About CARE Coaching

Our Values

  • Educator expertise and experiences
  • On-going coaching relationships built on mutual respect, trust and commitment
  • Responsive coaching styles and techniques within a cycle of action and reflection
  • Collaboration among coaches, teachers, administrators, students, and families
  • Voice and choice in all our partnerships
  • Neutral, non-judgmental reflection that fosters learning and growth
  • Analysis of multiple data points, including both qualitative and quantitative measures
  • Critical lens towards educational systems, policies, and instructional and assessment practices

Lead Coaches

Yvonne Williams
Director of MLL Educator Engagement at WCEPS, CARE Bilingual Coach: English/Spanish

Learning Forward Language of Coaching Graduate

Yvonne is the Director of Multilingual Learner Educator Engagement at WCEPS.  She collaborates closely with LEAs to discuss educator goals, needs, and develops the best path to topics that align with those goals. Prior to WCEPS, she spent three years with WIDA, as a Professional Learning Specialist working in both international and domestic settings. She has worked in education for 20+ years, teaching a variety of language ...

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Amy King
Assistant Director of Educator Engagement at WCEPS, CARE Coach - Advanced Cognitive Coach Certified

Learning Forward Language of Coaching Graduate

Amy King has more than 20 years of experience in the field of English language teaching and learning both in the US and overseas. Before joining WCEPS, Ms. King was a Senior Professional Learning Specialist at WIDA for more than six years. She taught ESL in K–12 public schools, private language schools, and adult education programs. Internationally, she has taught in both Slovakia and South Korea. In Banska Bystrica, she was a v...

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Talia Gray
Coordinator of Educator Engagement at WCEPS, CARE Coach

Learning Forward Language of Coaching Graduate

Talia Gray is Coordinator of Multilingual Educator Engagement at WCEPS.  Talia is a veteran teacher with over 18 years of classroom experience.  She has taught every elementary grade level in many capacities including Special Education, ESOL, and EIP.  Talia has served teachers and students in her role as an Academic Coach.  In 2020, she became a consultant for WCEPS and has delivered professional development...

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Consultant Coaches

Angelica Kalat, Ed.D
CARE Bilingual Coach: English/Spanish

Dr. Angelica Kalat is an experienced Bilingual Reading Specialist with over 25 years of teaching expertise in Special Education, English Language Learners and historically underserved populations. She has taught students at the elementary and secondary levels.  Dr. Kalat is known for her commitment to fostering inclusive learning environments, nurturing critical thinking skills and empowering students to reach their potential. Currently, Dr. Kalat teaches literacy and pr...

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Anna S. Sargent, Ed.D.
CARE Coach

Learning Forward Language of Coaching Graduate

Anna Sargent has 30 years in education serving various roles in public education.  She has served in the capacity of a middle and high school teacher, elementary and middle school administrator, and system-level director of federal programs. 

She teaches the ESOL endorsement to current and future teachers and serves as an adjunct online professor at Kennesaw State University teaching ESOL courses to future teache...

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Ariana Magee, Ed.D
CARE Coach

Dr. Ariana Magee is an educational leader specializing in making learning accessible for English learners. As an assistant principal, she works to increase equitable practices and improve instruction for English Learners.

As a classroom science teacher for just over a decade, Dr. Magee worked with secondary language minority students at various levels of English proficiency. She uses this experience to enhance the pedagogical knowledge and practice of the educators with...

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Babatunji Ifarinu
CARE Coach

Learning Forward Language of Coaching Graduate

Babatunji Ifarinu (Tunji) graduated from Florida A & M University with an undergraduate degree in History and Geography with teacher certification and earned an M.Ed at Georgia State University in Educational Leadership and Supervision. Conducting workshops on equity and access for culturally and linguistically diverse students, Tunji has advocated for students and teachers.  Tunji has been in the field of education sin...

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Claudia Martinez
CARE Bilingual Coach: English/Spanish

Dr. Claudia Martinez is an ESOL leader at North Tattnall Middle School. She was the 2020 GATESOL Teacher of the Year. Dr. Martinez received the Best Example of Teacher & Student Wellbeing Programs award at the 2022 Georgia Tech and Learning Summit. 

Her personal story proves that students can accomplish anything under the right conditions. Dr. Martinez is a first-generation immigrant and high school graduate. She is a product of public education in a southern r...

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Colleen LeCompte
CARE Coach

Learning Forward Language of Coaching Graduate

Colleen LeCompte has over 30 years of experience in the field of education. She continues to teach at the Elementary level and works with grades K-6. Her teaching experience includes classroom teaching, special education, interventionist, and English Language Development.  As a Lead Teacher in her district, Colleen provides educational coaching and staff development focusing on academic, linguistic, and social-emotional cha...

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Daniel Yip
CARE Coach

Learning Forward Language of Coaching Graduate

Daniel Yip has been an educator of multilingual learners (MLLs) for 17 years in PK-12 public school environments and university-level, both in the USA and in China. He has provided direct and co-taught support to MLLs at every grade level. His mission is to provide differentiated coaching that allows teams of educators to develop an instructional program that serves every student; using race, language, culture, and experience as...

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Ivonne Perez
CARE Bilingual Coach: English/Spanish

Learning Forward Language of Coaching Graduate

Ivonne Perez has been a Special education teacher for more than 20 years in rural middle and high schools.  She got a masters in Bilingual Special Education from the University of Texas at El Paso and a Masters in Education with a focus on Autism from the New Mexico State University.  She has worked with verbal and nonverbal students. Ivonne has worked in different areas such as mathematics and reading with students wi...

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Jacqueline C. Ellis, NBCT, Ed.D
CARE Coach

Learning Forward Language of Coaching Graduate

Dr. Ellis is an ESOL and ELA Specialist. Jacqueline has a very strong background in both ESOL and English language arts programs.  Jacqueline’s doctorate is in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis on TESOL.  Jacqueline also has a master’s degree in TESOL education, and she is NBCT certification in ESOL.  In addition, Jacqueline has K-12 state certifications in ESOL, English language arts, and educational le...

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Jessica Fundalinski
CARE Coach

Jessica Fundalinski is a seasoned educator and scholar dedicated to fostering humanizing and inclusive learning environments for multilingual learners. She has more than ten years of experience in public schools working with multilingual learners as a middle school English learner teacher and department chair. She has also worked as a division-wide English learner specialist to support teachers and administrators in the D.C. metropolitan area.  

Currently, Jes...

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Katherine Grasso
CARE Coach

With 10 years of experience in education, Katherine Grasso is committed to fostering inclusive and equitable learning environments for all learners. She sees literacy instruction as a necessity when teaching all students across all contents. Her experience includes teaching high school math to multilingual learners in El Paso, Texas and serving on a campus leadership team as an instructional coach for middle school and high school. She has worked as a faculty leader, delivered PD sessions ...

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Katie Vázquez
CARE Bilingual Coach: English/Spanish

Learning Forward Language of Coaching Graduate

Katie is a dual language educator from Woodstock, Illinois. She began her career as a primary Spanish-English dual language teacher and has spent nearly 15 years as a dual language facilitator, working to help grow and strengthen the dual language program which spans PreK-12th grade. 

Katie enjoys working with teachers to expand their capacity to help language learners thrive. She has undertaken various professional d...

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Kylee McIntosh
CARE Coach

Kylee McIntosh facilitates teacher development to help educators provide access to engaging, effective learning experiences for all students. Kylee began her education career teaching English as a Second Language to children and adults in Argentina. While there, she earned her Master's in Education from the Universidad de San Andrés. This experience sparked her passion for educating multilingual learners! Since returning to the U.S., Kylee has worked for Hillsborough County and Chicago pub...

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Laura Chávez-Dávalos
CARE Bilingual Coach: English/Spanish

Learning Forward Language of Coaching Graduate

With over 25 years of experience in both private and public education as an English, ELL and Bilingual instructor, Laura Chávez-Dávalos is currently the director of the Office of Learning Services at Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago). In this role she oversees the provision of the college’s Bridge Program, academic strategies courses, peer tutoring, peer mentoring, academic coaching, stud...

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Margarita Marrero
CARE Bilingual Coach: English/Spanish

Learning Forward Language of Coaching Graduate

Margarita Marrero has 15 years of experience in public education with a passion, and focus on improving school systems to integrate literacy instruction and content instruction to provide access and equity to English Learners. Her experience includes teaching Spanish and math at a dual-language elementary school in Miami, Florida, high school math in El Paso, Texas, and she has served on campus leadership teams at the high schoo...

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Marisa Silva
CARE Bilingual Coach: English/Spanish

Marisa Silva is a native of the New Mexico borderlands and was born and raised in Las Cruces. She grew up immersed in the vibrant English-Spanish environment of the sister cities of Las Cruces, El Paso, and Ciudad Juarez. Marisa received a master’s degree from New Mexico State University in Curriculum & Instruction with a minor in bilingual education in 2005, and returned again to graduate school as a James Madison Memorial Foundation fellow to the University of New Mexic...

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Mishelle Jurado
CARE Bilingual Coach: English/Spanish

Learning Forward Language of Coaching Graduate

Mishelle is a veteran bilingual teacher from the state of New Mexico. In her 20+ years in the classroom she has taught Spanish as a Modern Language, Spanish for Heritage Speakers, and for the la...

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Nora Delgado Burton
CARE Bilingual Coach: English/Spanish

Nora has been a Dual Language educator for the past 12 years and is now a Dual Language Instructional Coach and Teaching & Learning Administrator in North Chicago, IL.  She holds a BA in Communication and Latino Studies, a MA in Elementary Education, a MA in Curriculum & Instruction with ESL/Bilingual endorsements, and is finalizing her dissertation for a PhD in Educational Leadership.  Her research centers around building capacity, confidence, and community through leade...

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Ruby Yip
CARE Coach

Ruby Yip has been an advocate and educator for multilingual learners (MLs) since 2004 in both PK-12 and community college settings. Her firsthand experience as a multilingual learner who immigrated to the United States at the age of 13 with no knowledge of the English language empowers her to strive each day to provide access and educational opportunities to the students she serves. She strongly believes that with the appropriate tools, access, and opportunities, any learner ...

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Shoua Moua
CARE Coach

As a first generation Hmong American, Shoua has personally experienced the struggles that many of our students face in navigating the educational system in the United States.  Her life experiences fuel her passion to become an educator of over 20+ years. 

Her professional experience includes successful teaching and instructional leadership in private, charter, traditional public schools and EdTech start-ups. In her tenure as a principal, she was recognized as ...

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Silvia Romero-Johnson
CARE Bilingual Coach: English/Spanish

Dr. Silvia Romero-Johnson is an educational leader in the field of K-12 education. She started her career as a paraprofessional working as liaison, interpreter and translator for Spanish-speaking students and families. She became a bilingual mathematics teacher in bilingual programs. Later, she became a principal for a whole school dual language education community school. She has been serving in cabinet level administrative positions in urban and suburban districts. She is the co-author f...

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Tamisha Sampson
CARE Coach

Learning Forward Language of Coaching Graduate


Mrs. Sampson has been an educator for over twenty years. She has worked in the university and public school settings.   Her mission is to provide tar...

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Victor Reyes
CARE Bilingual Coach: English/Spanish

Victor H. Reyes has been a Dual Language educator for the past 10 years and is now a Dual Language Instructional Coach & Teaching & Learning Administrator in North Chicago, IL.He is a Golden Apple Scholar who holds his B.A. in Elementary Education from Rockford University and a M.A. Curriculum Instruction &...

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WendySue Clausson
CARE Coach

WendySue Clausson is an ESL teacher in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She has over 22 years of experience working with students from pre-K through adult education. She is more than a teacher. She is a building coach, a department mentor, a family liaison, and a FACE committee member. You may know her as a past president of VATESOL. Her experiences of providing PD at the building, district, state, regional, and national levels have taught her the value of networking and supporting each other wit...

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Wilma Valero
CARE Bilingual Coach: English/Spanish

Wilma Valero served as director of the ELL Program for School District U-46 which is the second largest pre-k – 12 district in Illinois.  It is within the comprehensive lens of culturally and linguistically responsive instruction that Wilma, in collaboration with teachers, is given to the task of designing thematic units from kindergarten through sixth grade that integrate in an organic manner the relevance and rigor of language and content.

Her educational vision ...

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