Faculty and Staff

Administration 

Cindy Reuther - Executive Director

Cindy K. Reuther's work with educational, non-profit and corporate groups includes planning, board development, and designing systems that support organizational innovation and sustainability. She is published in “Rethinking Organizational & Managerial Communication from Feminist Perspectives,” a collection of articles examining communication theory, research, and practice. Her interest in a girl-focused charter school has been a dream in the making for more than a decade. 

Brenda Natala - Principal

Brenda Natala was hired as principal of Laura Jeffrey Academy in June 2010. She comes to LJA with over 20 years of experience in public education in early childhood through post-secondary settings. Her graduate work at the University of Minnesota includes a Master of Arts degree in Communication Disorders, a Professional Development Certificate, and administrative licensure as a PK-12 Principal and Director of Special Education. She has worked with teachers for a decade in graduate level coursework focused on deepening cultural competence and strengthening connections between schools and communities.  Young people have been her greatest teachers including her own children who demonstrate finesse in navigating a multiracial world. Her guiding vision for leadership is illustrated by her favorite quote from Herbert Kohl, “If you look for strengths and filter the world through the prism of hope, you will see and encourage the unexpected flowering of child life in the most unlikely places.”  

Sally Spreeman - Operations Manager

Sally Spreeman comes to Laura Jeffrey Academy with years of experience working in non-profit, business and education.  For four years Spreeman taught elementary school in El Paso, Texas as well as coordinated her districts evening adult basic education and ESL classes. Her passion for girl programming comes from seven years of working as a Program Manager with Girl Scouts where she coordinated day camps, weekend events, leadership trainings, developed program resources for girls and adults as well as volunteer recruitment, marketing and strategically sought collaborative partnerships.  Most recently she was in the fundraising and grant writing field and created a development plan for Laura Jeffrey Academy while serving on the board in 2007.

Melissa Stangl - Dean of Students

Melissa Stangl comes to Laura Jeffrey Academy with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree in Social Work from the University of St. Thomas and a Master of Education degree in Youth Development Leadership from the University of Minnesota. Melissa has worked for 9 years with youth from various backgrounds throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul schools and communities. Before joining the Laura Jeffrey Academy community Melissa worked 5 years as a Youth and Family Counselor for the Bridge for Youth in Minneapolis helping youth to reunify with their families and worked for 3 years as an Early Risers Family Advocate for the Family Supportive Housing Center, LLC helping youth strengthen their social and academic skills. Melissa considers herself both an advocate for youth and their families but also their surrounding communities. Melissa is committed to living every day practicing the African Proverb: It takes a village to raise a child. Melissa is dedicated to helping young ladies develop a strong sense of self-esteem and self-confidence and is eager to help all the girls at LJA find and realize their potential.  

Joy McBrien - Americorps Promise Fellows

Joy McBrien is coming to Laura Jeffrey Academy this year as an Americorps Promise Fellow. She just graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BSB. in Nonprofit Management and Entrepreneurial Studies and a minor in Design. Joy has worked with students in a variety of settings, including teaching classes in Peru, leading community service road trips called Pay It Forward Tours, and working with multiple tutoring programs. Besides LJA, Joy works with her jewelry business, Joylery, which she started when she was a teenager. Joy is excited to work with LJA scholars to discover their unique passions and see them put into action!  

Margie Siggelkow - Americorps Promise Fellows

Margie Siggelkow is a recent graduate from the University of MN where she studied Women’s Studies and Spanish Studies. She is serving as an AmeriCorps Promise Fellow, and will be working with another Promise Fellow developing an after-school tutoring program and intersession classes. In the past, she worked at a homeless shelter in Minneapolis as a Youth Advocate, working closely with youth residents with tutoring, enrichment activities, after-school programming and day trips. She is looking forward to joining the LJA team and helping with their mission of empowering girls through education and building self-confidence.  

Dawn Andrada - Office Manager

Dawn Andrada has a variety of experience in office operations while working for area businesses.  She is an active volunteer with Girl Scouts and school PTO's. 

Teachers

Humanities 

Emily Barnes - 5th & 6th Grade Social Studies Teacher

Emily Barnes comes to Laura Jeffrey Academy with seven years of experience working with young people in Minnesota, Iowa, and Oregon. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and Secondary Education from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and has worked with secondary and college students as a social studies and humanities teacher, writing tutor, and academic mentor. Most recently, she taught Great Books and U.S. and World History at a small independent school in Saint Paul serving international and local middle school students. Emily is excited to collaborate with her co-teachers in the creation of an inspiring and inclusive learning environment that will build competence and confidence for all our students.

Kelly Armstrong - 7th & 8th Grade Social Studies Teacher

Kelly Armstrong comes to Laura Jeffrey Academy with a degree in teaching from the University of Minnesota. She received her BA in psychology, with a minor in women’s studies, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Kelly has worked with students in a variety of settings. Throughout college, Kelly worked with homeless youth at an after school program. In the summers, she was the program director and trip director at a YMCA summer camp. She has also served as a middle and high school volleyball coach, and has worked with youth and families as a children’s case manager at a domestic violence shelter in Colorado.  All of these experiences shaped her commitment to work with students, and specifically young women, to help them continually become more competent and confident.  Kelly is passionate about making content engaging and relevant to her student's lives and is grateful to be a part of this incredible community of scholars.  

Jacob Bonde - 5th & 6th Grade Language Arts Teacher

Last year, Mr. Jacob returned home to his native Twin Cities after a year getting his Master of Education and teaching certificate from Harvard Grad School of Education. Jacob has had a passion for teaching since he taught Sports Literature at a summer enrichment program in Minneapolis in the summer of 2005. It was too late to change the trajectory of his undergraduate career, however, and in 2006 he received a B.A. from St. Olaf in both English and Philosophy. After spending another summer teaching, he worked two years as a paraprofessional in Minneapolis charter schools before heading out East. Jacob is excited to now be working fulltime (instead of half-time) at LJA, a school that holds the same strong values about education as he does. He is excited to teach his fifth and sixth graders how to use their reading, writing, listening and speaking skills to empower themselves and their communities. 

Amber Wegehaupt - 7th & 8th Grade Language Arts Teacher

After living in Spain to improve her competency in the Spanish language, Amber graduated from the University of South Dakota with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Spanish.  She then spent two years in Los Angeles teaching in an urban middle school for the rigorous nonprofit Teach For America while earning her Master's degree in education from Loyola Marymount University. Amber has also worked as a coach, writing consultant, copy editor, and research assistant in the area of critical media literacy. She has a strong passion for social justice and for teaching of writing and is committed to effecting positive change in herself, her students, and the world through her work at LJA.

Kelly Barnholdt - Physical Education and Health Coordinator

Kelly Barnholdt comes to Laura Jeffrey Academy with excitement and passion for helping our girls learn and understand the importance of health and physical activity.  She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Gustavus Adolphus College in Physical and Health Education, where she also was a member of the Women's Basketball team all 4 yrs.  Since receiving her degree at Gustavus, she has worked with students of all ages, as a Pre-school teacher in Eagan, to a Junior High Physical Education teacher in Burnsville, and a Physical and Health Education teacher in the ALC program at Wayzata High School.  She also has a passion for coaching basketball, and has coached at the high school and college level.  Kelly now is continuing her education and finishing up her Masters degree at Hamline University in Teaching.  She is researching and writing her thesis on same-sex Physical and Health Education classes.  Through her many teaching experiences, she hopes and strives to help the girls at LJA be healthy and active life long learners. 

Jayne Hotaling - Visual Arts & Theatre Teacher

With a degree in Art Education from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, Ms Jayne has had the privilege to teach art in schools in New Zealand, Alaska, Grand Marais (Minnesota) and Switzerland.  She is delighted to be starting her eighth year as an art educator at Laura Jeffrey Academy! Ms Jayne loves helping students find ways to experience visual art as a creative outlet, as a lens through which to see the world, and especially as a vehicle for social change. 

Sara Cowan - Music Teacher

Sara hails from Omaha, Nebraska and received her B.A. in Music from Grinnell College. She recently completed a Master's in Choral Conducting as well as her teaching license at the University of Minnesota. Sara has many years of experience as a youth worker for non-profit organizations. She spent four summers teaching at Girls, Inc. in Omaha and is committed to inspiring, educating and empowering girls in single-sex settings. She is the artistic director of the Twin Cities Jewish Chorale, an adult community chorus that strives to perform and educate about the gamut of music from Jewish cultures. Sara has been recognized by the Minnesota Chorale's "Emerging Conductor" program and has been presented scholarships and awards as a singer and conductor. At the U of M, she assisted in conducting the University Women's Chorus and a 250 member gospel choir.  Sara is also a volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters and teaches at Temple Israel in Minneapolis. She is passionate about many styles of music, from Renaissance polyphony to South African apartheid songs and everything in between! She is thrilled to be teaching at LJA and inspiring girls for a lifelong love of music.  

Lara Mac Lean - Strings Teacher

Lara Mac Lean a St. Paul native, is lively and energetic. She comes to Laura Jeffrey Academy with over 25 years of public, private and college string teaching experience working with diverse talents and abilities. A renaissance woman, her string playing is very diverse from her love of classical, fiddle, jazz, pop, rock and folk music, she can play it all! She holds a Bachelors degree in violin performance, and a masters of education in teaching and learning. She also won a one year graduate conducting assistantship from Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. She has spent many years performing as a freelance musician in the Twin Cities performing with many local orchestras and groups.  Lara was a conductor for the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies organization for 4 years and a conductor for two orchestra's with the Mac Phail school of music Suzuki academy. She has taught for the following 4th-12th grade schools: Grand Rapids, MN, Mounds View School District, Roseville School district, Minnehaha Academy and The convent of the Visitation school. She has taught for the following colleges and Universities teaching violin and viola, coaching small chamber groups and teaching the string methods class to education majors: Bemidji State University, Gustavus Adolphus college and Concordia University in St. Paul. She has taken her various orchestras on tour to Germany and Austria, Italy, Vancouver, Florida, New York, Colorado and Chicago. For many years now she has been a solo/ensemble and large group adjudicator for the MSHL music contests along with working the Minnesota all state orchestra camps five different years. She has also been involved in theater, radio and TV. Lara was a voice of the Pat Miles Monday club on WCCO radio for two years.  She has coached girls hockey and volleyball and also enjoys golf, hiking, traveling and boating. Lara runs her own music school called Dolce Espressivo which has 2 chamber string groups and 3 vocal choirs in Roseville. Lara is an active city council member in Lauderdale where she lives with her husband and two children. Lara is looking forward to teaching and creating with the LJA students and staff through the adventure of learning string music. 

Terri Wiley - Literacy Specialist & Women Studies Teacher

Terri Wiley out full-time literacy specialist. She comes to us from The Young Women’s Leadership School in Philadelphia where she taught African American History and Women’s Studies for four years.

Stem team

Abram Shapiro - GTT Teacher (Gateway to Technology)

Abram Shapiro comes to LJA with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a minor in Jazz Performance from Carnegie Mellon University and a K-8 Mathematics Licensure from Hamline University. Abram spent ten years working as a software engineer in Silicon Valley, developing search engine systems for Inktomi, Yahoo!, and Searchme. He left industry in order to become a stay-at-home dad to his two young children for three busy and wonderful years. Abram's hobbies-in-remission are jazz organ, rock climbing, and leisure reading. He is tremendously excited to bring his professional experience and passion for education to the STEM program at LJA, and is committed to facilitating students' growth as critical thinkers and competent and confident problem solvers. 

Arden Ashley-Wurtmann -  STEM Coordinator, Algebra & Geometry Teacher

Arden Ashley-Wurtmann comes to LJA with experience teaching in a variety of settings. She is a native of Chicago and moved to Minnesota to attend Macalester College. While at Macalester, Arden volunteered and interned in several St. Paul Public schools and worked for the Science Museum of Minnesota. After graduating, Arden joined Teach for America and moved to New York City to teach science (and, as it turned out, some sections of art, drama and social studies) at a struggling middle school in the South Bronx. While teaching in New York, Arden attended Bank Street College of Education -- a school known for its progressive methodology -- and has a Masters degree in Middle School General Education from that institution. After finishing her graduate work, Arden returned to Minnesota where she began teaching 7th and 8th grade math and science at a Montessori school. This was her first formal experience teaching math and through this she fell in love with the Connected Mathematics 2 curriculum. At LJA, she taught the science component of the 5th and 6th grade "Smath" class and tutored in the mathematics program before deciding to fully immerse herself in mathematics teaching.She enjoys doing math in preparation for assigning homework and gets a little giddy when talking about the Pythagorean Theorem. 

Lizzie Forshee – 5th to 8th Grade Science Teacher

Lizzie Forshee comes to Laura Jeffrey Academy with a bachelor's degree in Science from the University of Minnesota and a Grades 5-12 Life Science Licensure from the College of St. Catherine. Lizzie has worked with students of diverse backgrounds and various communities. During her undergraduate work, Lizzie taught for Mad Science, an after-school science program. Lizzie is was most recently a Science Educator for the Science Museum of MN, and a teacher within the Minneapolis School District. Lizzie is coming to Laura Jeffrey Academy to promote hands on learning through a safe and responsive environment for young learners. Lizzie’s passion is to engage girls in science learning and promote critical thinking in their everyday lives. Lizzie’s passion for inspiring girls in the field of science is transparent through her energy and commitment to the classroom and her students. 

Iztchel  Skovholt - 5th & 6th Grade Math Teacher

In 1993, Iztchel started a long and meaningful academic journey, in her home country, Honduras, where she attended college for three years pursuing an electrical engineering degree. Studying physics brought out her passion for mathematics opening the door to teaching.  Iztchel moved to Minnesota four years ago and transferred to Metropolitan State University (MSU). She was awarded several prestigious scholarships while at MSU.  One scholarship was to attend the Project Lead the Way-Gate to Technology curriculum training where she learned to connect mathematics with engineering thought exciting real-life problems and projects.  Iztchel's career in schools has included being a Bilingual Educational Assistant, working with young mothers attending Agape High School and long-term substitute teaching. She completed student teaching in 2008 and graduated from the Urban Teaching Program at MSU. It is her goal to continue teaching with enthusiasm, become a role model not only for the Hispanic community but for all prospective students and make a positive contribution to LJA. 

Allison Stapley - Math Specialist & Pre-algebra Teacher

Allison Stapley comes to Laura Jeffrey Academy with eight years of teaching experience in Houston, TX. All of her experience has been in schools of choice, including seven years at engineering magnet schools and one year at in International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Education, with a minor in physics from Gustavus Adolphus College, and a Masters of Education from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX. Allison has worked as a science teacher, campus science specialist, engineering teacher, and math teacher. Throughout her experience she has worked with students in several programs including; Future City Competition, Botball, Young Astronauts Club, and Young Inventors Club. She has also provided professional development for teachers in the area of engineering and curriculum development. Allison has assisted schools in writing winning award and grant proposals, including both state and national magnet awards. 

Special Services

Elizabeth Herzog - Special Education Teacher

Ms. Elizabeth took an alternative route to teaching; she earned a degree in psychology at the College of St. Benedict and worked in non-profit social service organizations. Then, through the New York City Teaching Fellowship program, Elizabeth was able to transition to the field of education and make her work with youth the focal point of her career. While she was thoroughly challenged and inspired by the diverse, urban youth in Manhattan, she returned to her roots after finishing grad school to be closer to her family. Elizabeth has a for passion advocating for the needs of diverse learners and is committed to affording appropriate learning opportunities for all LJA scholars. Before landing at LJA, Elizabeth had an idea about the kind of teacher she wanted to be, but was never able to realize that potential without the collaboration of her LJA colleagues. She is inspired by the scope of their commitment to youth and critical pedagogy and is proud of the way they honor the important work that is LJA’s mission. 

Heidi Otto - Lead Special Education Assistant

Fatima Fisher - Educational Assistant

Laura Hall - Educational Assistant

Laura's previous classroom experience includes special education paraprofessional subbing for North St. Paul-Maplewood-Oakdale School District, and also as a classroom volunteer in both grade school and adult ELL classes. She is currently pursuing a Masters of Arts in Teaching in ESL at Hamline University.  

Katie Salo - Educational Assistant

Katie comes to Laura Jeffrey Academy with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and a minor in Organizational Communication from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.  During her undergraduate studies, she had the opportunity to volunteer in several Eau Claire area middle schools and high schools and was an active clinician and adjudicator for middle school musicians.  After graduating, Katie spent three years working for South Washington County Schools in a variety of academic and extra-curricular settings, most notably in Autism and high needs special education programming.  She is very excited to advocate for the special needs population and join the LJA team!  

Alyssa McKee - Educational Assistant

Other Important Staff 

Angela Nelson

Angela is a graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College 96’. She is currently the charge nurse in the recovery room at Regions Hospital. Her love for nursing is as strong today as it was 15 years ago when she was a new graduate nurse. Working as the school nurse at Laura Jeffrey Academy will be very exciting for her and she is proud to be a part of the LJA staff. This will be another experience of growth and learning for her at Laura Jeffrey Academy.

Celia Martinez - Amity Intern

Susan Thao - Technology Educational Assistant

Susan Thao is currently finishing her last year at the University of Minnesota with a major in elementary education. She is an active participant of a close community network leading children events, such as picnics and carnivals. She enjoys learning the guitar and being creatively artsy with crafts and much more. Not to mention, she is a power point geek. She was a peer mentor for the Access to Success program at the U of M who provided incoming freshmen support for their first year experience in college, navigating the campus and connecting them to campus resources. She has also worked at several schools within the Twin Cities as a tutor for after school programs. She began as an LJA volunteer at the beginning of 2011 by organizing and rearranging the media center. She is now handling and organizing both the library books and the technology equipment. She looks forward to starting a mouse club at LJA that focuses on connecting girls with technology. 

Jessica Ponce - Cafeteria Services

Vivi (Jia Wei) - Internship Student