Our consultants are both literacy experts and experienced building principals, central administrators and former state department of education administrators. They are both local and national experts in their fields, and rely only on research-based strategies. Our approach is to meld into the district, work side-by-side as a partner toward successful outcomes and work diligently and aggressively to accelerate the district, and its schools, to some of the highest achieving in the state. Years of experience has taught us that these are the key ingredients we find in all highly-performing schools. There are no magic bullets in school improvement. It takes hard work to establish these effective systems, structures, and strategies. Schools Cubed has a proven track record to not just “improve” the educational outcomes for schools and districts of under-served students but put them on the “map” as exemplary school districts. The schools and districts that we have served are typically 90-100% eligible for free and/or reduced lunch, have large ELL populations, as well as significant mobility and social emotional concerns.

Founder

Pati Montgomery

Ms. Montgomery has a vast background in education which includes being a teacher and administrator with underserved populations, special education administrator, author, national educational consultant specializing in principal and school leadership development, collaborator with State Departments of Education as well as teacher effectiveness and union-management collaboration teams. Previously, she was the Executive Director of Literacy for the Colorado Department of Education where she was responsible for the implementation of the READ Act. Pati has worked with school principals and superintendents across the country on effective school practices. Her work is steeped in the belief that ALL students can attain high achievement and focuses on school populations comprised of highly diverse learners. To attain such, administrators must use educational research to ensure they are using proven and evidence-based practices that will increase school effectiveness. Pati Montgomery is the lead author of the book entitled, The Principal’s Primer for Raising Reading Achievement. The book is a guide for principals and school leaders that highlights efficient systems and structures necessary for school-wide improvement in performance.

SCHOOLS CUBED CONSULTANT

Sherry Kyle

Sherry Kyle’s career encompasses 26 years in education. She is an experienced educator and leader, who has served as a Teacher, Assistant Principal, Principal, Coordinator of Student Achievement, and Feeder Administrator overseeing curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Sherry’s perspective in education is diverse as she has served at all levels of the K-12 continuum. She attended Baylor University and the University of Northern Colorado, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Education. After teaching for several years, she went on to earn a Master’s Degree in School Administration and Supervision from the University of Phoenix. Sherry’s experiences have led her to her passion of supporting reading and literacy from the elementary into the secondary level. She has lead the way for districts, schools, and teachers to begin looking at how to address the literacy needs in middle and high school classrooms; including creating a curriculum that is used to teach secondary special education and English teachers about the foundational skills needed for reading. Sherry is also passionate about supporting the principal ship. She has a strong desire to develop building-level leaders as they continue to grow into instructional leaders. “So goes the principal, so goes the building” is an adage that she believes to be true. The need for strong leaders who possess vision, passion, and the desire to create a positive school culture are more important now than ever. It is her belief that principals and building leaders need a strong foundation of support in place as they do the heavy lifting of creating school systems and structures that lead to increased student achievement and overall school effectiveness.

SCHOOLS CUBED CONSULTANT

Alan Dillon

Alan Dillon has been an elementary teacher, academic coach, educational consultant, elementary principal, superintendent of a rural school district on the western slope of Colorado and most recently served as an Associate Commissioner of Education for the Colorado Department or Education. As an educational consultant, Alan assisted schools with turnaround strategies, supporting effective instructional practices when implementing early literacy programs kindergarten through third grade.

Alan previously worked for the Colorado Department of Education, under the federal Reading First grant. During this time, he worked closely with school administrators, academic coaches and classroom teachers, as a literacy content specialist.

Alan has served on several state and national advisory boards relating to assessment practices and rural school issues. In his 20 plus year career as an educator, school quality and support for teachers and administrators has been a consistent focus of his work.

Alan earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Fort Lewis College, an Elementary Teaching Certification from Mesa State College and a master's degree in Elementary Education from Regis University.

SCHOOLS CUBED CONSULTANT

Jill Hafey

Jill Hafey has a passion for student achievement and leading teachers to the next level. She is a 20 year veteran in the profession of education, currently leading, inspiring, and coaching at Sunset Elementary as the building Principal. Jill has a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Teaching from Mesa State University and a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Walden University. She is a strong believer in servant leadership, all students can learn, and building growth mindsets among her staff, students, and families. Jill does not shy away from hard work and loves challenges. She does not allow for excuses to cloud reality, seeks first to understand, and builds a team to tackle the task at hand. She has designed and implemented systems that move teachers and students to the next level of learning. Jill Hafey has led her staff in earning the Colorado Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award and continues to work with her staff and district to maintain student growth. She has been named the 2018 Outstanding Administrative Leadership in Reading Award from CCIRA. Jill is a life-long learner, an avid reader, and an active member on district committees (Strategic Planning, Technology…). During her free time, Mrs. Hafey enjoys riding her horse to mountain lakes, running, and taking care of her family of 7.

SCHOOLS CUBED CONSULTANT

Loren Huwa

Loren Huwa has worked in education for over 30 years with experience in grades K-12. For the past 9 years he has been the principal at South Lakewood Elementary in Lakewood Colorado. While Mr. Huwa has been the principal at South Lakewood, this school has been recognized for the work they have done with diverse populations by the National PTA with the Jan Harp Domene Award for Diversity and Inclusion which is presented to one elementary school in the nation every year. Jefferson County Public Schools awarded South Lakewood the Wayne Carle Diversity award in 2017 for their continued work with students with diverse backgrounds. In 2016 the Colorado Department of Education recognized SLE as a High Achieving school because of the success of the students in all areas. Particularly those students who have been identified and placed on an IEP, minority students, students who are on free and reduced programs and students who are designated as English Language Learners. Mr. Huwa has also expanded his and training in the area of safety and security. This includes FEMA trainings, CPI, FASTER training for school staff and leadership, and has received recognition for having safety protocols in place at his schools that are used by several other schools in the district.

SCHOOLS CUBED CONSULTANT

Polly Ortiz-Lutz

Dr. Polly Ortiz-Lutz is a seasoned educational leader, whose career has spanned 30 years. Previously, she was the Director of Special Education/504 Compliance Officer for more than two decades for Jefferson County Public Schools. JEFFCO has 85,000 students and 9,000 students with IEP’s. Polly has held administrative positions in public schools, universities, hospitals/clinics and federal government settings. Dr. Lutz’ is also a trained mediator through the Colorado Bar Association. Teams report that Dr. Ortiz Lutz is strength based and child focused. Her calm professional style and experience as a licensed school psychologist is helpful in facilitating challenging meetings. She takes the mystery out of the IDEA and the 504 process, services and implementation. Her trainings are engaging and ignite conversations between schools and parents. She has also provided professional development to educators in the area of 504 Compliance and IDEA processes and meeting facilitation. Polly is an expert in using Restorative Practices (RP) to address human relationships, ensure equity and mediate more positive collaboration in the future. Dr. Ortiz Lutz has proven to be a creative problem solver improving outcomes for all children and youth. Polly has a particular area of specialization with high-risk youth as well as crisis response and trauma.

SCHOOLS CUBED Intervention CONSULTANT

Janell Fuller

Janell Fuller is an educator with over 24 years of experience. Janell received her Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts—Elementary Education from Colorado Christian University, and her Masters of Educational Leadership from the University of Northern Colorado. She spent her career as a para, teacher, instructional coach, and district director of PreK-12 Literacy. Currently, Janell is an intervention consultant that specializes in targeted and intensive reading intervention to ensure all students are reading at grade level. Janell has had the pleasure of working with and coaching districts and schools all over the country around research-based best practices in Literacy. Janell in her free time enjoys spending time with her 3 beautiful grandchildren. Janell loves being a wife, mother, and grandma (yaya).

SCHOOLS CUBED Executive Assistant

Taylor Lutz

Successful young learners always thrilled Taylor Lutz and she knew early on that teaching young children was her dream. She spent her teenage years involved in childcare, nanny positions and youth sports. Taylor graduated with a BS degree in Human Development and Family Studies from Colorado State University and then completed graduate work at the University of Colorado/Denver towards licensure as an elementary teacher. This set her up for a rewarding career teaching K-3. Taylor has a strong theoretical foundation in child development, intervention strategies and inclusive classrooms. Her strengths include relationships with students, families and other staff as well as a background in literacy. Her patience and dedication are obvious. Reading and quality literacy instruction has become her passion. Taylor and her husband live in rural Colorado with their two sons and her favorite part of the day is reading to each other at bedtime.

Contact us

For more Information, please contact us

303.549.8676

www.schoolscubed.com

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