A strength of our school is the continuing service of the six founding administrators who have managed Franklin Academy over the past sixteen years and remain enthusiastically committed to the school’s mission and the students we serve. This administrative team includes Fred Weissbach (Headmaster), Tom Hays (originally Educational Director, now Assistant Headmaster), Cindy Pope (Admissions Director), Mary Murphy (originally Residential Director, now Development Director), Lee Barsom (Operations Director), and Rebecca Hays (originally Clinical Director, now Program Director).

It is also exciting to watch younger colleagues grow and develop in their work and then be ready for greater responsibilities and leadership opportunities at Franklin Academy. With this perspective in mind, I am delighted to announce a set of promotions that will positively impact program leadership. Beginning this fall, each Franklin Academy team will have a Coordinator, who will work closely with the Program Director to ensure that the academic, residential and clinical aspects of our holistic curriculum are closely integrated to ensure student success. Here is our new line-up.

Rebecca Hays will be our Program Director moving forward. She brings an extensive range of experience to her ongoing work in our program.

Shannon Cove is serving as our Academic Coordinator and the Coordinator for Team B. She will be taking over many of the responsibilities from last year’s Educational Director, including oversight of our Learning Specialists professionals, working closely with parents and school districts, as well as continuing to hone our academic curriculum. Shannon is beginning her seventh year at Franklin Academy.

Chelsea Lazos is serving as our Residential Coordinator and the Coordinator of Team C. She will be overseeing our Residential Dean professionals, as well as providing oversight regarding school-wide behavioral interventions and staff training in the residence halls. This is the start of Chelsea’s eleventh year at the school.

Sean O’Leary is serving as our Clinical Coordinator and the Coordinator of Team D. Sean will be providing oversight for our Team Counseling staff, psychiatric services, and implementation of our RULER program. Sean is starting his third year at Franklin Academy.

Kinsley Sanders Rausch is serving as our FLI Coordinator. In this role, she will provide oversight for our FLI Advisors and our new FACTS College Transition Advisor, Jennifer Dziekan. Kinsley has been with Franklin Academy since 2004.

Kristen Humiston will be our Program Manager, a new position this year. Kristen is a fourteen-year veteran at Franklin Academy and will be providing essential administrative support for our academic year program, as well as the planning and organization for Summer Sojourn. Kristen will have oversight for many program elements, including academic and faculty duty schedules, life sports, weekend activities, and other important parts of our Individual & Community curriculum and all-school events.

Future posts will look at team and academic department leadership, provide profiles of our great teachers, and introduce new faculty at Franklin Academy.