Lauren Kelly
Lauren Elizabeth Kelly graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree, in Broadcasting and Communication, in 1986. She received her California Clear Teaching Credential in Mathematics and Journalism in 1989, along with her Master of Education in Secondary Education from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where she was a participant in the Principal Leadership Institute (PLI). In 2002, Ms. Kelly returned to UCLA’s PLI where she earned a second Master of Education in Educational Administration, as well as her Administrative Credential.
Ms. Kelly taught 6th grade math and science at Olive Vista Middle School for Los Angeles Unified School District in 1997. She then moved to Milken Community High School, a private institution, from 1997-2002, where she taught 7-10th grade Physical Education, was a new teacher “buddy”, acted as the Athletic Director for the middle school, acted as a high school mentor, and coached basketball, cross country, softball, and volleyball. Ms. Kelly appeared in the Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers in 2002 through student nomination.
Returning to Northern California in 2002, Ms. Kelly became a Vice Principal at Amador Valley High School for the Pleasanton Unified School District. While at Amador Valley High School, Ms. Kelly was instrumental in the school being named a National School of Character in 2004. She was also named the regional 2004 Co-Administrator of the year by the Association of California School Administrators.
Ms. Kelly then moved to Harvest Park Middle School, in 2004, where she worked for 6 years as Vice Principal. With her guidance, Harvest Park was also recognized as a National School of Character in 2005. Ms. Kelly’s focus at Harvest Park was working with test data, students, teachers, counselors, and parents to ensure all students achieved equitable, successful outcomes. In the spring of 2010, Harvest Park earned the highest API scores of all Pleasanton middle schools for the first time. Ms. Kelly worked at the district level as a member of the Personal Development strategy group, member of the Equity Committee, and as the facilitator of the Global Orientation strategy group.
Ms. Kelly has also been a site evaluator for the National School of Character award program. Each spring, she and other former winners visited the twenty finalists and personally evaluated the schools submitting their recommendations to the Blue Ribbon panel. She has also presented at the Character Education Partnership’s annual national convention as well as at the Missouri Character Plus state conference.
Outside of her experience in traditional educational settings, Ms. Kelly worked from 1990-1993 for Health Net as a corporate educator. She developed and wrote training programs for employees and customers throughout California. Ms. Kelly successfully implemented 30 courses while at Health Net.
Ms. Kelly co-founded Hoop Masters, a non-profit, co-ed youth basketball program in Los Angeles still in existence today. This program works with youth from schools across Los Angeles. Hoop Masters was designed for children who wanted to experience athletics at the local and national level. Many of Ms. Kelly’s teams qualified for, and played in, the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) National Basketball Championship Tournaments. Ms. Kelly also had the opportunity to coach the high school gold medal girl’s basketball team of the Maccabee Youth games in 1994.