Pinnacle School

	Denise Lessow, Ed.D., joined Pinnacle as Executive Director in July 2004. She has a doctorate in Education from Indiana University-Bloomington, and brings over 25 years of experience as a professional educator and consultant. Dr. Lessow's education background includes science and math instruction, curriculum design, gifted & talented, multiple intelligences, cognitive assessment, and teacher development. She has created exhibits for science and history museums nationwide, and served as Research Director with CILS Consulting for over 10 years. Dr. Lessow is a past Board Chair of the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce and earned the 2008 Herb Kiesling Award. In addition to her administrative duties, Dr. Lessow coaches the Pinnacle Chess Team.
	Kristina Simmonds became Assistant Director of Pinnacle School in 2008. She majored in elementary education and minored in political science at Indiana University. For four years, Mrs. Simmonds served as the Teacher Liaison at the Heritage Educational Foundation, where she developed and implemented curriculum training, supervised staff, and administered grants. She has extensive experience with fundraising, regulatory compliance, event coordination, and volunteer management. Mrs. Simmonds serves on the Board of Directors of the South Central Community Action Program.
	Discovering 28 years ago that her oldest son had dyslexia prompted Connie Giles to seek out a program that would meet his needs. At that time, a dePaul Saturday Tutorial Program and Summer School were the only programs in existence in Bloomington to teach children who learn with dyslexia. Upon enrolling her son in the program, she became an active tutor, which led to supervisory positions in both programs for the next six years. During this time she was also teaching in a special education program in the local high school. Mrs. Giles was instrumental in beginning the Bloomington dePaul School (now Pinnacle), where she became a teacher in its second year of operation. Mrs. Giles is a certified Orton-Gillingham instructor, and directs Pinnacle's spelling and linguistics program.
	Rachel Suekoff earned a Master's in Elementary Education at Wilmington University in Delaware. She has experience in a variety of elementary and early childhood settings. Ms. Suekoff teaches Kindergarten at Pinnacle as well as cooking, and primary health and fitness. She also tutors in the after-school program.
	Megan Miller earned a Bachelor's in Elementary Education at Indiana University-Bloomington with specializations in Language Arts, folklore, and Spanish. She served as an inclusion specialist and math teacher at Templeton Elementary last year, and has experience in multi-grade classrooms. At Pinnacle, Mrs. Miller teaches language arts, math, and Brain Power.
	Alyson Gross first came to Pinnacle School as a practicum student teacher in 2007. She joined the faculty after completing her degree at Indiana University in elementary and special education. Miss Gross holds a reading specialist certificate and has taught using Read 180. She comes from a family of teachers and participated in IU's Teaching All Learners program. Miss Gross teaches elementary language arts, math, and social studies. Miss Gross serves as a member of the Education Roundtable at the Indiana State Museum.
	Meredith Sullivan earned an Indiana University Bachelor of Science in elementary education with concentrations in science and math. She is certified in Project Wet and Project Wild, and taught physics in IU's Saturday Science Program. Miss Sullivan served as an instructor in a Montessori academy north of Indianapolis and as an Orton tutor at Pinnacle. She is a member of the National Science Teachers Association. At Pinnacle, Miss Sullivan teaches upper elementary language arts, math, and science, and is coordinating Pinnacle's Toyota Tapestry Grant project.
	Sasha Land has a Bachelors of Science in elementary and special education from Indiana University that included emphases in math and science. He was a member of the Cutters team that won two consecutive Men's Little 500 races, serving as team captain and coach during his senior year. Mr. Land bicycled the Continental Divide from Canada to Mexico in 2000. At Pinnacle, he is the STEM Coordinator and teaches elementary and middle school engineering, technology, writing, and math. Mr. Land also teaches an after-school bike repair class.
	Kelly Sage holds a Bachelor's degree from Radford University and taught in Virginia from 2004 to 2007, where she was her school's Advanced Placement coordinator. She came to Pinnacle to teach middle school and high school literature, writing, and drama. Mrs. Sage has extensive experience in the instructional uses of technology, including collaborative environments. Mrs. Sage sponsored Pinnacle's new creative writing/literary magazine, Elephantay. She is a member of the National Council of Teachers of English, and coordinates our Writer's Workshop and portfolio programs.
	Janae Byker earned a Bachelor's in Elementary Education with concentrations in middle-school Mathematics and Science. She comes to Bloomington from Michigan, where she taught at Abney Academy, a school that also focuses on utilizing higher-level thinking and creative problem-solving methods. At Pinnacle, Mrs. Byker teaches middle and high school social studies, Title I, and tutors.
	Matt Miller holds a teaching degree from IU Bloomington. He was in the Teaching All Learners program and has been an assistant football coach at Bloomington High School North for 5 years. In addition to science and math, Mr. Miller's interests include folklore and German language. He teaches middle and high school science and math, and coordinates our fitness and health program.
	Aaron Bork completed a Bachelor of Science in secondary education at IU. He holds concentrations in geography, history, government, and citizenship for middle and high school. Mr. Bork has taught gifted and talented social studies students at Lawrence Central High School. He also taught a leadership development class at IU, where he served as a Resident Assistant for two years. Last year, Mr. Bork taught middle and high school social studies and served as the Student Council advisor. This year, he will be teaching in Washington DC and participating in Pinnacle's distance learning pilot program.
	Ross Blackburn has a degree from Northeastern University and is a certified K-12 educator. He worked as a graphic artist for over 10 years and has taught for the past several years. Mr. Blackburn led the 2007 student/community collaborative art project that created our Pinnacle Pachyderm sculpture. He teaches art and computer-based graphic arts. This year, Mr. Blackburn and Mr. Land are team-teaching a pilot class that integrates art and materials engineering.
	Sara Ballard is Pinnacle's Office Manager and Executive Assistant. She has a telecommunications degree from Indiana University, and over six years of customer service, marketing, and supervisory experience with national and regional firms. Ms. Ballard manages the school office and coordinates school functions and special events.
	Becky Eisinger is the new coordinator of Pinnacle Learning Services. She schedules and supervises after-school tutors and volunteers, develops study skills activities for students, and design extra-curricular programs. Miss Eisinger will also support Pinnacle's fundraising efforts. She has a Masters of Public Affairs degree from IU SPEA with concentrations in Nonprofit Management and Policy Analysis, and an undergraduate degree from St. Olaf College. Miss Eisinger was a teaching assistant at IU and a program intern for the Open Books reading project in Chicago.
	Carol Meredith assists with students services, alumni relations, and teacher appreciation.
	Laura Ingram has a Master's degree in counseling from Indiana University. She is on the staff at Catholic Charities-Bloomington, and is Pinnacle's consulting counselor. Ms. Ingram works with individuals and classes to help students build conflict resolution, self-management, and social skills. She is also available to work with Pinnacle families on a sliding-fee scale.
	Katie Bulloff is interning at Pinnacle through the Journey program. She is completing a bachelor's degree in Nonprofit Management at IU. Ms. Bulloff will be assisting with development, fundraising, and marketing activities.