OUR TEAM

The American Traditional Academies team has extensive education and charter school experience and shares a passion for providing high-quality education options for North Carolina families.

Mary Catherine Sauer

Executive Director, Managing Partner

Mrs. Sauer founded Cornerstone Charter Academy: CFA in 2012 and Piedmont Classical High School in 2015. She has worked as a charter school consultant for the North Carolina Public Charter Schools Association was the founder and principal of Revolution Academy which opened in 2020. Prior to her work in charter schools, she served for four years as PTO/PTA president for two different schools and worked as a tutor and academic advisor.

Taft Morley

Managing Partner

Taft graduated as valedictorian from Utah Valley University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management. He has worked for the past 13 years in the real estate and construction industry, the last four serving as COO of American Charter Development. At ACD he employs his expertise in all areas of charter school development from finance to construction. During his tenure, he has managed and underwritten in some capacity the development or financing of over $275 million dollars, consisting of almost 1.9 million square feet in charter school facility projects. Taft has built strong relationships with banks and other financial firms, giving him access to various sources of capital to facilitate the financing of charter schools. He has also underwritten hundreds of charters across the country. This experience allows him the unique expertise of properly evaluating a charter. In short, Taft knows what it takes to create a successful charter school, and he has the relationships to make it happen. Taft speaks Spanish and is an Eagle Scout.

Randy Shaver

Principal Support and Development

Dr. Randy Shaver has dedicated more than 40 years to the education of children. He served as a high school English teacher and debate coach for the first half of his career during which his students won numerous state, regional, and national championships. Dr. Shaver was recognized by Emory University in Atlanta in 1991 as a Key Coach of the Barkley Forum, the most prestigious recognition for high school educators in the field of debate and speech. Over the last 21 years he has served in administrative leadership positions from assistant principal to superintendent in four different school systems and in two states. He received his undergraduate degree from Appalachian State University and both his master’s and doctoral degrees from UNC Greensboro where he completed extensive research in the area of principal leadership and socialization. His six grandchildren provide the impetus he needs to assist in providing the best school choices for our future generations of learners.

Dennis English

Community Relations and Recruiting

Dennis English focuses on the school’s community outreach efforts he maintains key relationships with parents, community leaders, clergy, organizations, associations, elected officials, business leaders; speaking engagements with key community stakeholder groups and associations. Dennis is a seasoned professional with keen public, private and nonprofit experience in government relations and economic development. Dennis is the President of English Enterprises, a Government Relations consulting firm. In 2018 Dennis led the development of several Charter Schools across North Carolina and helped win the state’s first charter school assumption pulling together a diverse, local five-member board in only two weeks. The board impressed the Charter School Advisory Board by demonstrating they had what it took to move the school forward. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration from St. Augustine’s University and an Executive Masters of Public Administration from North Carolina Central University.

Meg Hayes

Operations Manager

For 30 plus years Meg has worked in the customer service industry and school settings, focusing on management including human resources, personnel management, and customer relations. Over that time span, she has taken leadership roles in implementing business management procedures/protocols for both start up companies as well as those that are restructuring their business. She served as an Operations Manager for both a leading interior design company and a law firm. In addition, she has served as an Assistant Education Director for a large, well-established pre-school and a school counselor in the North Carolina Public School system. Her diverse work experience spread out over different industries has honed her skills regarding the ability to juggle multiple roles. Meg firmly believes that making herself accessible to those she serves builds trust. With this as a guiding principle, she works diligently to establish relationships with people to leverage that trust to help guide them in making well-informed decisions regarding their business as well as their children and families. Meg graduated from William Peace University (formerly Peace College) before continuing with her education at UNC-Chapel Hill where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. She furthered her education receiving a Master of Education in Counseling from Campbell University.