Shannon Blankenship - Executive Director K - 5 / Founding Middle School Principal
Shannon Blankenship is the Executive Director and middle school principal of Hiawatha Academies in Minneapolis. Over the past five years, Blankenship has grown the school to serve over 450 scholars in grades K – 5th and will continue to add one grade level a year to a full K – 12 program. Prior to leading Hiawatha, Blankenship worked for the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) for four years, as a founding classroom teacher, curriculum specialist, and completed the prestigious Fisher Fellowship principal training program at Stanford University. Mr. Blankenship was a 2001 Teach for America Corps member in Harlem, New York. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Lewis & Clark College, a Masters in Education Administration from National-Louis University and will soon complete his Masters of Business Administration at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Blankenship opened the second Hiawatha Academies school, Adelante Prep in July of 2011.
Hattie Carvalho - Assistant Principal K - 4
Hattie Carvalho will be moving in to the Assistant Principal role at Hiawatha Leadership Academy for the 2011/2012 school year. She has served as the Director of Student Services , Special Education Coordinator, and special education teacher at HLA since 2009. Hattie began her teaching career as a 2007 Teach for America corps member in Eastern North Carolina teaching middle school special education before returning to Minnesota and joining the HLA Team. She is excited to move into the Assistant Principal role and to continue supporting HLA’s students, teachers, and families as our scholars climb the mountain to college!
Sean Elder – Chief Operating Officer
Sean Elder is the Chief Operating Officer of Hiawatha Academies. Mr. Elder joined Hiawatha in June 2011 and leads development activities and other non-academic operations of the academies. Prior to joining Hiawatha, Elder was the Minnesota Area Manager for Skyhawks Sports Academy, where he managed a region of 7,000 participants and 120 staff for the nation’s largest provider of youth sports programs. From 2004-2006, he served as an Undergraduate Admissions Counselor at the University of Minnesota. Recently, Elder completed a summer fellowship in Chicago with Education Pioneers where he conducted marketing and business development work for Lighthouse Academies, a national charter management organization. An active community member, Mr. Elder currently sits on the Education Committee for the Greater Twin Cities United Way. He holds a B.A. in Sociology – Law, Criminology, and Deviance from the University of Minnesota and an M.B.A. from the University of St. Thomas.
Robin Fischer - Elementary Principal K - 4
Robin Fischer assumed the position of Elementary Principal in the 2011-2012 school year. Her experience in education began in the 2005 Teach For America Corps where she taught elementary in Phoenix, AZ. From there she went on to teach elementary in both Spanish and English before she found herself drawn to the mission of Hiawatha Academies and, specifically, to closing the achievement gap in her home state of Minnesota. Having served as a Dean during the 2010-2011 school year, Robin is looking forward to helping push the school and its mission forward in the coming years.