Arts in Action Community Charter Schools

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Leadership Team

Glenda Aleman
Glenda Aleman
Executive Director 
 

Glenda Aleman, Ph.D., began her educational career as a bilingual elementary teacher in the LAUSD. While teaching, Dr. Aleman pursued a master's degree in Social Foundations of Education, from Cal State Los Angeles. Disenchanted by the poor state of many of our urban public schools, Dr. Aleman became a founding teacher at Los Angeles Leadership Academy. Dr. Aleman received a Doctorate in Urban Education from UCLA and became a Professor in the School of Education at Cal State University, Dominguez-Hills. Within this capacity, Dr. Aleman trained many teachers in pedagogy, multicultural education, and student teaching. Dr. Aleman moved back to the charter school system as the Teacher Induction Director at Partnerships to Uplift Communities (PUC). Committed to the success of the charter system, Dr. Aleman served on the Board of Directors of Arts in Action Community Charter School, and then took on the challenge of becoming the founding Principal

 
 
KalinKalin Balcomb

Director of Schools

Kalin Balcomb is in her fifth year working at Arts in Action Community Charter Schools.  Kalin Balcomb stepped into the role of Director of Schools at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year.  Prior to that, Kalin has worked as the middle school principal for Arts in Action Middle School and the Director of Special Education for Arts in Action Community Charter Schools.   Before working at Arts in Action, Kalin worked on the Big Island of Hawaii as a Special Education teacher and Student Services Coordinator at Kealakehe Elementary.  

Kalin completed her undergraduate degree at Syracuse University, with a Bachelor’s in Political Science and minors in Global Political Economy and Geography.  Kalin completed her Master’s Degree in Special Education through Chaminade University in Honolulu.   Currently, Kalin is working towards her Doctorate in Educational Leadership with a focus on Social Justice through Loyola Marymount University.  

Kalin is a Teach for America alumni and a member of Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE).

 

Jamie

Jamie Kikuchi 
Elementary Assistant Principal (TK - 2nd)

 

My name is Jamie Kikuchi and I am the Assistant Principal for TK to 2nd grade for the 2017-2018 school year.  I was a founding teacher at Arts in Action in the first 2011-2012 school year and have had the privilege of teaching both kindergarten and first grade for the past six years at Arts in Action.  I received my Master’s degree in Education and my Elementary Teaching Credential at the University of California, Los Angeles in the Teacher Education Program.  Prior to this, I attended the University of California, Berkeley where I received my Bachelor’s degree in Sociology.  I am looking forward to the opportunity to work with teachers, students and families this upcoming school year.  I am inspired every day as we witness our young scholars develop into active and responsible members of our community who challenge themselves to achieve their highest potential.

 
Erin Kleiner
Elementary Assistant Principal (3rd-5th)
 
Erin Kleiner studied at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she double-majored in English Literature and Linguistics, with an emphasis in Spanish. Ms. Kleiner applied and was selected to the Teach for America program as a part of the 2010 New Mexico corps. She served native students in grades K-8 for two years through teaching, tutoring and coaching sports. Ms. Kleiner graduated with Distinction from the University of New Mexico in 2012 with a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education. She worked for four years as a 6th grade ELA and science teacher with Stella Middle Charter Academy (Bright Star Schools) in South Los Angeles. Ms. Kleiner graduated with a Master’s degree in Educational Administration from the 2016 Principal Leadership Institute (PLI) cohort at UCLA. 
 
 

Karin

Karin Kroener - Valdivia

 MiddleSchool Assistant Principal

My name is Karin Kroener-Valdivia and I am the Arts in Action Middle     SchoolAssistant Principal. Before joining the AIA family I worked 18 years for LAUSD, as an English teacher and Bilingual Coordinator.  I also spent one year at the district level, working in the Linked Learning   department. I have taught students  from 4th until 12th grade, with the   last 5 years being at the high school level. I look  forward to returning     to the middle school age group. Because of my English teaching background, I feel strongly about getting students  to love reading and expressing themselves through writing.  I have worked closely with the UCLA Writing Project and the National Writing Project on what literacy skills students need in order to be successful at the college level.  I hope to bring everything I've learned from those experience to AIA middle school, because it's never to early to start preparing for college! I am so excited for the school year to start.  I wanted to work for AIA because I know what a positive impact both art and social justice education can have on students.  Looking forward to a very exciting 2017-18 school year!