role I support our teams doing work to ensure that CSI schools meet their responsibilities to serve all students. We approach the work with a focus on equity, access, and continuous improvement to support schools in closing outcome gaps. This includes overseeing compliance with all state and federal requirements, providing opportunities for capacity building, and offering tiered consultation/support. I believe charter schools play an important role in a healthy education ecosystem, and may serve as models for a truly community-based and culturally responsive approach to education.
In prior roles, I've served as CSI's District Assessment Coordinator, ELD Coordinator, READ Act/School Readiness Coordinator, and Improvement and Implementation Specialist. Before working at CSI, I worked as a musician, teacher and school leader in Colorado, New Mexico, and East Africa. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish with a focus in Music Pedagogy from the University of New Mexico, and a Master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In my free time I continue to teach and play music, and like to run on dirt as much as I can.
My name is Janet Dinnen and I have been with CSI serving in a variety of capacities since 2013. In my current role as Chief of Staff, I oversee our Communications and HR Teams and the data quality and reporting initiatives of our Data Submissions Team. I also support with legislative and regulatory monitoring and provide operational support to our Leadership Team and Executive Director.
I have worked in the charter sector for over 15 years. Prior to CSI, I was a secondary teacher and member of an administrative team at a Colorado Springs charter school. Prior to that, I worked with a charter management organization and a charter authorizer in Ohio. I received my bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education and my master’s degree in Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics and Assessment.
I love working at CSI because I believe in its mission, its ability and willingness to adapt to meet the changing needs of our schools and their communities, and its culture of continuous improvement. And importantly, I enjoy the diverse portfolio of schools, partners, and team I have the opportunity to work with.