Tracey Williams, Founder
Tracey, her husband of more then 20 years, and their teenage daughter joined the Montclair community in 1995. Since then, Tracey has been very involved and active in education. She has been a substitute teacher in Montclair, parent volunteer at Northeast Elementary School, class parent at Hillside Elementary School, hospitality chair at Glenfield Middle School, and president of the Montclair High School Parent Teacher Association. Her professional background includes work as a college counselor, student development specialist, adjunct instructor, freshman counselor, student organization advisor, workshop facilitator and counseling group leader at Seton Hall University and Montclair State University. Tracey has a Masters degree in Counseling, a Bachelors degree in Sociology and most recently earned a certification in k-12 School Counseling from Montclair State University.
Liliya Panayev, Founder
Liliya is a faculty member of Montclair High School and is a teacher of Advanced Placement U.S. History, as well as an Advisor for International Programs. Ms. Panayev holds a Master of Arts in Teaching Special Education from The College of New Jersey; and a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the State University of New York at New Paltz. With over ten years of experience in designing and carrying out social studies curricula for students in diverse settings, her teaching methodology addresses a wide range of learning ability; from severe learning and emotional disabilities to gifted and talented.
Claudette Searchwell, Advisory Committee
An author and adjunct professor at the Teaching and Performance Center at Kean University, Union, New Jersey, serves as a clinical supervisor of pre-professional student teachers and professional senior interns. She is also a retired elementary school principal who was employed for a 34-year career in the public schools.
Lois Donegan, Founder
Lois has lived in Montclair for 26 years and has two children who attended the public schools. She was active in PTA and school review. Both she and her husband were part of the group that founded GIFT (Getting Interracial Families Together). She is also active in the League of Women Voters. Professionally Lois has a NJ School Psychology and Supervisor certification, and Masters degrees in Clinical Psychology and Educational Leadership. She has worked at Lady Liberty Charter School for the last seven years.
Rachelle Byrd, Founder
Lives and works in Montclair with her husband and three children, who currently attend Montclair Public Schools.
Ron Rego, Founder
Ron was born in Montclair and currently resides there with his wife and three children. His three girls attend Montclair public schools. Ron has an engineering degree from Stevens Institute, a masters in computer science from Rutgers and an MBA in Finance from NYU. He has worked in the information technology field for a number of years and is currently an IT consultant for New York City hospitals.