School Leadership

Meghan Blume was born and raised in Sheffield, MA, a small town in the Berkshires. She got her start in education in 2008, as a member of the Teach for America Greater New Orleans corps. After teaching middle school ELA for two years, Meghan became a founding member of Abramson Sci Academy in 2010. While there, she taught English 11, worked as a literacy interventionist, and served as a Culture Dean. Meghan’s experience in New Orleans was foundational to who she is as an educator today: One who leads with love, finds joy, and centers students and community.

After returning to the Northeast to be closer to family, Meghan joined KALC in the summer of 2014 as the founding English 12 teacher and senior Grade Level Chair. She served in both roles until becoming Assistant Principal in the fall of 2020. She loves the school community deeply and considers KALC home.

In her spare time, Meghan enjoys reading, lifting, and spending time with family, including her dog, Toni.

Following my mother’s footsteps, the most audacious woman I know, being a leader in education is how I choose to show up in the world. It is truly my form of activism, it is how I kick up dust where complacency has interrupted our quest for strong equity. As an immigrant, I’ve experienced what it feels like to uproot it all to chase education, freedom, and happiness. Similar to what I experienced in my secondary schools, I hope to be a bridge for families who are making similar transitions as they navigate the hidden curriculums within our institutions. As the proud principal of KIPP Academy Lynn Collegiate, I am unapologetic and forthright about re-centering, honoring, and amplifying voices at the margin through the lens of curriculum & instruction, school culture, policy, recruitment and talent development.

Deborah is entering her sixth year working at KIPP MA and has been in the education field for 11 years. She was born and raised in Lynn, MA. She is currently serving as Dean of Students at KIPP Academy Lynn Middle School.

Deborah currently holds a BA in Educational Studies and Spanish from Salem State University. As well as a Certificate in Translation. Deborah also holds a Masters in Modern Foreign Languages and Education from Salem State University and is currently enrolled in another Masters program in Educational Leadership with UMASS Lowell.

Deborah is a mom of two wonderful boys and loves spending time with her family and exploring the North Shore!

Wamakonzi “Konzo” Alognon was born in the West African country of Togo. Konzo joined KIPP in 2016 as a teaching fellow right after graduating from college and would become a Lead ELA Teacher by the end of the year. Throughout his first year, Konzo taught a variety of grade-levels and loved building relationships with students across the school. Konzo stepped into his first leadership role as the Grade-Level Chair during his 3rd year of teaching and became Associate Dean of Culture and eventually Dean of Student Culture. After his second year of being in his previous role, Konzo transitioned into the Assistant Principal of Culture position at KIPP Academy Lynn.

Konzo loves spending time in Lynn with his family, enjoys playing rugby and loves to talk sports!

Melanie Ramirez is entering her 5th year working at KIPP Massachusetts. She was born and raised in Jackson Heights, a multicultural neighborhood located in Queens, New York and is the daughter of two Dominican immigrants. 

She came to Massachusetts to attend Boston University and now holds a B.S. in Business Administration and Management from the Questrom School of Business and a Masters in Education in Mathematics Curriculum and Teaching from the Wheelock School of Education.

Melanie joined Teach For America in 2018 and had the privilege to start her career at KIPP Academy Lynn (KAL) as an 8th grade math teacher. Throughout her time at KIPP she has served as a grade level chair, teacher leader, and piloted the first year long 8th Grade Algebra program at KIPP MA. 

She is eager to continue to serve the incredible community of Lynn, a place she now calls her second home, as the upper school STEM Assistant Principal at KAL.

Fay Alexander is entering her 4th year at KIPP MA. While she has moved from Cincinnati to Philly, she now calls Boston her home. She received her A.B. in Government from Harvard. She has a Masters in Education Leadership and Mild-Moderate Special Education as well as a Masters in School Leadership from Boston University. She also completed a School Leadership program through the Lynch School of Education at Boston College.  

She is currently an Assistant Principal at KIPP Academy which is a Middle school located in Lynn. Prior to working at KIPP she taught 7th grade History and English. Additional school leadership positions have included Grade Level Chair, ELA Chair, School Wide Events Coordinate and Leader of DEI Professional Development both at KIPP and at her previous school. She continues to be passionate about creating school environments where students and families feel seen and heard. 

Elizabeth Garcia is currently serving as the Director of School Operations at KIPP Academy Lynn Middle School.  As the Director of School Operations (DSO), Elizabeth co-leads the Operations team at the High Rock campus as well as managing the KIPP MA nutrition program.  She is passionate about the impact of high quality school operations on student achievement and teacher efficacy.  Elizabeth began her career teaching elementary music and high school choir for KIPP Delta Public Schools in Helena-West Helena, Arkansas as a Teach For America corps member.  While in Arkansas, Elizabeth observed the dramatic impact that effective operations teams can have on both school culture and student academic outcomes.  She joined the KIPP MA operations team in 2018.  Elizabeth earned her Bachelor’s degree in Music from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA.  She is currently pursuing her Ed.M. in Educational Leadership & Policy from Boston University’s Wheelock College of Education.  She is active in the Teach For America Massachusetts community, supporting other Operations leaders and mentoring recent alumni.  Elizabeth lives on the North Shore and enjoys cooking & making music.

Jimmy Seter was born and raised in Southern California to a family that anchored itself in education and love. Jimmy began his educational career in 2013. He joined Teach for America Oklahoma and taught 7th and 8th Grade History at KIPP Tulsa College Preparatory. While at KIPP Tulsa, Jimmy served as the 7th Grade Level Chair and History Department Chair. Following his time in Tulsa, Jimmy joined KIPP Massachusetts in 2016. Jimmy joined the team at KIPP Academy Lynn Middle School as the re-founding 5th Grade Social Studies. After two years in 5th Grade, Jimmy moved into leadership and became the Dean of Students in 2018. After being Dean, Jimmy transitioned to being the 7th/8th Grade Humanities Assistant Principal for three years.  In 2021, Jimmy became the Principal of KIPP Academy Lynn where he is excited to anchor our students, teachers, and families in Challenge and Collaboration.

Jimmy enjoys reading, sports, dancing, diving into culturally relevant texts and historical lessons, and spending time with his wonderful girlfriend and puppy

Breanna Herzog received her bachelor’s degree from Endicott College in Creative Arts Therapy and her master’s degree from Lesley University in Mental Health Counseling with a specialization in Art Therapy. Breanna is a registered art therapist and has received her certification in Social, Emotional Learning and Character Development from Rutgers University. Breanna is part of the founding team at KALE. During her eight years at KALE she has supported students learning through a variety of roles. Breanna spent most of her time developing KALE’s School Counseling Program to support all students’ social, emotional needs. In September of 2022 Breanna became a new mom to her daughter.

Shavonne joined the KIPP family back in 2010 as a 6th grade Writing and Science teacher in San Lorenzo, CA. She has been with KIPP for 10 years, spending the bulk of her career with KIPP Vision Academy, in Atlanta, GA. In her 14 years of teaching Shavonne has been afforded the opportunity to serve in many capacities. From teaching grades 5-8, leading teams as a Grade Level Chair, founded a mentorship program for young girls, supporting teachers that were new to KIPP, was the Director of the after school program for grades K-8th at her school, and much more. Shavonne is thrilled to join the KIPP MA team as the Assistant Principal for KALE’s fourth grade team this year. 

Shavonne was born and raised in California’s Bay Area. At 18 year old, she left home to become the first in her family to go to college. She is a proud graduate of Tuskegee University, class of 2005 where she received her B.A. in English. She would later go on to receive her Master’s degree in Education from National University. Shavonne has dedicated her life and career to ensuring that no kid gets left behind. 

While she is new to Massachusetts, she loves festivals, good food, traveling, and having a good time with friends. Shavonne is grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lynn community as the new Assistant Principal and she looks forward to meeting all the scholars and families.

Marlaina Johnston has been an educator for 11 years. She started off her career in 2010 as an elementary school teacher in Revere and since then has worked in DC and other Greater Boston schools. While in DC Marlaina worked at KIPP DC and fell in love with the KIPP network. When deciding to move back to the Boston area she wanted to continue her work at KIPP and became a founding 4th-grade teacher at KALE. Currently, she is an Assistant Principal at KALE and is in her second year in the role.

Marlaina lives in Lynn, MA with her husband Rob and has enjoyed exploring everything the Lynn community has to offer. When she is not working, she likes to spend time with her family, check out local restaurants, and work out.

Justin began his career in education as a second grade teacher in the Newark Public Schools in Newark, New Jersey. Following his time in NPS, Justin joined SPARK Academy, a KIPP school in Newark, as a founding second grader teacher. In 2015 he joined KIPP Academy Lynn Elementary’s founding team as a kindergarten teacher. Justin transitioned into the role of assistant principal at KALE the following year. Justin loves coaching teachers, supporting his leadership team, and building lasting relationships with the students and families in the KIPP Lynn community.

Justin and his wife have two amazing sons that keep them very busy. When Justin is not working with his incredible KALE team, he loves reading, playing with his boys, and learning new things.

Shannon joined KIPP in 2019 as the Director of School Operations for KIPP Academy Lynn Elementary School, and has now been in the position for 4 years. Shannon’s journey as an educator began in 2015 when she joined Teach For America as a Corps Member in Greater Boston. Shannon spent 4 years as a Special Education teacher at Boston Collegiate Charter School in Dorchester, MA before transitioning to KIPP MA in June of 2019.

Shannon is a graduate of Northeastern University (Bachelor of Communication Studies, 2015) and Boston University (Master’s in Education, 2017). In her free time, Shannon enjoys spending time with friends + family, being outside, and trying new restaurants.

Elsy Estevez-Hicks is a KALE founder who joined the team in 2015. She taught Kindergarten at KALE for two years, before joining the second grade team as a founder and Grade Level Chair. She has also served as the instructional leader and Assistant Principal of both second and third grades at KALE. During her early career, Elsy taught first and third grades at both district and charter schools in Newark NJ. She takes pride in leading a school in the richly diverse Lynn community and is passionate about serving the children of immigrant families like herself.

A native of St. Louis, MO, Crystal started teaching after working as a supervisor in the Washington state court system. She began her teaching career as a Teach for America corps member in Chicago’s East Garfield Park neighborhood. There she taught 2nd and 4th grade Math and Writing at a predominantly African American charter school, and served as 4th grade team leader. After working as a math teacher and Academic Instructional Coach in her hometown of St. Louis for 3 years, she returned to Chicago to again teach math on the West Side, this time to 4th– 6th graders. Crystal has served as Math Lead, Math Club sponsor, and coached boys flag football. She earned her BA in Sociology  from Washington State University (Go Cougs!), and has since earned an MAT in Elementary Education, an MSE in Reading, and an Ed.S. in Curriculum and Instruction.  Crystal  is a firm believer in the transformational power of education, and the importance of literacy across the curriculum. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, cooking, and spending time with her daughter Nia. She is excited for the opportunity to transition from teaching to my role as Assistant Principal.

Joel Brockberg joined KIPP Massachusetts in 2017 as a 5th Grade science teacher at  KIPP Academy Boston. Over the next 4 years he worked on the 7th Grade team as a science teacher, math teacher, and grade level chair. In 2020, Joel was a member of the inaugural cohort of the KIPP MA Emerging Leaders program and also served as the Leader Fellow at KAB. 

He currently lives in Jamaica Plain with his dog, Slider, and in his free time enjoys cooking, backpacking, and watching the Lions.

Gina Lopez, a Bronx, NY native, started her journey in education as a teaching fellow in 2015, but has been a KIPPster since 2002, where she attended KIPP Academy in the Bronx. She has spent the last 7 years teaching and leading in the elementary and middle school at KAB K-8. While at KAB she has taught ELA, Math and founded the 3rd grade. Currently, she is an assistant principal where she works to ensure that families are key stakeholders in their children’s journey, and works alongside teachers and staff to make choices that are best for their students. She is passionate about anti-racist education and ensuring that the social-emotional needs of her students are addressed as prevalently as the academic needs.

Gina graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Boston University, College of Communication in 2015 and is currently pursuing her master’s degree in educational leadership and policy from Boston University’s Wheelock College.

Meghan began teaching in 2012, after graduating from Northeastern University. She taught sixth grade ELA for seven years, first at KIPP Sunshine Peak Academy in Denver, Colorado and then at KIPP Academy Boston. Meghan loved working with students in the classroom and helping them discover the joy of reading. In 2019, Meghan transitioned to the role of assistant principal at the Boston campus. This year, she is excited to be working closely with the third and fourth grade students, families, and teachers.

Emily started working in education after graduating from Georgetown University in 2011. She began her teaching career at the Lawrence Family Development Charter School in Lawrence, MA, where she worked as a classroom teacher in grades 1-3 for seven years. Following that, Emily transitioned to an Assistant Principal role and worked at Match Community Day Charter School in Mattapan for two years. 

Emily joined KIPP MA as an Assistant Principal in 2020, and is excited to be partnering with first and second grade students, families, and teachers this year. She loves instilling a love of reading early and is passionate about ensuring that all students have access to grade level rigor.

Keith joined KIPP Massachusetts in 2014 as the founding PE Teacher at KIPP Boston Elementary. Since then he has held positions as a Dean of Students, 5th Grade Science Teacher, Family engagement Coordinator, and is now an Assistant Principal Of Kindergarten at KAB. In his spare time he enjoys traveling, dominating the KIPP Fantasy Football League, cooking, and spending time with friends and family. Keith has 1 son, Kameren, who also attended KIPP Academy Boston.

Ashley joined the KIPP Massachusetts team in 2014 as a 5th grade math learning specialist and is now the Assistant Principal of Students Supports at KIPP Academy Boston K-8.

Ashley started teaching in Boston Public Schools as a special education teacher in an autism inclusion classroom. Before Ashley became a special education teacher, she was an ABA specialist traveling to several Boston Public schools and providing in-home support to students and families. Ashley believes that schools should be designed at the margins, allowing students to get what they need and deserve and be able to thrive in their school setting. Ashley is a passionate advocate for students and families to get an equitable educational experience.

When Ashley is not at school, she enjoys cooking new recipes, walking around Boston and her new favorite hobby is gardening!

Vanessa was born in New York (the Bronx). After completing her undergrad, Vanessa felt like she needed a change of scenery. Although she loves New York (you’ll hear her talk about it all the time), she felt like a change was necessary. That’s when she decided to move to Massachusetts.. She began working at a CSA agency called Children’s Services of Roxbury as an Intensive Care Coordinator and after a year transitioned to Phoenix Charter Academy in Chelsea where she worked as a Student Support Specialist.

In 2018, Vanessa began working in KAB as a Co Teacher in the Achieve sub separate classroom and later moved on to become one of KABs School Culture Specialists. Through both of her roles at KIPP Vanessa began building strong relationships with staff, students, and their families. Vanessa enjoys being herself with the children all the while being able to guide them in the right direction to be strong, successful, and educated, well rounded individuals.

Vanessa loves traveling, trying new foods/restaurants, shopping, and most recently, being a mom. Vanessa and her husband are parents of a beautiful 2 year old girl named Isabella Rose, and look forward to someday expanding their family.

Vanessa was overjoyed when offered to be KABs new Dean of Students. Working at KIPP MA has brought so much joy, motivation, growth, and so many memorable moments. She looks forward to continuing to grow as a leader and is excited to model for others, what a strong team of educators should look like!

Becky joined KIPP in 2021 and was born and raised right here in Cambridge. She received her Masters of Social Work in Children, Youth, and Families from Boston College in 2015 and began working at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) alongside surgeons examining safer, more equitable systems through research. While being in charge of the office’s administrative services she worked on her own projects, such as designing and implementing the department’s Justice-Equity-Diversity-Inclusion (JEDI) Intensive Workshop Series. She also had the once-in-a-(hopefully)-lifetime opportunity to assist leading the COVID vaccine and testing rollout on the BWH campus. Becky does NOT sit still, in her “down time” she works on her own nerd-based podcast and is working towards a yoga teaching certification. And when she isn’t busy doing THAT – she is renovating a 100 year old house in Watertown where she resides with her grandmother and partner.

Zach joined the KIPP Massachusetts team in 2014 and is the Principal at KIPP Academy Boston K-8. This is Zach’s fourth year as Principal and sixth year in school leadership.

Zach started teaching in Chicago in the fall of 2010 on the west side of Chicago. In the fall of 2012, he started his career with KIPP in Chicago teaching 5th grade reading. In 2014 Zach moved to Boston and began teaching at KIPP Academy Boston as a 7th grade reading teacher and Grade Level Chair. During the founding year of KIPP Academy Boston Elementary, Zach taught in the same hallway as the founding Kindergarten class. Those Kindergarteners are now in 7th grade, and it has been one of the highlights of his career watching that group of kids (and many others) grow up at KAB.

When Zach is not at school he enjoys spending time with his wife Jesse, his dog Riggins, going on runs, and reading lots of books.