Staff and Faculty

Staff	Faculty
Dr. Kent Johnson, Executive Director Dr. Joanne Robbins, Principal Kris Melroe, Assistant Director of Schools & Agencies Beth Bartter, Director of Operations Dawn Oliver, Admissions Director Tim Smith, Administration and Facilities Director Patrick Erbeck, Technology Director Steve Dunnington, Accounting Felisa Yasutake, Front Desk Julian Gire, Assessment Coordinator	Paul Conrad, Faculty Marianne Delgado, Faculty Erin Schwartz, Faculty Shiloh Isbell, Faculty Haley Landau, Faculty Erica Lybarger, Faculty Geoff Martin, Faculty Mike Wolfson, Faculty Andrea McDermott, Faculty Rosie de la Harpe, Faculty Jenni Reilly, Faculty Adam Stretz, Faculty Paul Conrad, Art Restita DeJesus, Wushu Jennifer Testa, MTA intern

Staff

Dr. Kent Johnson founded Morningside Academy, in Seattle, Washington, in 1980, and currently serves as its Executive Director. Morningside is a laboratory school for elementary and middle school children and youth. Morningside investigates effective curriculum materials and teaching methods, and has provided training and consulting in instruction to over 90 schools and agencies throughout the USA and Canada since 1991.

Dr. Johnson has served in all the positions at Morningside, including classroom teacher for 10 years, financial manager, administrator, teacher trainer, school psychologist and school consultant. He has published several seminal papers about research-based curriculum and teaching methods. Most recently he published a book, "The Morningside Model of Generative Instruction: What It Means to Leave No Child Behind," with Dr. Elizabeth Street (2004, Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies). The Morningside Model focuses upon foundation skills in reading, writing, mathematics, thinking, reasoning, problem solving, studying core content, and project-based learning. Over 18,000 students and over a thousand teachers have used the Morningside Model of Generative Instruction. Dr. Johnson is also a co-founder of Headsprout, Inc., a Seattle-based company funded by investors to develop web-based, interactive, cartoon-driven instructional programs. The first product is currently available: Headsprout Early Reading, from headsprout.com.

Prior to founding Morningside, Dr. Johnson was professor at Central Washington University, director of staff training at the Fernald School in Massachusetts, and instructional designer at Northeastern University in Boston. He received his M.S. (1974) and Ph.D. (1977) in psychology at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst under the mentorship of Drs. Beth Sulzer-Azaroff, Ellen Reese, and John Donahue. He received his B.S. in psychology and sociology from Georgetown University (1973), under the mentorship of Dr. J Gilmour Sherman. He also counts Drs. Fred Keller, Charles Ferster, B. F. Skinner, Susan Markle, John Dewey, Robert Gagne, Siegfried Engelmann, Ogden Lindsey, Israel Goldiamond, Arthur Whimbey, and colleague Joe Layng as major influences on his work.

Dr. Johnson enjoys reading philosophy, mysteries, ancient history, psychology, and books about teaching and children. He also enjoys rock, electronic downbeat and ambient music; and talking about politics and public policy.

His recent publications include:

Johnson, K., & Street, E. M. (2004). The Morningside Model of Generative Instruction: An integration of research-based practices. In D. J. Moran & R. Malott (Eds.). Empirically Supported Educational Methods. St. Louis, MO: Elsevier Science/Academic Press.

Johnson, K., & Street, E. M. (2004). The Morningside Model of Generative Instruction: What it means to leave no child behind. Concord, MA: Cambridge Center for Behavioral Studies. Available at www.behavior.org.

Joanne Robbins is the Principal of Morningside Academy in Seattle, Washington. Joanne has over twenty-five years of experience in program development, curriculum design, and teaching and supervision of programs for children and youth. Joanne's experience has been in both educational and mental health settings. She developed programs for Pre-K through college level. In addition to the gratifying work as Principal of Morningside Academy, Joanne is a founder of P.E.E.R., Partnerships for Educational Excellence and Research. The P.E.E.R. project is designed to radically improve the teaching and learning communities in several township schools in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Prior to moving to Seattle, Joanne lived in Chicago for many years. While there, she was the Activity Therapy supervisor for a 120-bed children's state psychiatric facility, served as an adjunct faculty member in the Psychology Department at Northeastern Illinois University, and designed and implemented problem solving and thinking skills programs, study skills programs, and learning acceleration programs for inner-city children and college students for the University of Illinois at Chicago and the City Colleges of Chicago. She also served as program developer and instructor in the federally funded Nation of Tomorrow program, training Chicago Public School teachers how to use computer technology in their classrooms. Joanne served as a research assistant in the Instructional Research and Development Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She is a frequent presenter at professional meetings and has published experimental work in human clinical decision-making. Joanne has served as an instructional design consultant to private industry in the production of instructional video and interactive laser disks including Learning-to-Learn, Inc. in Cambridge, MA, and Focus International, Inc. in Huntington, NY. An expert in the teaching of thinking and reasoning skills, Joanne is the author of Talk Aloud Problem Solving: A Script for Teachers, and co-author of Fluent Thinking Skills: A Generative Approach.

Joanne was a board member and Vice President of the Illinois Art Therapy Association. She is currently a member of the Association for Behavior Analysis. She founded and co-chairs the Spectrum Alliance, a community group advocating for the Seattle Public School's highly capable students.

Joanne earned an MA in Behavioral Sciences (Art Therapy concentration) from the University of Houston, Clear Lake Campus. A native of New York, she earned a BA in Sociology from the State University of New York at New Paltz. Joanne completed her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago under the mentorship of Dr. Sue Markle, Dr. Phil Tiemann and Dr. Herbert Walberg.

Kris Melroe, Assistant Director of Schools & Agencies, earned a BA from Luther College in 1971. After graduating, she worked in the Minneapolis area on numerous health related projects. Kris founded a clinic that specialized in women's health. She also did research for a NGO (non-governmental United Nations organization) health project, examining sterilization and birth control practices on four Indian reservations. Her findings were used in planning the United Nations "Decade of the Woman" and resulted in her receiving the 1983 National Recognition Award from the group Women of All Red.

In 1976 Kris left the Midwest and moved to Seattle, where she worked in various capacities with different social service groups, including serving as co-director for the Lesbian Resource Center. Being drawn to the field of education, Kris received her teaching certificate and later her Special Education endorsement from the University of Washington. Kris joined Morningside in 1980, where she remained for five years as an elementary teacher. Here she honed her skills in instruction and precision teaching. After taking some time off to have two children, Kris returned to teaching where she worked for the Renton School District as a Special Education teacher for eight years. While in Renton, Kris designed and implemented a precision teaching training program for new special education teachers. She was also a member of the Renton Education Association's negotiating team.

Kris currently serves as a faculty member at Pacific Oaks College, teaching a graduate class in Special Education as part of their teacher training program. Kris returned to Morningside to work in the Morningside Teachers' Academy, where she supervises school-wide implementations of the Morningside Model of Generative Instruction.

Beth comes to Morningside with nearly 30 years' experience working with nonprofits, educational organizations, and international non-governmental organizations. Most recently she worked at the Nakorn Payap International School in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where she taught English and administrated extra-curricular activities. Prior to that, she ran an environmental planning business which contracted with the City of Seattle to provide education to ethnically diverse neighborhoods in the area of household hazardous waste awareness. She has also supervised relief efforts in Somalia and tutoring programs in Singapore.

Beth holds a B.A. in Design from Miami University in Ohio and a M.A. in Urban and Community Planning from Virginia Commonwealth University. In her free time, she is a member of the Seattle Sake Dragon Boat Racing Team.

Dawn Oliver is responsible for the direction of the academy's development programs and admissions procedures. She is responsible for the development and enhancement of projects such as fundraisers, corporate sponsorships, and grant writing; relationship building for the purpose of seeking and applying for funding for academy priorities; and for the admissions process to recruit and assist prospective students and their families from initial contact until enrollment. She oversees community outreach and public relations endeavors. This includes the supervision and management of a team of volunteers, predominantly made up of parents, committed to the academy's mission.

Dawn has over fifteen years' experience working in the administration of private schools. She has held positions as Registrar, Director of Financial Aid, Director of Admissions, Acting Administrator and Director of Development. The schools with which she has been affiliated have been located in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Virginia and have ranged from a private school to a junior college. In addition, she has experience tutoring children with attention deficit disorder and autism having received training in discrete trial and direct instruction utilizing the techniques of applied behavior analysis. Upon her arrival in Seattle, Dawn completed the graduate credit program offered by Morningside Teachers' Academy, The Summer School Institute. She is a member of the Puget Sound Grantwriters Association (PSGA), Families for Effective Autism Treatment (FEAT), The Northwest Development Officers Association (NDOA) and Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD).

Dawn received her B.A. in English and Education from Douglass College of Rutgers University. She holds New Jersey certification to teach English, Speech and Theatre Arts. She began her career as a public high school teacher of English, public speaking and drama. In that role, she was also the director of the school plays.

Before relocating to Seattle, Dawn served as Director of Development for The Faison School for Autism at Virginia Commonwealth University. In that position she was responsible for all aspects of recruitment and fundraising. She wrote and produced the school's video and prepared all of the marketing materials for this start-up school.

Patrick joined Morningside in May of 2008 as the Director for Information Technology. Prior to that, he was a Field Engineer for a regional business to business Apple repair group, having moved to the Seattle area in 2007. He also has done turns with support at ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), at Weil Cornell Medical College in Qatar (Doha, Qatar), and at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California . At Morningside, Patrick provides technology and audiovisual support services to faculty, staff, and students.

Patrick studied Psychology at California State University - San Marcos before going into computer support and repair. He holds both hardware and technical support certificates from Apple Computer. He is originally from Northern California, with stints in Hawaii, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Doha, Qatar. In his free time, spends time with his daughter, and indulges in hobbies such as the Society for Creative Anachronism (a historical recreation group with a focus in the Middle Ages), SF/F conventions, and other related activities. He also rides horses, reads, cooks, plays the harp, and has altogether too many Lego sets.

Steve Dunnington is a bookkeeper who works on contract with Morningside Academy two days a week since September of 2003. Steve also works with a number of other non-profit groups who do good work in the community.

Felisa Yasutake comes to Morningside Academy after an 8-year career with Vrane & Co., Paper Makers. Felisa enjoys working with youth and children and aspires to teach Math and Science someday. She labels herself as a "Jane of all Trades" and loves a challenge, whether physical or mental. In her free time, Felisa enjoys playing video games, watching movies and spending time with her one-year-old son.

Julian Gire, Assessment Coordinator, is entering his third year at Morningside Academy. But the path to Morningside was a long one spanning the Pacific Ocean and Cascade Mountains. Julian was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, and after graduating from high school in 1999 he moved to Cheney, Washington where he attended Eastern Washington University. While at EWU he earned a B.S. in Applied Developmental Psychology with an emphasis in school counseling. After graduation he returned to the "halls of academia" to earn a Masters degree in School Psychology. While looking for an internship, an advisor told him of a school in Seattle that specialized in teaching children who have not been successful in the traditional school system. So he packed up his truck and made the moved from the small town to the big city. In his free time Julian likes to cook and BBQ, garden, and play paintball when the weather is nice.
He is very excited to be living in Seattle because, in his own words, "there are so many places to see, things to do, and great choices of food to eat!"

Faculty

Marianne Delgado recently returned to the Northwest after living a number of years in the New York City metropolitan area, where she studied at Barnard College and received her Masters in general education from Georgian Court College in Lakewood, New Jersey. She is the mother of three. Her profession specialties are creative writing, curriculum design, and implementing service-learning programs. In her free time, she enjoys the indie-rock music scene, thrift store shopping, comic book collecting, and costume design.

Shiloh has been working in education since she was 15 years old, with both Special Education and General Education populations ranging from preschool to middle school-aged students. Her most recent faculty position before coming to Morningside in 2007 was as a head teacher in an Emotionally/Behaviorally Disabled class in Tacoma, WA. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Education from Central Washington University, and is currently working on her Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Her interests include cooking, collecting comic books, playing video games, and singing karaoke.

Haley Landau grew up in a tiny town in Iowa. After high school, she'd had enough of the cold Midwestern winters and trekked out west to Flagstaff, Arizona. There she attended Northern Arizona University where she received her B.S. in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Applied Science. Throughout college, Haley worked at Lowell Observatory (where Pluto was discovered) as a tour guide, telescope operator, and educator for school groups. Haley completed her student teaching at an intermediate school on the Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. Upon graduating, Haley educated students in two of Flagstaff's charter schools.

In 2006, Haley bid adieu to the Southwest and ventured up to Portland, Oregon. There, she worked as an elementary music teacher and a private tutor. A year later, she moved to Seattle to pursue this exciting position at Morningside. Outside the classroom, Haley finds happiness rock climbing with Bryan, entertaining her cat Lola, traveling, reading, and sampling the fine vegetarian cuisine of Seattle.

Geoff Martin teaches beginning reading and math. He also assists with the designing and production of instructional and practice materials. Geoff earned his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida and his M.S. from Auburn University. Prior to Morningside, Geoff worked as a graduate teaching assistant, a Consultant for a Developmental Center in Alabama, a Behavioral Clinician at a State Developmental Center in Indiana, an Instructional Designer and Training Developer, a Tutor, and a Computer Consultant.

Geoff is originally from Northern Virginia and relocated to South Florida after middle school. He enjoys writing simple computer programs to automate common tasks, renovation projects with friends, reading, and seeing all Seattle has to offer.

Mike Wolfson is currently in his second year as a teacher at Morningside Academy. He received his Bachelor's Degree in History from the University of Washington and his Master's Degree in Teaching from Heritage University. He participated in national service for one year as an Americorps volunteer. Earlier in his teaching career, Mike taught for five years in a Los Angeles public school as an 8th grade teacher. Then he moved to Seattle in 1985. Mike loves to travel. Not only has he traveled the country by car, but he also has been to Africa. Yet another interesting fact about Mike is that he has worked in Hollywood on set crews. In addition, Mike's interests include motorcycling, sports, and board games.

A Bay Area native and outdoor enthusiast, Andrea McDermott came to Seattle eager to explore the Pacific Northwest. Prior to her cross-country trek, she taught reading to middle school students in Austin, TX under the directorship of the Vaughn Gross Center for Reading & Language Arts. Before moving to Texas, she received her Master's degree in Special Education from Vanderbilt University. While in Nashville, she created a foundation for children with Down syndrome in an effort to provide them with reading scholarships at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Reading Clinic. In her spare time, she loves to hike, bake, fundraise, train for marathons, and roller blade (however she is still learning to master the 'art of stopping!'). She is excited to be a part of the Morningside team & looks forward to the journey ahead.

Jenni Reilly learned of Morningside Academy while attending Eastern Washington University, where she received her Masters in Education in Special Education with an emphasis on Applied Behavior Analysis and Direct Instruction. She earned her Bachelors Degrees in both Psychology and Elementary Education. She started her teaching career with Morningside Academy during the 99-00 school year. She embraces the Morningside Model and continues to be amazed by the personal and academic growth by the students each year. Jenni is both a teacher and teacher trainer at Morningside Academy. In her spare time she enjoys gardening, sailing, swimming, and spending time with her husband, Jason, son, Nicholas, and golden retriever, Elmo.

Adam was born and raised in Olympia, WA. He attended the University of Washington where he received a double major in Communications & Political Science. He spent three years in Chicago where he got his Master's Degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Adam teaches our upper level students at Morningside Academy, including content classes in history and civics. Adam is an avid sports fan (Go Huskies! Seahawks! Mariners! Sounders! and Cubs!) and spent several seasons coaching Babe Ruth Baseball. Adam also enjoys traveling (he's been to over 20 different countries, including getting married in Jamaica in 2007), reading (especially political, historical, and science fiction), playing basketball & softball, and learning new activities, like swing dancing & fly-fishing.

Sifu ("teacher") Restita DeJesus is the Instructor of Wushu Class. She is the co-founder and instructor of Yin Yang Arts Center. Sifu DeJesus has 30 years of experience in martial discliplines that include Karate, Kung Fu, Kajukenbo, Eskrima, Aikido, Iaido, Tai Chi, Qigong, Bagua, and Wushu. She is an active tournament competitor, holding national and international awards in Chen Style Tai Chi, Tai Chi Sword, and Wushu Southern Boxing.
Black Belts & Certifications:

Sifu DeJesus earned her first black belt in Karate at age 15, and has been teaching martial arts ever since. She currently holds a 5th level Instructor's rank in Taikabudo (a style founded by she and Sherril Johnson) a black belt in Butokukan Karate, 2nd degree black belt under Al Dacoscos' Wun Hop Kuen Do - Kajukenbo system, a 5th degree black belt in doce Pares Eskrima, and a 5th degree rank in Guro Christopher Petrilli's "Filipino Martial Arts Academy" system. She is also a certified instructor of Wushu, Tai Chi, and Qigong under Master Yijiao Hong.

Sifu DeJesus actively trains and competes each year, having consistently won Gold and Silver medals at the USA Wushu-Kung Fu Federation international competitions, as well as winning First Place in Chen Style Tai Chi at the 2001 First World Taijiquan and Health Conference in Hainan, China.

Sifu DeJesus and her Demo team perform at countless martial arts demonstrations each year. She has used her Martial arts experience in appearing as an extra in several movies, various commercial spots, stock footage, and motion capture sequences for video games.

Sifu DeJesus' goal is to share the fun and fitness benefits of Chinese Wushu with kids of all ages. Through Wushu, she hopes that kids can enhance their sense of confidence and empowerment, as well as keep physically fit.

Jennifer was born and raised in Minnesota. She obtained her B.S. in Child Psychology from the University of Minnesota and is currently pursuing a M.S. in Behavior Analysis from St. Cloud State University. She has extensive experience working with children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders. At Morningside, Jennifer is working on creating new math curriculum with the Morningside Teachers' Academy. In the future, Jennifer aspires to achieve her Ph.D. in Special Education with an emphasis on behavioral analysis and curriculum design.

The climate of Seattle and the Northwest suits Jennifer perfectly. In her spare time she enjoys kayaking, playing water polo, hiking, drinking coffee, and exploring Seattle.