Creative Leadership in School Design

Designing the systems, culture, and student experiences

that shape how a school functions and feels.

Design. Plan. Coordinate. Execute. Deliver.

Problem Solving Team

School-wide Systems, Culture, and Student Support Design (2022–2025)

As a long-standing member of my school’s Problem Solving Team, I collaborated with administrators, counselors, psychologists, teachers, and support staff to proactively design systems that improved student behavior, strengthened school culture, and supported both students and staff. Our work focused on prevention, clarity, consistency, and data-informed decision-making, resulting in measurable improvements across the school.

Key accomplishments include:

Working with Financial Documents_edited.

Data-Informed Systems Design

Co-developed a digital, school-wide Behavior Reporting System from the ground up, enabling deep analysis of behavior trends across time, location, and student groups.

This system became a foundational tool for decision-making at our school.
After being shared at feeder and district meetings, it inspired other schools to replicate the system for their own use.

Culture & Character Development

Created and implemented the “Caught with Integrity” initiative, including tickets and weekly prize drawings, to intentionally reinforce our school’s most valued character habit.

As a result, students began proactively demonstrating integrity throughout the school day, with significant and sustained improvements in behavior.

Proactive Behavior & Recess Redesign

Designed a responsive, preventative PLC unit focused on improving recess behavior, based directly on behavior data trends.

Created teacher-facing presentations and student-facing videos reviewing expectations and character habits.
Designed and installed new playground signage to provide consistent visual reminders.
Behavior data confirmed meaningful improvements following implementation.

people sitting near table with laptop co

Shared Expectations & Consistency

Collaborated on the development of school-wide “Shared Space” Expectations, including lesson slides and videos for consistent implementation across classrooms.
Co-created school-wide “Guest Teacher” Expectations, ensuring continuity, clarity, and consistency when classroom teachers were absent.
Developed consistent Staff Expectations for recess and shared spaces, supported by grade-level PLC slides to align adult practices school-wide.

Family & Community Engagement

Co-created, promoted, and facilitated a feeder/community-wide “Executive Function Night” for families.

Partnered with guest speaker Carrie Colleran and facilitated breakout workshops focused on supporting children with ADHD and executive functioning challenges.
This event strengthened family understanding, connection, and partnership with the school.

Staff Capacity-Building & Support

Collaborated on staff ADHD training, supporting teachers with practical strategies to better meet student needs.
Developed school-wide “Safety Week” resources, including slides addressing logistics, protocols, structures, and expectations to ensure clarity and consistency.

Regulation & Support Infrastructure

Helped create the “Behavior Tech” position and designed the Anchor Room, a dedicated regulation and support space.
The Anchor Room became widely used for movement, self-regulation, sensory support, brain breaks, and emotional reset, supporting students proactively rather than reactively.

Counseling Advisory Committee

Student Well-Being, Mental Health, and Whole-Child Support (2022–2025)

As a member of the Counseling Advisory Committee, I collaborate with mental health staff and school leaders to help guide, strengthen, and evaluate our school’s counseling program. This work centers on using data to make informed decisions, reviewing program results, advocating for resources, and ensuring our counseling initiatives support the whole child. In addition to my formal responsibilities, I take an active, voluntary role in designing school-wide SEL initiatives that build confidence, connection, and emotional well-being for all students. My dual involvement on both the Problem Solving Team and the Counseling Advisory Committee allows me to bring deep behavioral insights, meaningful data, and a student-centered lens into every conversation.

Core Committee Responsibilities

Advised on school counseling program goals using behavior and SEL data to guide informed decision-making.
Reviewed program results to assess effectiveness, identify trends, and support continuous improvement.
Made recommendations to strengthen counseling initiatives based on quantitative data and qualitative student needs.
Advocated for the counseling program, helping increase visibility, understanding, and support across the school community.
Supported requests for funding and resources to expand student access to counseling services and SEL supports.

Above-and-Beyond Leadership (Voluntary Contributions)

Collaborated regularly with the school counselor, psychologist, and mental health team to align academic, behavioral, and SEL supports school-wide.
Designed and implemented my own school-wide SEL programming, including planning, budgeting, creating materials, presenting to staff, distributing resources, and gathering feedback.
Created the Positive Affirmation Program, gifting each student a journal and post-it notes to encourage written affirmations, compliments, and peer-to-peer encouragement.
- Developed teacher slide decks and routines for classroom SEL time.
- Strengthened school-wide culture of confidence, connectedness, belonging, and emotional resilience.
Integrated character habits and self-development opportunities into daily interactions, classroom routines, and shared spaces.

Cross-Committee Collaboration (PST + CAC Synergy)

Leveraged data from the Behavior Reporting System (created by the Problem Solving Team) to inform counseling program decisions, identify behavioral trends, and design targeted SEL supports.
Helped bridge communication between academic, behavioral, and counseling teams, ensuring a cohesive whole-school approach to student support.
Used behavior data to identify needs for SEL lessons, targeted interventions, and proactive culture-building initiatives.

My work on the Counseling Advisory Committee reflects my deep passion for supporting the whole child — building confidence, connection, emotional well-being, and a school culture where every student feels seen, valued, and supported.

Building Improvements
& Design Contributions

Art Teacher, Summit View Elementary School, Highlands Ranch, CO

Key accomplishments include:

"Together We Are Crew"

New School Entry Experience (2023)

A mission-driven Lobby installation.

Conceptualized, proposed, designed, custom-sourced, procured and installed.

This redesign of a once outdated brick wall became an intentional expression of our school’s identity. It elevated not only the physical environment, but the emotional tone of the school’s entrance — reinforcing who we are the moment someone walks through the door.

I proposed the idea after recognizing the missed opportunity as an important first impression - one that deserved a much higher-impact investment.

I designed the installation to visually embody our school’s mission and motto, “Together We Are Crew,” creating a welcoming, joyful, and modern statement that reflects belonging, collaboration, and pride. I sourced, designed and procured all custom materials and personally installed the piece, transforming the space into a vibrant, meaningful focal point for our community.

Music Room

"Piano Key" Mural (2024)

A mission-driven Music Room installation.

Hand-painted piano keys to bring joy, energy and enthusiasm to the classroom.

This project demonstrated how intentional design can transform not just a space, but how people feel within it.

This project began with a simple observation:

the music room’s main backdrop —

a row of tall, plain black cabinets —

didn’t reflect the joy, energy, and creativity that define music education, especially taught by my rock'n'roll teammate.

I proposed a bold, playful solution to the music teacher: transforming the cabinet doors themselves into a larger-than-life piano mural. With his enthusiastic approval, I sourced materials, and hand-painted the installation, turning the cabinets into oversized piano keys that span the whole entire room.

The result completely shifted the energy of the space. What was once visually heavy and uninspiring is now joyful, immersive, and reflective of the magic that happens in the room every day.

The mural mirrored the passion the music teacher brought to the students and the experience he created for them.

Senior Interior Designer & Project Manager

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Savannah College of Art and Design (Career Span 2004-2021)

My work in intentional school design is informed by 17 years of professional experience as both an Interior Designer and Project Manager, supported by a

Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. As a Senior Residential Interior Designer, I led creative vision while simultaneously managing projects from concept to completion — aligning aesthetics, functionality, timelines, budgets, and stakeholder needs.

Serving in both roles concurrently required strategic planning, systems thinking, clear communication, and the ability to anticipate challenges before they arose. These same skills now guide my approach to school design, allowing me to contribute meaningfully to:

planning and sequencing complex initiatives
designing systems that are functional, intuitive, and human-centered
coordinating across roles and perspectives
translating vision into practical implementation

Combined with my Graphic Design coursework and committee experience, I bring a design-and-delivery mindset to school leadership —

ensuring that ideas are not only compelling, but executable, sustainable, and aligned with the people they serve.