Kalamazoo Advantage Academy Announces School Director

Business Wire, August 18, 1998

KALAMAZOO, Mich.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 18, 1998--The Board of Trustees of the Kalamazoo Advantage Academy and Advantage Schools, Inc. announced today that Soraya Coccimiglio has accepted the position of School Director of the Academy. The new, tuition-free public charter school will open its doors this fall to 550 students in grades K-5.

"One of the key founders of the Kalamazoo Advantage Academy, Ms. Coccimiglio has established an impressive record of accomplishment in the field of education," noted Thomas Drabik, Kalamazoo Advantage Academy Board Member. "She has worked extensively with the Michigan Department of Education and the Van Buren Intermediate School District on state- and district-wide curriculum development, and she is an expert in Direct Instruction, the curriculum that will be used for reading, language, and mathematics at the Academy. We are confident that the new school will flourish under her leadership."

Under the management of Advantage Schools, the Kalamazoo Advantage Academy will offer a rigorous and proven academic curriculum, state-of-the-art technology in every classroom, character education, a longer school year, and a corps of professional and multi-talented educators. The school will expand by one grade per year; when fully developed, it will provide a comprehensive K-12 program.

"We are delighted to have Soraya join our team as School Director," said Steven F. Wilson, President of Advantage Schools. "She is an incredibly bright and energetic leader with an abiding commitment to excellence. Her record of success with children of diverse backgrounds reflects her extraordinary talent as an educator and her personal dedication to helping all children reach great heights academically. Soraya shares our vision of a brand new public school of true distinction. We look forward to working with her and the Academy's Board of Trustees to make this vision a reality."

Advantage Schools is a national leader in the emerging education management industry. Working under contract to local school founders, the company opens and operates new high-performance charter public schools in urban areas. Advantage opened its first schools last year in Phoenix, Arizona, and Rocky Mount, North Carolina, both of which are meeting academic and fiscal targets. Each school will expand significantly this fall.

This September, in addition to the Kalamazoo Advantage Academy, the company will open new schools in Chicago, Illinois; Malden and Worcester, Massachusetts; Jersey City, New Jersey; and San Antonio, Texas. Over 5,000 parents have chosen Advantage-managed schools for their children this fall. Ten additional schools are slated to open in 1999.

SORAYA COCCIMIGLIO School Director Kalamazoo Advantage Academy

Soraya Coccimiglio brings to the Kalamazoo Advantage Academy years of experience with Direct Instruction and an abiding commitment to excellence in public education.

Since 1984, Ms. Coccimiglio has dedicated herself to the instruction of emotionally impaired high school students in the Van Buren Intermediate School District. She has trained numerous educational professionals and paraprofessionals in various Direct Instruction programs for Science Research Associates, and has served as a mentor to countless interns and practicum students. Ms. Coccimiglio has also designed pre-vocational and vocational programs for emotionally impaired students as well as a special education high school curriculum.

Ms. Coccimiglio has worked extensively with the Michigan Department of Education and the Van Buren Intermediate School District on state- and district-wide curriculum development. She has also co-chaired a Child Abuse and Neglect Committee, and assisted Parents Anonymous with its public relations campaign for Kalamazoo County.

Ms. Coccimiglio earned a B.S. in Education and Michigan certification for Special Education-Emotionally Impaired at Western Michigan University.

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