For immediate release:
Tuesday May 12, 2015
Media Contacts:
Steve Campbell, 317-803-7071
scampbell@themindtrust.org
Kristin Cutler, 317-226-4414
cutlerkr@myips.org
Jennifer Pitman, 317-626-8314
Jen.Pitman@indy.gov
Partners name new education fellows
charged with remaking struggling IPS schools
Fellows to design ‘Innovation Network Schools’ to replace underperforming schools
INDIANAPOLIS – The Mind Trust – joined by Mayor Greg Ballard and Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) superintendent
Dr. Lewis D. Ferebee – today announced its second round of Innovation School Fellows, one of the nation’s unique
educational partnerships to advance public education.
The Mind Trust, in partnership with IPS and the Mayor’s Office, created the Innovation Schools Fellowship to create a
pipeline of talented educators and entrepreneurs to design, launch and operate “Innovation Network Schools,”
autonomous schools within IPS that can replace chronically underperforming or underused schools in the district.
The new 2015 fellows are (full biographies and brief descriptions of each school are attached):
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Sheila Dollaske, current principal of IPS’ Key Learning Community, is a career educator who brings years of
hands-on experiences in urban schools in Indianapolis and Chicago to the fellowship.
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Mahmoud Sayani is a seasoned executive leader with a diverse experience in the private and social sectors,
including operating schools in Kenya, leading an international relief agency and 17 years in senior marketing and
project management positions in the technology industry.
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Shanae Staples & Kevin Kubacki are local educators who bring to the fellowship a proven track record of
innovation and school success as founders of the Enlace Academy on Indianapolis’ westside.
Fellows receive salary, benefits, office space and technical assistance from The Mind Trust while they spend up to
two years developing their school model. They then seek an “Innovation Network” designation from the IPS Board to
officially launch their school.
From last year’s fellowship round, the Phalen Leadership Academy (PLA) is opening Indiana’s first Innovation
Network School this fall in the Francis Scott Key School (IPS #103) on the city’s far eastside. The Mind Trust will
begin accepting applications for 2016 later this year. Over the next three years, the partnership will help launch nine
Innovation Network Schools within IPS.
“Innovation Network Schools will transform public education in Indianapolis,” said Mayor Ballard. “Through this
partnership, we are connecting the world’s most innovative educators to our most vulnerable public schools, and we
are strengthening entire neighborhoods within our city.”
“This is a signal that schools in IPS will not exist in perpetuity and that we will take action on those that are
consistently underperforming,” Dr. Ferebee said. “Employing innovative solutions is an attempt to avoid repeating
what we already know is unsuccessful. Student achievement is paramount, and we’re excited about what these new
opportunities might bring.”
(more)
Innovation School Fellowship
p. 2
About Innovation Network Schools. These groundbreaking schools were made possible by a 2014 state law giving
IPS the authority to create these high-quality, autonomous public schools within the school district.
At each site, a school leader or management team operates the school under a contract with IPS. Operators also
have access to district buildings at no cost. What’s more, they are exempt from IPS administrative practices and
many state regulations, giving them the freedom to hire staff, design their own curriculum and extend the school day
and/or year to best serve the needs of students.
"This is an extremely important moment for Indianapolis and its largest school district," said David Harris, Founder &
CEO of The Mind Trust. "Innovation Network Schools have the potential to remake public education across our
community, and this cohort of fellows have the vision, creativity and expertise to create successful schools."
Selection Process. Applicants included current principals and educators, leaders of charter school networks and
other professionals who have the expertise to run a successful organization.
To select the new round of Innovation School Fellows, The Mind Trust called upon a distinguished panel of local and
national educational and community leaders to review applications, interview candidates and recommend the final
fellows to The Mind Trust board of directors, and eventually to the IPS School Board. Members included:
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Miriam Acevedo Davis, president & CEO, La Plaza Indianapolis
Diane Arnold, president, Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) Board of School Commissioners
Sekou Biddle, vice president of advocacy, UNCF (National Office)
Beth Bray, program director, Walton Family Foundation
Mariama Carson, Fellow, The Mind Trust; former principal, Snacks Crossing Elementary School
Christine Collier, founder, IPS’s Center for Inquiry (CFI) Schools; principal, CFI School 84.
LaNier Echols, secretary, IPS Board of School Commissioners
Dr. Lewis D. Ferebee, superintendent, IPS
Tihesha Guthrie, principal, Arlington Woods Elementary School (IPS #99)
David Harris, founder & CEO, The Mind Trust
Jason Kloth, deputy mayor for education, City of Indianapolis
Dr. Wanda H. Legrand, deputy superintendent for academics, Indianapolis Public Schools
Rev. Dr. Clarence Moore, pastor, Northside New Era Church
Elizabeth Odle, director, Bridges To Success, United Way of Central Indiana
Ariela Rozman, CEO, TNTP (The New Teacher Project); board member, The Mind Trust
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Innovation School
Fellows | Shanae Staples
& Kevin Kubacki
Shanae Staples and Kevin Kubacki bring to
the fellowship a proven track record of
innovation and school success from their
experience founding Enlace Academy on the
city’s westside.
Their proposed K-8 school will be rooted in the
belief that every child can and will learn. This
credo will be manifested in a “blended learning”
model predicated upon small group instruction
and innovative uses of technology in order to
meet the specific needs of each student.
Shanae and Kevin first collaborated in creating Enlace Academy, where Kevin is the founding school leader and
Shanae is the founding academic dean of the K-8 charter school.
After earning a bachelor’s degree in English from Indiana University, Kevin moved overseas and pursued a career
in advertising and marketing. He returned to the United States and transitioned into teaching, becoming a Spanish
and language arts teacher at St. Matthew School in Indianapolis.
He then spent 10 years at Cathedral High School, where he taught English and oversaw the school’s highly
successful International Baccalaureate program. He also completed the Transition to Teaching program at Indiana
Wesleyan University. In addition to his teaching duties, he coached Cathedral’s girls’ soccer team to two Indiana
state championships in 2007 and 2009.
While at Cathedral, he was selected for a fellowship with Cathedral and Seton Education Partners, an Indianapolisbased nonprofit that launches high-quality parochial schools. The fellowship, which included time as part of KIPP’s
prestigious Fisher Fellows program, led him to design and launch Enlace, where he oversees all operations,
curriculum development, personnel and other functions of the school. He will earn his master’s degree in education
leadership from Marian University later this year.
One of the first school leaders Kevin recruited was Shanae Staples. As academic dean, Shanae is Enlace’s primary
instructional leader and oversees its curriculum, coaches instructional staff and assists in management of day-to-day
school operations.
Shanae came to Enlace from Teach For America (TFA), where she spent nearly five years in various capacities in
Atlanta and Chicago. After three years as a teacher at an Atlanta elementary school, she took on leadership roles for
TFA Atlanta, including manager of teacher leadership development, director of lodging and transportation and
director of school operations for TFA’s Atlanta Summer Institute. She also served as school operations director for
TFA Chicago.
Shanae earned a bachelor’s degree in communications sciences and disorders from the University of Florida,
where she was a Presidential Scholar. She then earned her master’s degree in education leadership from Columbia
University in New York as part of TFA’s Indianapolis Principal Fellowship.
Innovation School
Dollaske
Fellow | Sheila
Sheila Dollaske is a career educator who brings
years of hands-on experiences in urban school
settings in Chicago and Indianapolis to her work
as a new Innovation Schools Fellow.
Her proposed school is a neighborhood middle school
that will serve as the hub of the community. In
collaboration with community leaders and families,
Sheila envisions a school that provides an excellent
education for middle school scholars, while working
strategically with families to ensure their long-term
aspirations are met.
An integral component of the school is a satellite Excel Center, in partnership with Goodwill Education Initiatives,
which will offer classes to older, under-credited adults who wish to earn their high school diploma and, in some cases,
earn undergraduate course credit. Through this partnership, the Excel Center would offer adult classes in Thomas
Edison’s building so that the school is an educational resource for the entire neighborhood.
Sheila comes to the fellowship after three years of service as principal of the Key Learning Community in the
Indianapolis Public Schools. She was charged with transforming a struggling school with 450+ students and 50+ staff
members and raised the school’s academic performance by two letter grades in just three years.
Before returning to Indianapolis to lead the Key School, Sheila was a teacher and administrator in the Chicago
Public Schools (CPS) system as a member of the Teach For America (TFA) corps. She spent several years at
Farragut Career Academy as a science teacher, while also leading other innovative school efforts. She was a
program director of One Goal, which identifies and trains teachers to lead underperforming students in struggling high
schools to enroll in and graduate from college.
She also was the “small learning community” lead, where she presided over 335 freshman students and 26 teachers
to ensure a vast majority of students were on track to graduate. She also helped analyze academic achievement
data and provided next steps for school leadership based on current practices and trends. Sheila later served as an instructional support leader for CPS, where she coached and developed principals and
instructional leadership team members in 26 high schools.
Sheila has been active in several efforts to improve public education. She was a member of the Indiana Department
of Education’s A-F Committee, where she helped draft the state’s new A-F accountability system in response to
legislative changes. She also has served as a board member for College Mentors for Kids.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from Butler University, a master’s degree in teaching from National Louis
University and a master’s degree in education from Columbia University in New York as part of TFA’s Indianapolis
Principal Fellowship. She also is an internship coach for Columbia’s Summer Principals Academy.
Innovation School
Fellow | Mahmoud
Sayani
Mahmoud Sayani is a seasoned executive leader
with diverse experience in the private and social
sectors, including operating schools in Kenya,
leading an international relief agency, and 17
years in engineering, marketing and project
management positions in the tech industry.
His proposed school is a STEM (science, technology,
engineering, math) focused middle and high school
that uses the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle
Years and career-focused programs from grades 6 to
12. With the holistic and broad curriculum framework
of IB, students will undertake studies in an educational program that develops 21st century skills – critical thinking,
collaboration, creativity, communication – and will be immersed in a school ethos that develops good character, local
and global engagement, personal and social responsibility and leadership.
Mahmoud spent six years as chief executive officer of Aga Khan Education Service Kenya in Nairobi, Kenya,
where he oversaw the operation of 11 private schools in four cities, with 400 staff members and 5,000 students and
provided leadership to all school functions.
He improved the Aga Khan schools’ performance through enhanced focus on student achievement and teacher
accountability and development. He also initiated a framework for school quality measurement and development, as
well as curriculum introductions such as the IB Middle Years Program, and introduced pedagogical enhancements
such as the teaching for understanding framework. By the end of his tenure, two of his schools were ranked in the top
100 private schools in the country.
He also managed the Kenya School Improvement Program, which impacted 137 government primary schools
through various improvement strategies, including teacher development, cluster approach and basic infrastructure
improvement.
Before entering education, he led Focus Humanitarian Assistance Canada, an international relief and disasterresilience organization with projects in South and Central Asia, as executive officer from 2003 to 2006. There, he
oversaw a refugee repatriation program funded by the United Nations and other organizations and developed training
in disaster management for volunteers and staff.
Trained as an engineer, he began his career in various research, design and marketing positions for several
technology companies in Boston.
He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical engineering from Duke University. He later earned an
MBA from Boston University, and received a post-graduate diploma in Poverty Reduction/Development
Management from the University of Birmingham in England. He also received a certificate in Leading Education
Systems at the National Level from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, and successfully completed
the International Faculty Program with IESE
Business School in Spain.