Meet The Team
Barclay Burns
Barclay Lincoln Burns has a career of public and higher education: serving as a teacher, professor and program director. He was the founder and president of Learning.com, an award-winning educational technology company that has worked with tens of millions of students and thousands of districts delivering integrated technology, language art, math and science curriculum. He has a PhD in Instructional Psychology from BYU, focusing on the science of learning and creating learning communities. He also has a PhD in strategic management from Cambridge focused on improving health care outcomes for patients. Barclay has a passion for helping students experience success in schools and in life.
Ramona Trevino
Ramona served as the Senior Director for District and School Design at the Center for Collaborative Education in Boston, MA; Lower School Co-Principal at the Graded American School in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Chief Academic Officer for the Austin School District; Founding Principal and CEO of the University of Texas Elementary School; and Principal of the award-winning Zilker Elementary School in Austin. She completed her B.S.Ed. at Wheelock College in Boston, and her M.Ed. and Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin where she also served as a clinical professor.
Patrick Carman
The creator of Aftershock, a #1 narrative podcast in the world, and a New York Times bestselling children’s author with five million books in print. Patrick is also the creative director and co-founder of GoKidGo, a best-in-class children’s podcast company, where he oversees and creates a slate of five shows for kids and releases over 100 episodes monthly. Mr. Carman has toured to over 2500 schools across the country, speaking with over a million students live and in person.
Andrea Menchaca
Andrea Menchaca is the Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) Coordinator for the UT Charter School System. In her role as SEL Coordinator, Andrea supports the district with implementation of social emotional programs and best practices for supporting student’s social and emotional wellbeing. Andrea is passionate about advocating for evidence-based social and emotional skills instruction and trauma-informed educational practices.
Nicole Whetstone
Nicole Whetstone, Ph.D. serves as the Superintendent for The University of Texas-University Charter School System. Her research interests include culturally responsive behavior interventions, juvenile justice and trauma-
informed classrooms. She earned a Ph.D. in Multicultural Special Education from The University of Texas at Austin. While teaching secondary special education in the Austin Independent School District, Dr. Whetstone facilitated professional development workshops for teachers and educational leaders.
Jennie Noonan
My name is Jennie Noonan. I have taught in public education for 14 years. I am passionate about helping students learn through inquiry and collaboration. In my role as an educator, I strive to foster my students’ social and emotional growth, through hands on learning that is culturally relevant.
Jan Evans
Jan Evans is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. She has been an educator for more than 30 years. She has worked in various districts in Texas as a classroom teacher in grades 2 - 6, and has worked as a Gifted and Talented teacher, a special education interventionist, and a math specialist. She has worked at the UT Elementary Charter School since 2004 as currently serves as the librarian, interventionist, and GT testing coordinator.