Jade Rivera- Founder/Executive Director
Jade Rivera is a native New Mexican, and proud product of public education. Ms. Rivera solidified her commitment to education after she joined Teach for America in Las Vegas, Nevada. During her time in the classroom, she achieved significant academic gains with her students. Realizing the tremendous impact of state and local policy on transforming education, Ms. Rivera went on to join the state of New Mexico’s Public Education Department as a Policy Administrator. At the Public Education Department Ms. Rivera directed innovative programs and professional development opportunities for educators across the state.
In 2016, Ms. Rivera was part of the 2016 Building Excellent Schools Fellowship, a highly selective year long program that trains leaders to take on the demanding and urgent work of leading high-achieving, college preparatory charter schools.
In 2018, Ms. Rivera founded and opened the doors of Albuquerque Collegiate Charter School, located in Albuquerque’s South Valley. Since it’s opening, Ms. Rivera and her team have led Albuquerque Collegiate to earn designations scoring in the top 10% of NM schools in literacy growth and proficiency, as well as student and family satisfaction.
Ms. Rivera holds a B.A. from the University of New Mexico and a M.Ed in Elementary Education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. In 2020, Ms. Rivera was recognized as one of New Mexico’s “Top 40 Under 40” young professionals. Ms. Rivera enjoys volunteering with various non-profit organizations in Albuquerque, serving on the boards for Homewise, the Hispano Philanthropic Society, the Solare Collegiate Foundation, and Public Charter Schools of New Mexico.
Patricia Pinnere- Director of Curriculum & Instruction
Patricia Pinnere was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Being one of 5 daughters born to Mexican and Guatemalan immigrants, Ms. Pinnere understood and embraced the value of education, hard work, and determination at a young age. After receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles, Ms. Pinnere taught in the Los Angeles Unified School District for six years. In 2006, Ms. Pinnere relocated to New Mexico and has taught in both Rio Rancho and Albuquerque Public School districts, where she had the opportunity to work with students as a classroom teacher, ESL/ Bilingual Coordinator, and Dual Language teacher. In 2017, Ms. Pinnere was selected as a WW MBA Fellow in Educational Leadership. The WW New Mexico MBA blends school-based clinical practice with innovative business school coursework to ensure graduates have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to guide schools and districts in a new kind of education environment while closing achievement gaps. Ms. Pinnere completed her fellowship and received her MBA in Educational Leadership from the University of New Mexico in 2019.
As the Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Ms. Pinnere is responsible for leading Albuquerque Collegiate’s instructional and academic strategic planning. In collaboration with the Executive Director, Ms. Pinnere develops internal and external goals for school, and monitors progress towards achievement of those goals. Ms. Pinnere provides coaching and support to all instructional staff and is responsible for planning and leading high quality professional development for teachers.
Kelsey McCaffrey- Instructional & Data Coach
Kelsey McCaffrey was born and raised in Northern California. Ms. McCaffrey complted undergraduate degree at Santa Rosa Junior College before transferring to California State University, Chico. At Chico State, Ms. McCaffrey was active in her language studies and became involved in extracurriculars including the debate team and model united nations. Ms. McCaffrey started her career in education as a kindergarten teacher at Albuquerque Collegiate through the Teach for America program, while also working towards her TESOL endorsement to work with English Learners. In her first year of teaching, Ms.McCaffrey achieved significant academic growth with her students before the school year was interrupted by COVID-19. In 2020, Ms. McCaffrey became active in education policy as the ACCS Teacher Liaison to the Public Education Department. The following year Ms.McCaffrey grew in her leadership and joined the ACCS leadership team and she took on the role of Intervention Teacher and Coach as she coached new teachers on the best teaching strategies in the nation. In 2021 Ms.McCaffrey was accepted into TeachPlus as a policy fellow and used her teacher voice to advocate for positive policy change for New Mexico’s students. Ms. McCaffrey is working towards her masters in Educational Studies and Leadership at Johns Hopkins University and currently works as Albuquerque Collegiate’s Instructional and Data Coach.
Janelle Phommahasay- Dean of Scholars
Janelle Phommahasay was born and raised in Lemoore, California. She dreamed of being a school teacher as a young child as a result of having many positive experiences from her teachers. Also inspired by her mother, a Bilingual Special Education teacher, Mrs.Phommahasay also studied Spanish to become bilingual to provide support in the Latino community. After receiving her Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies and minor in Psychology at Fresno Pacific University in Fresno, California, Mrs. Phommahasay relocated with her husband and 2 sons to Albuquerque, NM. She continued her education and received her New Mexico teachers license k-8. Even with her passion and studies of early elementary education, Mrs.Phommahasay was given an opportunity to teach 8th grade math at an Albuquerque charter school for 7 years. She gained experience and knowledge of upper middle school while achieving high student academic growth in math. As Dean at ACCS, Mrs.Phommahasay’s role is to uphold a strong overall school culture, working directly with staff, scholars, and families.
