
Jexy is a part-time literacy coach at an urban LAUSD high school and was a classroom teacher for 10 years before that. Her son Jacob is in the first grade and this is her family's second year at Odyssey.
Jexy entered teaching in 1993 as a corps member in the Teach For America Program. She is still working at the school at which she was originally placed by Teach for America. In 1999, Jexy earned her National Board Certification as a secondary language arts teacher. As a teacher, she was involved in her school’s accreditation process (similar to a chartering process) and was on the school reform governance committee.
Jexy was one of a small group of teachers who started a “school within a school” that focused on project-based instruction and interdisciplinary team-teaching. In her current job as a literacy coach, Jexy works with teachers to develop strategies and curriculum to improve reading and writing. She is also currently in a master’s program to get her credential in Educational Administration.
Before coming to Odyssey, Jexy was on the board of her son’s co-op nursery school. She was the board president for a year and a half and she was on the personnel committee for three years. Jexy was very involved with all aspects of running the school, including hiring employees, working with state licensing agencies, and serving as a liaison between parents and teachers. Jexy is very interested in seeing Odyssey continue to grow and improve. She feels that her experiences as a public school educator and as a nursery school board member have provided her with a unique insight that she will bring to the OSC Governing Board.
Kathleen O’Sullivan has served as the National Director of EdVisions Schools, leading the replication of their innovative secondary school model. Kathleen is a dynamic speaker and is known for her ability to inspire and mobilize critical stakeholders to act. She is also considered the ultimate “Resource Choreographer” for her ability to creatively leverage a wide array of resources in new ways to make things happen.
Kathleen’s vision is to bring together education and industry to ensure that our youth have access to 21st Century Learning and multiple pathways to success. Her purpose and passion is to make a difference in how we prepare our young people to compete in an ever-changing world of work. She earned her reputation as a pioneer and leader in the charter school movement as the Founder and past Executive Director of Odyssey Charter School and her legislative advocacy for charter schools statewide. Her commitment and leadership in bringing a new relevance to learning at Odyssey grew out of her experience in the corporate, nonprofit and public sectors in workforce development, her role as a parent and her work with special needs children in foster care and residential treatment. The charter venture demanded endless persistence and diplomacy with a multitude of organizations – federal, state, local and private, as well as elected officials at all levels of government. Her story was one of 13 nationwide chosen to be featured in “Leading on the Ground: Adventures of Charter School Creators.” Kathleen has been a presenter on creating 21st century learning environments at conferences in the U.S., United Kingdom, China and Taiwan.
Kathleen is a recognized leader in her local community. She received a Eureka-Communities Fellowship Award in 2003 in recognition of her dedication, commitment and community service. Kathleen was honored by the YWCA as a Woman of Excellence in Education for 2006. She serves on a number of boards, including the executive board of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and Leadership Pasadena. Kathleen also serves as a volunteer for W.A.S.C. (Accrediting Commission for Schools).
Rick has been the Director of Admissions at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), in Pasadena, California since the summer of 2004. Prior to assuming the chief admissions officer role at Caltech, Rick began his admissions career as an Associate Director of Admissions at Macalester College, his alma mater, in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Most recently he served as an Associate Director of Admissions/Director of Recruitment Strategy at the University of Chicago.
Rick is a frequent conference speaker on technology in admissions and is often invited by high schools across the country to speak on the college search, admissions process and essay writing. Rick holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Macalester College and an MBA in Information Systems from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.
Tamerlin Godley is a partner in the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, handling complex business litigation matters and specializing in trademark and copyright litigation. She has handled intellectual property cases for many clients, including MGM, ABC, Warner Brothers and its affiliates, Universal, Artists Management Group and 1-800 Contacts. In the course of these representations, she has had the opportunity to work closely with some of the leading scholars in both the copyright and trademark arenas.
Ms. Godley graduated from UCLA with a double major in English and Political Science, obtained a Masters Degree in English from Cal State Northridge, and taught in South Central Los Angeles before going to law school. She received her J.D. from the University of Southern California in 1996, Order of the Coif, where she was a notes editor of the Law Review and a writing instructor for first year law students. Prior to joining Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, Ms. Godley clerked for Judge Harry L. Hupp in the federal district court, Central District of California.
Ms. Godley is actively involved in the community, having been elected to the South Pasadena School Board, on which she served for four years.. She previously served on the Primary Center Task Force for the Los Angeles Unified School District, which brought together the expertise of community members and district personnel to build the only school facilities completed by LAUSD in the 1990’s. She also served on the Rampart Independent Review Panel, which investigated and analyzed the Los Angeles Police Department’s discipline and oversight practices and put forth recommendations for improvement after the Rampart Division scandals. She is currently Vice-Chair of the Odyssey Charter School Governing Board, a member of the Development Committee for the Pasadena Armory Center for the Arts and involved with the Pasadena Educational Foundation.
Susan Ruffins has been a parent at Odyssey Charter School for eight years and has served twice on the OCS governing board. She is currently on the board as the 4th-8th grade parent representative.