The first meeting of the School Leadership Academy Board is Monday, Oct. 27 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The meeting will be held at the Colorado Department of Education in the first floor state board room.
 
The board was created through legislation calling for a School Leadership Academy Program, including a principal academy to improve the recruitment, training and ongoing professional development of school leaders in Colorado.
 
Colorado State Legislature passed House Bill 1386 in 2008, establishing the leadership academy board, which will advise the Colorado State Board of Education in overseeing the leadership academy program.
 
The 14 members of the School Leadership Academy Board include:
 
Kevin Aten, Principal, Mountain View High School
Linda Barker, Director of Teaching and Learning, Colorado Education Association
Floyd Beard, Executive Director, East Central Board of Cooperative Educational Services
Jeanette Cornier, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Teaching and Learning, Colorado Department of Education
Jim Eck, Senior Director, McCREL (Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning)
Jay Helman, President, Western State College
Mark Hyatt, President, The Classical Academy
Lynn Rhodes, Dean of Education, University of Colorado at Denver
Mary Rubadeau, Superintendent, Telluride School District
Mary Seawell, Associate Director, Get Smart Schools
Nathan Smith, Principal, Del Norte Middle School, Del Norte School District
Mary Kay Sommers, Principal, Shepardson Elementary School, Poudre School District, 2008-2008 President of the National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP)
Tim Taylor, President, Colorado Succeeds
Jane Urschel, Deputy Executive Director, Colorado Association of School Boards
 
Board members will serve a three-year term. The board will set policies and procedures for the leadership academy program, monitor the program, define criteria for the department to use in selecting participants for the academy, determine curricular components of the program, and report annually to the Colorado State Board of Education.

Commissioner Dwight D. Jones