Resilient Schools: Strategies for Improving Student Mental Health

Marie S. Hall is an Educational Consultant, Entrepreneur, Author, and Speaker, with a 20-year career in the field of education. Her passion for empowering individuals to reach their full potential and live purposeful lives has earned her the reputation of a trailblazer in the educational landscape. As the CEO and Founder of RubyMac Learning Academy, Marie has established an organization that provides a nurturing and stimulating environment for youngchildren to thrive. Her authentic commitment to holistic education has set the academy apart, and her mission to create a space where children can flourish is evident in the academy’s success, garnering wide recognition and acclaim as a beacon of hope for the community.Marie has been featured in over 200 media outlets, including ABC, NBC, FOX, CEO Weekly, Digital Journal, and the Daily Herald. Marie also received the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award and the Leader of the Year Award for Rise to Greater Heights. She was also nominated for the Speaker and Teacher Award for Living Your Faith Out Loud and the Teacher of the Year Award for the Level Up Summit. Marie continuously strives to inspire others to live their life on purpose.

Dr. Tiffany Patton has extensive experience in leading school improvement work at all three levels of K-12 education. She is passionate about working to resolve educational inequity in school systems, particularly those with high concentrations of poverty and supporting the courageous and heart-driven leaders who embrace this challenge. Her doctoral research on校长的领导策略和公关ofessional Development for Leading Schools with High Concentrations of Poverty, speaks to her desire to protect the right children have to a high quality education. Dr. Patton serves as an Executive Coach with BetterLesson and a Chief Consultant with her consulting business, Results Driven Educational Consulting. She is a graduate of Relay GSE’s National Principal Fellowship and a community service advocate serving with two nonprofit organizations as a member of the Board of Directors (Empower Missouri, Access Academies). A proud St. Louis University Biliken and University of Missouri St. Louis Triton. But most notably, she is a mom to Zari, her 10 year old daughter who plays violin, soccer, and Roblox, and draws anime sketches for fun.

Andrew J. Vega is Senior Associate Partner at NewSchools Venture Fund. As a BetterLesson instructional coach, Andrew strives to provide educators with the tools and support necessary to lead their students to success through personalized, culturally competent instruction. Andrew believes all children can succeed and that, when equipped with the right resources, teachers are the greatest lever to that success which can impact communities. Andrew has supported hundreds of students and teachers as a principal, teacher, instructional coach, and school of education faculty. During his time as a principal of both an elementary school and high school, he led school-wide efforts to increase students’ access to mental health supports and designed systems to identify and address the mental health needs of all students. Andrew has received the Sontag Prize in Urban Education, led a school in Boston to winning the School on the Move Prize, and was a finalist for TNTP’s Fishman Prize for Superlative Classroom Practice. Andrew holds a BA from UCLA and MA from Loyola Marymount University. Andrew is also an alumnus of the Lynch Leadership Academy at Boston College and the National Principal Academy Fellowship at the Relay Graduate School of Education.