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Staff S

Jamie Schmitz
(See SMT)

Alison Schneider
My name is Alison Schneider.  I am a native Texan and a 2001 graduate of Texas Christian University.  After earning a Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education, I taught kindergarten in a public school for one year. When Westlake Academy opened in 2003, I was hired as one of the initial third grade teachers, a position I held for three school years.  In September 2006, I became a first grade teacher, which allowed me to continue strengthening my skills as a PYP teacher.   This school year, I am pleased to have been reassigned as a third grade teacher.
I am also the Primary Math Coordinator.  My role in this position is to advise teachers on matters relating to PYP mathematics curriculum development and improvement, while ensuring that appropriate materials, methods and assessments are used.  As the first Primary Math Coordinator, I hope to see this position develop over time and am excited about the continuous growth in our mathematics program.

Emily Setford
I am Emily Setford and I am a native Texan.  This is my second year to teach fourth grade at Westlake Academy.  I previously taught third grade for three years in parochial schools in Tarrant County.  I am a member of the RTI/SST committee.

I graduated from University of North Texas with a B.A. in Psychology and a M.Ed. in Counselor Education.  I hold Texas Teaching Certificates for EC-4 Generalist and 4-8 Generalist.  I maintain my teaching certificates through regular workshops and self-study.  I am a National Certified Counselor and I have extensive training in crisis counseling.  I also study and keep current on trends within the field of counseling.

Susan Shields
This will be my 5th year as the Speech & Language Pathology Consultant for Westlake Academy.  I received my Bachelor of Science in Speech & Hearing Science from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh and my Master of Science in Communication Disorders from TCU.   After starting my career at the Child Study Center in Ft. Worth, I moved around the country20as a result of my husband’s job transfers with American Airlines.  I have specialized in the pediatric population and have worked in the private sector, consulted with preschool programs for children with disabilities, worked in the public schools, served as an adjunct professor teaching Diagnostics to graduate level clinicians and supervised these students in their clinical practicum.  I have published two games to improve word retrieval ability with Linguisystems, a popular speech and language materials company.  In addition to consulting to Westlake Academy, I have a private practice in Speech & Language Pathology in the Colleyville area.  I hold the Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC) in the area of Speech and Language Pathology and am licensed in the State of Texas.  I am a member of the American Speech and Hearing Association.

Sarah Stack
My name is Sarah Stack and I come from Bristol, England. This is my second year at Westlake Academy and I am teaching as much as I can to my grade 2 students. I am also on the RTI committee. Previously, I have been the equivalent of a grade 2 and grade 5 teacher at a primary school in Tonbridge, England where I taught everything. While living in the Netherlands I was an ESL teacher for pre-K to grade 6 students.

I attended Portsmouth Polytechnic and Roehampton Institute in England, where I graduated with a B.Ed. (hons) in education and environmental science. While living in Alexandria, Virginia I graduated from Marymount University with a M.Ed. in ESL. I also have publishing credentials I earned as an editor for an educational publishing house.

I am currently in the process of studying for the required tests to add ESL and special education to my TEA certification.

Lesley Strever
My name is Lesley Strever and this is my 4th year to be the contract Occupational Therapist at Westlake Academy.  I can be seen around the campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I was born in Atlanta, Georgia, but raised all over the United States (my father was in the military).  My husband and I moved to Keller 11 years ago and we have three daughters, ages 7, 12 and 13 years.  I graduated from Northwest Missouri State University with a BS in Psychology (1992), and completed my graduate work in Occupational Therapy at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska (1995).  In addition to being a contract OT in the educational field, I have worked in the acute care department at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and in private pediatric practice.  

D’Ann Sullivan
My name is D’Ann Sullivan and I am a Native Texan!  This is my second year teaching fourth grade at Westlake Academy.  I have taught eighth grade English, eighth grade Math �" Pre Algebra, seventh grade Pre Algebra, sixth grade Language B (Language Arts) at an IB school in Colorado Springs, Colorado, sixth grade Social Studies, kindergarten through sixth grade Gifted and Talented, and fifth and sixth grade Computer classes.

I have an A.A.S. degree in Accounting, a B.S.O.E. degree in Business, and a Master of Education degree (reading specialist).  I am certified to teach all subjects kindergarten through eighth grade and am currently studying to complete my certification in Gifted and Talented education.

Ashley Swilley
I am a recent grad from the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Class of ’07, Whoop!  I received a B.S. in Math and Science Education for grades 4-8.  In college, I was nominated and accepted for the Texas A&M Public Policy Internship, which granted 20 Texas A&M students a scholarship and an internship in Washington, D.C.  I chose to intern in the U.S. Department of Education in The Office of the Secretary.  I worked closely with the personal secretary to Secretary Margaret Spellings on briefings and Congressional hearings for the upcoming re-authorization of NCLB, as well as maintain a minute-by-minute schedule for the following day.  During my internship, I was given the opportunity to meet many of the Texas Congress men and women, attend Senate and House hearings, view Marine One departures from the lawn of the White House, attend the White House Christmas Party, tour the Capital and the Pentagon, meet House Speaker, Madame Nancy Pelosi and Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, tour the Embassies on Embassy Row, and attend Easter service at our Nation’s Cathedral.  

Prior to college, I graduate from Grapevine High School with my other two siblings.  I have spent most of my life in Texas; however, I have lived in New Orleans and was born in California. I really enjoy visiting my sister in San Francisco whenever I can and my brother, at Texas A&M.  My siblings and I hope to one day, all live on the West coast.  

Student teaching brought me to Westlake Academy in January 2008.  I got the opportunity to learn about the Primary Years Programme during student teaching in 6th grade.  The following summer, I attended an IB- Middle Years Programme training course for the upcoming year.  I am really looking forward to this year.