Regional Teams

Dustin Sims, Regional Executive Director

Serving the Northeast Region of Florida as the Regional Executive Director of School Improvement is an honor for Dustin. Each day, his goal is to help provide every student the opportunity for and access to a world class education, no matter their circumstance or zip code. He is proud to lead the Northeast team!

Khristopher Henderson, School Improvement Specialist

Khris is currently in his 9th year within the Bureau of School Improvement. He has been in education for 21+ years, primarily supporting underperforming schools in counties within the northeast region. He looks forward to continuing to learn and support schools and districts this coming year.

Edward Kiep, School Improvement Specialist

Edward is currently in his second year as a School Improvement Specialist for the Northeast Region. He has been in education for 21 years, primarily supporting School Improvement Schools with a focus on mathematics instruction. He received his Master’s Degree from University of Florida in Curriculum and Instruction and looks forward to continue supporting schools this coming year.

Dr. Rachel Heide, Regional Executive Director

Committed to ensuring that all students are given high-quality educational opportunities, Dr. Heide works to develop the capacity of the school community in order to enhance the understanding and the implementation of instructional best practices, facilitating the improvement of student outcomes. A dedicated educator originally from Colorado, Dr. Heide has 20 years of experience in education as a classroom teacher, assistant principal, principal and currently has the honor to serve as the NW Regional Assistant Director. In addition to her work in the public school system, Dr. Heide has developed teachers and school leaders as an affiliate faculty member at Regis University since 2009. Dr. Heide holds a Ph.D. in School Administration and Policy Studies, an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in Space Studies, and a B.A. in Social Science with a focus on Early Adolescent Education.

Dr. Kisha Jarrett, School Improvement Specialist

Kisha has been in the field of education for the past 20 years. She has been instrumental in school turnaround support in Orange County Schools, Palm Beach County Schools, and the Northwest schools. As a result of her school turnaround support across the state, 30 schools improved their state school letter grade, and 35 schools improved their state science scores between 10-50 percentage points. She has presented school improvement strategies and science engagement strategies at the state and national levels, including national STEM & state science Conferences. Kisha holds an M.S. in Elementary Education and Ed.D. Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. Kisha is certified in Elementary Education, Educational Leadership, and School Principal.

LaShawn Russ-Porterfield, Regional Executive Director

LaShawn Russ-Porterfield serves as the Southeast Regional Executive Director. Her commitment to collaborate with districts and schools to ensure quality teaching and learning for every learner is her priority. She recently served as the Executive Director of turnaround and elementary school regions in Duval County Public Schools. This is her 21^st year in education. She is a dedicated educator with over 21 years of experience in education as a classroom teacher, reading coach, assistant principal, principal, and district leader. Her passion, keen expertise, and experience in the turnaround process serve as an asset to the Southeast Region and state.

Victoria McKenzie, Regional Assistant Director

Victoria has been working with the Bureau of School Improvement for seven years. She has had the unique opportunity to work with the Northeast region, Southwest region, and is currently with the Southeast regional team. She believes that every student deserves the highest quality education and, through our work with both schools and districts, we are able to implement systems to support all learners.

Angie Atwell, School Improvement Specialist

Angie is privileged to serve as a School Improvement Specialist in the Southeast Region. After spending seven years serving urban schools in the midwest, she decided to return home to the Sunshine State to continue her personal mission to teach and empower, without exception.

Courtney Bauserman-Villa, School Improvement Specialist

Courtney is a passionate educator dedicated to seeing all students succeed. Courtney’s prior experience includes working as a teacher and instructional coach in title 1 schools and we are excited to have her join our SE team. Courtney is a dedicated educator and works diligently to ensure equity and access for all students. She is passionate about empowering the educators around her, working to enable all educators and their students to achieve their goals.

Victoria Cote, School Improvement Specialist

Victoria is a School Improvement Specialist, proud to serve the Southeast Region with the Bureau of School Improvement. Her passion is to build strong and lasting relationships with schools and districts that she supports so that together, they can provide high quality education for ALL students that we serve. Before joining the Southeast Regional Team with BSI, she was a specialist on the Northeast Regional Team and held various positions at both the school and district level from teacher to Corrective Programs Senior Administrator, serving schools at various levels of improvement.

Morenike Tutt Mincey, School Improvement Specialist

Morenike has over 20 years of experience in education, spanning the states of Georgia, Tennessee and Florida. Rising from Kindergarten teacher to District Assistant Principal, Morenike's passion for education is evident in her ability to create and provide instructional guidance that supports teachers in stimulating a positive student-centered learning environment, that advocates for student creativity and authentic assessment in the learning space, as well as ensures reinforcement of curriculum both inside and outside the classroom. As the Southeast School Improvement Specialist, she will apply her expertise in conducting observations and analysis of student performance to ensure data driven instructional and modifications that enable the development of evidence-based academic interventions for students and professional development opportunities for teachers and administrators.　

Southwest

Dr. Lucinda Thompson, Regional Executive Director

Lucinda is the Regional Executive Director for the Southwest Region. Education is a second career for Lucinda. She has a Bachelors of Science in Information Technology with a specialization in Networks and Telecommunications. Prior to teaching, she was a Project Manager at a Fortune 500 software company. After her husband received military orders to Florida, she decided to pursue a career in education. She obtained her teaching licensure through the Alternative Teaching Certification Program. She went on to earn a Masters in Curriculum and Technology and Doctorate in Educational Leadership with a specialization in Educational Technology.

Amanda Chin, Regional Assistant Director

Amanda has served as an assistant principal at both the elementary and middle school levels. Starting her career as a classroom teacher and then moving to a mathematics instructional coach position for elementary and middle school, Amanda has continued to grow her expertise in curriculum and instruction in a leadership capacity. She earned her B.S. in Education from the University of Wisconsin and a M.S. in Educational Leadership from the University of Central Florida. Amanda is certified in Educational Leadership, ESOL endorsed, Elementary Education, and Middle Grades Mathematics.

Lindsay Messner, School Improvement Specialist

Lindsay has taught all content across K-12, and since moving to Lake County, Florida 15 years ago from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been a classroom teacher, a Curriculum Resource Teacher, a District ELA Program Specialist, and finally a K-12 Specialist with a Regional Executive Director in Lake County Schools. Her work has been presented at the state and national levels, including the Florida Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. Lindsay is ESOL endorsed, holds a B.S. and M.A.T. in Elementary Education from the University of Pittsburgh, and an Ed.S. in Educational Leadership and Supervision from National-Louis University. As a School Improvement Specialist with the Southwest Region of Florida, she works with district and school teams to build leadership capacity that leads to sustainable change.

Maysha Shelton, School Improvement Specialist

Maysha Shelton is an educator with 20 years of experience dedicated to supporting low performing schools. She is a team player whose vision of teaching and learning is grounded in best practices. Her unique journey began in the world of elementary and extended to middle and high school settings as well as at the district level. While serving as a turnaround Region Administrator, the collaborative effort deemed remarkable results reflecting 62% of schools increasing performance by one letter grade. Maysha holds a Master's degree in Administration and Supervision from the University of Phoenix. She is new to the Tampa area and is looking forward to continuing the work!

Bianca Williams, School Improvement Specialist

Bianca Williams has been an Educator for fifteen years with exclusive experience in Title 1 schools. Over the years she has served seven years as a classroom teacher, two years as a Literacy Coach and a District School Improvement Program Specialist for six years. During her time working with the district turnaround team, she contributed to the successful turnaround of six schools improving their school grade by one or more letters. This resulted in 100% reduction of turnaround schools in her district. She has also successfully developed and implemented systems and strategies to prevent multiple schools from entering turnaround status. Bianca is ESOL endorsed, Reading endorsed, and she holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Central Florida.