Katheryn Northington is a former educator, a former board member of a tuition-free preschool, a former board chair and current board member of Crossnore Communities for Children, has an MBA in Finance and is a strategy consultant with nonprofits. Katheryn’s skillset positions her well to launch a governing board, establish board committees, build a positive relationship with future school leadership, grow support for the school’s vision and mission, and recruit additional leaders to support the same. Katheryn has served on the School Improvement Team at three of her own children’s schools over time and is familiar with parent engagement from that perspective. Enabling meaningful parent engagement when the school has students whose parents are local will be a priority. Foster family engagement will also be important to the school’s success; children experience family and school in a multitude of forms.
Jeremy Burnett is a former educator, a former board member at Forsyth Country Day School, a current board member at Salem Montessori School, and a current board member at the Marjorie Williams Academy. Jeremy’s connectivity with the Williams Academy Board is of particular relevance as the Crossnore Community Charter School will operate under a model shared by the Williams Academy. Jeremy’s prior board experience included committee work overseeing and hiring the headmaster of a large independent school; as such, Jeremy has experience with performance management for both schools and school leaders. Jeremy’s days as an educator and an extended season as a literacy tutor equip her with experience and perspective regarding curriculum, instruction, and assessment that will support future school leadership as the team engages more deeply in school design.
Chris Gentry has served as the Director of the Family Support Network of Greater Forsyth since 2004. This program offers a multitude of support services to families who have children with special needs, including onsite hospital/NICU support, parent training and mentoring, support groups, educational advocacy, sibling programs and information and referral services. Chris has over 35 years of experience serving families of young children with a focus on quality early childhood experiences and environments. She has worked in public and private school settings, as well as with North Carolina’s Smart Start Initiative providing technical assistance and training to child care providers and parents. Her educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from UNC-Greensboro, Pastoral Care and Hospital Chaplaincy from Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and certificates in nonprofit management from Wake Forest and Duke Universities.
Regina Hall is the Executive Director of Boston Thurmond United, and is a seasoned community relations professional with experience in public sector and non-profit organizations. She has a demonstrated ability to build and maintain strong relationships with community and business leaders, key stakeholders, and local, state, and federal agencies. Regina is a proven fundraiser and has secured millions of dollars in grant funding and corporate sponsorships.
Brett Loftis, in his role as CEO of Crossnore Communities for Children, engages regularly with and coordinates services for children served by the Marjorie Williams Academy. Brett’s former work includes child advocacy, where Brett spent most days negotiating with school systems to meet their legal obligations and provide appropriate resources for children. As such, Brett is well familiar with school administration, successful school leadership practices, and particularly the trauma-informed approach that CCC will employ. Brett also oversees the Marjorie Williams Academy, is a parent of current students there, and provides trauma informed care training to schools through the CTRC.
Esharan Monroe-Johnson has a B.A. in Religion from Wake Forest University and a MS in Community Counseling and an M.S. in Couple and Family Therapy from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has counseling experience working with children in an outpatient setting and in a day treatment school setting. Esharan has worked in a non-profit organization since 2017 and has over 5 years of non-profit leadership experience. As the Executive Director of Love Literacy in Winston-Salem, Esharan is regularly working to reach, teach, and advocate for struggling readers by training tutors, educators, and parents to use the research-based best practices of a multisensory, structured literacy approach. Esharan looks at literacy as a game changer; literacy skills are key predictors of future educational attainment and economic stability. She believes that all children in our county deserve the opportunity to succeed and her favorite part about working in the community is being a part of an organization that works to positively impact the lives of the most vulnerable children by providing them with the necessary literacy skills to have a successful future.
Interested in learning more about the charter board? Contact Shana Heilbron at sheilbron@crossnore.org.
