I'm Jessica Welch, Senior Director of School Programs. In this role I support our teams doing work to ensure that CSI schools meet their responsibilities to serve all students. We approach the work with a focus on equity, access, and continuous improvement to support schools in closing outcome gaps. This includes overseeing compliance with all state and federal requirements, providing opportunities for capacity building, and offering tiered consultation/support. I believe charter schools play an important role in a healthy education ecosystem, and may serve as models for a truly community-based and culturally responsive approach to education.

In prior roles, I've served as CSI's District Assessment Coordinator, ELD Coordinator, READ Act/School Readiness Coordinator, and Improvement and Implementation Specialist. Before working at CSI, I worked as a teacher and school administrator in Colorado, New Mexico, and East Africa. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish with a focus in Music Pedagogy from the University of New Mexico, and a Master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In my free time I continue to teach and play music, and like to run on dirt as much as I can.