School Accountability Committee

The state of Colorado requires each school to have a School Accountability Committee (SAC) consisting of parents, teachers, and community members charged with advising the administration on the improvement of the school. The SAC is tasked with informing, encouraging, and providing opportunities for parent and community members to be involved in the planning and evaluation of the school’s instructional program and quality improvement processes. The SAC reports to the principal and participates in the District Accountability Committee (DAC). SAC also serves as a sounding board for community concerns.

To achieve these goals throughout the year the SAC members will:

Review every policy and procedure at BFA and make recommendations to the Board
Review Standardized Assessment Data with school administration – identify areas of needed growth
Review the schools Unified Improvement Plan (UIP) developed by the school administration to address needed areas of growth
Participate in monthly District Accountability Committee (DAC) Meetings with the Douglas County School District
Administer Parent Satisfaction Surveys – report results and SAC recommendations to the Board
Administer Student Satisfaction Surveys – report results and SAC recommendations to the Board

All meetings are open to the public and publicized beforehand. We encourage parents and other community members to attend. Currently, Cindy Brawley chairs the SAC committee. Our upcoming meeting dates can be found under the Parents Tab School Calendar.

Bylaws

For a copy of the SAC Bylaws click here.

Committee Members

Cindy Brawley

Chair

Cindy moved to Colorado at the age of four and graduated from The University of Colorado with a BA in Sociology and BS in Nursing. She has practiced across the country for sixteen years in the areas of Cardiology, Orthopedics and Oncology. She currently works part time at The University of Colorado Hospital as an Outpatient Nurse. Cindy and her husband, Bob, have three children who attend BFA and they feel so grateful to a part of the school’s wonderful community. When not busy with work, school and the kids’ activities, the family loves to ski, camp and travel.

Mette Castor

Vice-Chair

Mette was born raised just outside Houston, Texas and attended Louisiana Tech University where she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with minors in Biology and Chemistry. She was crowned Miss Louisiana 1997 and after placing in the Top Ten at Miss America she traveled throughout Louisiana and the South speaking to thousands of students about the Character Counts! program and was instrumental in legislation requiring all schools in Louisiana to implement character education. She worked for GlaxoSmithKline and Icos Biotech before becoming a full-time mom. She and her husband Bill moved to Colorado in 2009 and in 2011 their oldest son was fortunate to be in the first class of BFA kindergarteners. With their youngest in kindergarten this year, all three of their boys are now all together at BFA.

Sarah Nisbet

DAC Liaison

Sarah obtained a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Texas State University and is EC-4 certified in the state of Texas. She has five years teaching experience in a Kindergarten classroom in Alvin, TX. While teaching she became ESL certified, GT trained, was a member of the literacy collaborative, and mentored a new teacher and a student teacher. Sarah is now a busy mom to three little girls, demonstrates Nespresso coffee machines on the weekends, does some admin work from home, and is Jr. Finance for her MOPS group. When not helping at BFA Sarah enjoys hiking and biking with her girls and their dog Logan in beautiful Colorado!

Courtney Jurbala

Board Liaison

Courtney Jurbala is an at-large director on BFA Board. She holds bachelors in both accounting and economics from Hartwick College in New York. Ms. Jurbala also received her MBA from the University of Colorado as well as a post-graduate certificate from the University of Washington in health economics and outcomes research. Ms. Jurbala has spent the past 18 years in finance and currently works as Director of Finance for AlloSouce, a non-profit tissue bank out of Centennial, Colorado. Ms. Jurbala currently serves as the Board liaison for the School Accountability Committee (SAC).

Josh Rau

Administrator

I am very excited about joining Ben Franklin Academy. As a former Art teacher, I am extremely passionate about the arts which lends itself to the STEAM model. I have served in a variety of teaching and educational leadership roles over the past 20 years. Most recently, helping launch an arts-integrated charter school, as the assistant principal. I began my teaching career working as both the Visual Arts and the Physical Education instructor at a Core Knowledge K-8 charter school in Westminster. Following that, I taught visual arts for 15 years at another Core Knowledge charter school in Littleton. While there, I also enjoyed coaching a variety of sports in my role as the athletic director. I was born and raised in the Colorado mountains, where I have enjoyed spending numerous hours outdoors. I love to ski, hike and rock climb along with my two daughters and wife Amber. My educational background includes a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership from Regis University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts and Physical Education from the University of Northern Colorado.

I believe that great schools are the result of great teachers, so I am excited to be a part of a culture where every student is receiving high-quality instruction from every teacher. As the parent of two daughters–ages 3 and 10–I also recognize the importance of the family connection. Our parents and families are our child’s first teacher, and I believe that by working together, we can make sure your child’s social, emotional, and academic needs are met. It is my highest priority to work closely with all of our teachers to ensure a community where all of our students are intellectually, scientifically and artistically challenged, and where they have access to the social and emotional support needed to become productive and creative young scholars. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your community!

Elaine Dunkel

Community Member

Candace McGinty

Teacher Liaison

Candace has been teaching more than 12 years now. Candace received her Bachelor’s of Science in Education from Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. Candace taught third grade in Clyde, Texas and later moved to Aurora, Colorado to teach first, second, and third grades. In 1993, Candace had her first child and decided to be a stay-at-home mom.

Recently Candace earned an endorsement in Literacy and plans to use it to help students with reading disabilities. Candace has been teaching first grade at Ben Franklin Academy for 4 years and had been substituting at Ben Franklin Academy for three years. She truly loves the students and families at BFA. She is heavily invested in Core Knowledge curriculum, given that her own two children attended a Core Knowledge charter school.

Candace lives in Highlands Ranch with her husband Scott of 28 years and a cute wiener dog named Wilson. She has a son, Preston, who graduated from Colorado State University and a daughter, Monica, who graduated from Pepperdine University in California. She enjoys cooking, reading and crafting in her spare time.

Candace truly loves the BFA community and can’t wait to meet her new class of first graders!