Laurie Matthews
Eagle River,Alaska
Summary
Compassionate, hard-working, and enthusiastic leader with valuable teaching and leadership experience. Extensive background working with adults and children. Motivated to develop strong relationships among staff, parents, and stakeholders of a school. Personable and outgoing with skill in building rapport with people from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Resourceful with a talent for developing and implementing vision and successful strategies. Outstanding skills in communication, conflict resolution, and staff development.
Overview
24
24
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Acting Principal
Family Partnership Correspondence School
08.2023 - Current
- Administered hiring, training, and disciplinary action in compliance with legal guidelines and requirements, managing 30+ staff.
- Fostered a positive learning environment by promoting and prioritizing open communication among staff, students, and parents.
- Wrote a strategic planning survey to gain feedback from school stakeholders and analyzed the data looking for areas to improve.
- Collaborated with the Alaska Association of School Boards and school stakeholders to update the school's vision and mission statements and to develop a new strategic plan for the school that aligns with the ASD's goals of reading, math, and CCL.
- Led school improvement efforts by setting clear expectations for staff performance and providing supportive feedback.
- Promoted diversity within the school community through inclusive policies, programming, and recruitment efforts.
- Developed relationships with stakeholders to foster trust, collaboration, and commitment to shared goals.
- Streamlined operations and programming for the upcoming school year by evaluating current processes and procedures, identifying inefficiencies, and making improvements to increase the effectiveness of the school.
- Established and implemented a CCL plan for FPCS that included collaborating with ASD staff regarding curriculum and training.
- Enhanced the FPCS enrichment class program by adding a new middle school science series - maximizing skill sets of staff.
- Increased historically low homeschooling student test participation from 24% to 37% by implementing a focus on teaching homeschooling parents how to use assessment data to drive instruction.
- Created an updated evaluatory crosswalk for three schools to use as alignment with the Danielson Framework.
- Coordinated with fellow administrators and teachers in developing a new in-depth rubric to align with the Danielson Framework to allow for accurate evaluation of homeschool support teachers.
- Learned the ASD charter school budgeting process and developed a BID for FY24/25 that is aligned to academics and student numbers.
- Managed budget and resources efficiently to ensure optimal allocation of funds for school programs and initiatives.
- Implemented an advertising and recruitment plan mid-year to increase enrollment and added over 100 students.
- Formulated a comprehensive reading intervention plan and submitted it to the AK Department of Education and Early Development to meet the requirements of the AK Reads Act and go beyond the expectations for homeschooling support programs.
- Enhanced school performance by conceptualizing and implementing a highly successful early literacy intervention program aligned to requirements of the AK Reads Act to support homeschooling families. This program more than doubled in size from sem 1 to 2.
Dean of Students / Assistant Principal
Family Partnership Charter School K-12
10.2022 - 08.2023
- Served as building test coordinator for NWEA MAP test, AK STAR test and FastBridge literacy screener to include complex schedule planning.
- Developed and presented trainings for sponsor teachers in support of ASD's assessment goals.
- Led meetings to convey policy changes, gather information, and assess employee thoughts.
- Partnered with principal to administer school program in alignment with vision and goals, providing positive, high-expectation academic environment.
- Supervised and evaluated nine TOTEM and ACE employees.
- Supported hiring, training, and disciplinary action in compliance with legal guidelines and requirements.
Sponsor Teacher
Family Partnership Charter School K-12
08.2020 - 10.2022
- Cultivated strong working relationships with homeschooling parents to empower them.
- Maintained clear records of communication with parents.
- Developed grammar curriculum with video lesson instruction that utilizes IXL platform for practice problems.
- Created instructional videos to teach parents methods for implementing writing curriculum.
- Taught online high school English classes using ASD's Canvas platform.
- Identified strengths and weaknesses of each student to guide parents towards best fit curriculum.
- Counseled parents regarding strategies to focus on positive aspects of their child's academics and those to use to move through difficult stages.
- Encouraged creative thinking and utilization of higher ordered thinking skills activities to motivate students.
- Supported and advised parents during IEP and 504 meetings.
Principal Internship at Airport Heights Elementary
Anchorage School District
07.2022 - 09.2022
- Implemented Emergency Action Plan (EAP) procedures for start of school year to include developing and presenting staff training.
- Visited classrooms providing academic and behavioral support and observing different classroom instructional and management methods.
- Created organizational system for student pick up.
- Communicated with parents and guardians regarding discipline in sensitive manner.
- Navigated extreme disciplinary situation with support from school's SRO and principal's director.
Tutoring for Academic Confidence - Teacher/Owner
Self Employed Teacher
08.2006 - 07.2020
- Created comprehensive language arts and math classes for homeschooled students in grades 4-11.
- Tutored students to boost confidence, build learning skills, and improve test scores.
- Analyzed student standardized test scores to identify immediate needs and most appropriate curriculum.
- Supported parents by attending IEP and 504 meetings.
Middle School Language Arts Teacher
Anchorage School District
08.2002 - 05.2006
- Mentored new language arts teacher and hosted student teacher. This included counseling both regarding areas for improvement and validating areas of strength.
- Trained core team teachers in writing strategies for incorporating meaningful writing assignments into core subjects.
- Cultivated environment of high academic expectations and instruction.
- Devised and implemented classroom management strategies that created culture of academic, social, and emotional safety to enhance learning.
Second Grade Teacher
Anchorage School District
08.2001 - 05.2002
- Created environment of high academic success with strong social and emotional support for Title 1 second grade classroom.
- Implemented portfolio assessment and student-led conferences.
- Coordinated with first, second, and third grade teachers to develop reading groups and appropriate content.
Education
Master of Arts - Educational Administration
Chadron State College
Chadron, NE12.2022
Bachelor of Arts - Education
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Fairbanks, AK12.1999
Skills
- Staff Development
- Program Implementation
- Goal Planning
- Solution Oriented
- Teamwork and Collaboration
- Relationship Building and Networking
Certification
- Alaska Type B Principal Certificate PK-8 with 9-12 Endorsement and AK Reads Act K-3 Administrator Endorsement
- Danielson Framework Trained
- Alaska Professional Teacher's Certificate K-8
- CPI Nonviolent Crisis Intervention
- Alaska Science of Reading Symposium 2024
- Alaska RTI/MTSS Conference 2023
- Alaska RTI/MTSS Conference 2022
Timeline
Acting Principal
Family Partnership Correspondence School
08.2023 - Current
Dean of Students / Assistant Principal
Family Partnership Charter School K-12
10.2022 - 08.2023
Principal Internship at Airport Heights Elementary
Anchorage School District
07.2022 - 09.2022
Sponsor Teacher
Family Partnership Charter School K-12
08.2020 - 10.2022
Tutoring for Academic Confidence - Teacher/Owner
Self Employed Teacher
08.2006 - 07.2020
Middle School Language Arts Teacher
Anchorage School District
08.2002 - 05.2006
Second Grade Teacher
Anchorage School District
08.2001 - 05.2002
Master of Arts - Educational Administration
Chadron State College
Bachelor of Arts - Education
University of Alaska Fairbanks