Open House Features Praise for Alumni
Celebration Shines Spotlight on Graduate School of Education, Pays Tribute to Former Director, Welcomes New Leader
An Open House this fall for Touro’s Graduate School of Education featured a significant alumni component, with the formal presentation shining the spotlight on several program graduates, including 10 who earned Teachers of the Year honors in their respective school districts.
Those singled out Sept. 28 include four Master's in Education program alums:
Kenneth Bonner (Class of 2011) is an Executive Principal in the Metro Nashville Public School District.
Bonner was a Principal for 11 years in the West Contra Costa Unified School District. He was selected Administrator of the Year for 2020-2021 by the Richmond Association of School Administrators local chapter of the Association of California School Administrators.
Bonner received his Multiple Subject Preliminary Credential; Master of Arts in Urban Education; and Administrative Services Credential from Touro University California's Graduate School of Education.
Local-Area Leaders in Education
Ed Santopadre (Class of 2016) is the Superintendent of the Vacaville Unified School District.
Santopadre joined the Touro GSOE program while serving as an Assistant Principal. He had decided he needed to learn more about how technology was being used to support student learning. Shortly thereafter he became Principal of Vacaville High School and three years later he joined the district office as Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services.
He was named Superintendent effective at the start of the 2023-2024 academic year.
Santopadre received his Clear Administrative Services Credential and a Master of Arts in Educational Technology from the Touro GSOE program.
Dr. Martha Martin-Pérez (Class of 2015) is the Community School Program Coordinator for the Napa Valley Unified School District.
She received her Master of Education in Innovative Learning through Touro's GSOE program.
Martin-Pérez’s master’s project focused on innovative EDL practices and resources. She learned during the program to use social media (X, formerly Twitter) as a tool to collaborate professionally. She began to share out her passion regularly and was noticed by the New York City Public Schools. They created a position for her and wooed her to the Big Apple. While there, she met with many of the most seminal leaders of EL and Multicultural Education. Their expertise influenced her to earn her doctorate. Her thesis title was "Leadership Strategies that Exemplary K-12 Latina Superintendents in California Use to Create an Organizational Culture of Inclusiveness."
Kelley Miller (Class of 2017) is a Teacher on Special Assignment with the Napa Valley Unified School District.
She earned her Master of Education in Innovative Learning from Touro's GSOE program and is a Leading Innovative Diverse Organizations Doctoral Candidate, with a projected completion date in 2025.
Miller while in the Master's program was working with the school district to explore project-based learning. Along the way she discovered John Hattie's effect size research on learning efficacy. After earning her M.Ed. degree, she began supporting local and national workshops alongside author Michael McDowell on "Rigorous PBL," which builds on Hattie's findings. After several years of teaching others, Miller co-published "The Project Habit" with McDowell, which shares "small doable shifts for busy teachers looking to enhance and innovate their practices. It aims to ensure students develop substantial growth in establishing agency in their own learning."
Top Teachers Boast Touro Ties
Ten Teachers of the Year with Touro GSOE ties were also recognized:
- Dana Cope, 2008, Napa Valley Unified School District, Master's in Educational Technology (Class of 2014)
- Amy Parangan, 2010, Vallejo City Unified School District, Master's in Educational Leadership (Class of 2010)
- Chris O'Conner, 2015, St. Helena Joint Unified School District. LIDO EdD Faculty
- Julie Lovie, 2016, Napa Valley Unified School District, Master's in Innovative Learning (Class of 2020)
- Jenny Ellison, 2017, Napa Valley Unified School District, Master's in Innovative Learning (Class of 2018)
- Mellissa Harley, 2018, Benicia Unified School District, Master's in Educational Technology (Class of 2009)
- Ron Eick, 2019, Napa Valley Unified School District, Master's in Educational Technology (Class of 2014)
- Jennifer Castro, 2020, Vallejo City Unified School District, Master's in Educational Leadership (Class of 2014)
- Vivet Beckford-Nelson, 2022, Vallejo City Unified School District, Master's in Educational Technology (Class of 2011)
- Kelly Hughes, 2022, Benicia Unified School District, Master's in Educational Technology (Class of 2011)
The celebration took place on campus in the Ballroom at Farragut Inn. It served as both an open house for educational leaders from the surrounding areas but also as an opportunity to mark the retirement this past summer of former Program Director Dr. Louise Santiago and to welcome the new Program Director, Dr. Karis Clarke.
The GSOE program was founded in 2004 through a $1 million grant from the state to establish a teacher preparation program in Vallejo.
Program areas and coursework are driven by local demand for classroom teachers, school and district administrators, teacher leaders, and other student services.