DREXEL SCHOOLS ANNOUNCES TWO HIRINGS
Jed de Torres and Jennifer Baran join school initiative
SAN JOSE … January 13, 2015 … The team is now complete.
The Drexel School Initiative, in the Diocese of San Jose, is pleased to announce the hiring of two key members to its operations team: Jed de Torres has been selected as Drexel’s Instructional Learning Specialist; Jennifer Baran has come on board as the Director of Admissions. The pair joins: Chuck Flores, Director of Operations; Matt Cordes, Program Administrator and Winie Tunggono, Controller.
In his role as Instructional Learning Specialist, de Torres will observe and mentor each school’s instructional practices. Baran’s focus is admissions and enrollment, and working with each Drexel Principal on their admissions and marketing strategies.
“With Jed, this is an opportunity to use his skills as an educator on a wider scale,” said Flores. “Jennifer has some amazing ideas and her background is just what we were looking for. We will use what she has learned to better serve our Drexel community.”
There are seven schools in the Drexel Initiative, now in its second year. Those schools are: Catholic Academy, Holy Spirit, Most Holy Trinity, Resurrection School, St. Clare, St. Patrick and St. Joseph Mountain View. The educational focus of Drexel is blended learning, which uses tools and practices to maximize the use of technology and advanced content to make the students’ learning experience more flexible, personalized and lasting. Drexel Schools use the station rotation model of blended learning, a combination of teacher-led and individualized instruction using digital content on an iPad.
Before joining Drexel, de Torres spent the last 13 years as the Fifth Grade teacher at Resurrection School. He focused on the Blended Learning style of teaching, which utilizes technology to advance a student academically.
“I am there for the teachers to be more successful and be more confident in using technology,” de Torres said.
Baran joins Drexel after spending three years as the Communications Counselor Lead at San Jose State University. While there, she led a team of four counselors in managing communications for 44,000 undergraduate and graduate applicants.
“I want to make sure everything we do is in alignment with our Catholic faith,” said Baran, “and ultimately serves our students.”
Learn more about the Drexel Schools Initiative at its new website, drexel.dsj.org.
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About Drexel Schools
The Drexel School System (Drexel) is a new model for Catholic Elementary Schools that transforms Catholic education for the 21st Century. Drexel Schools ensure that Catholic education remains vital and accessible to all families while simultaneously increasing a strong Catholic Identity and delivering excellent academics.
Media Contact:
Liz Sullivan
408-983-0228
easullivan@dsj.org