HEAD OF SCHOOL

Dr. Marsha Hestad

mhestad@scienceandartsacademy.org

Head of School

Our head of school, Dr, Marsha Hestad, is a recognized expert in the field of gifted education. A past President of the Illinois Association for Gifted Children, Dr. Hestad has developed, implemented or led gifted programs in Libertyville, Bensenville and Lake Forest in Illinois, as well as in several communities in Indiana. She holds a PhD. from Loyola University in Curriculum and Human Resource Development, and has studied gifted education throughout her adult life. She has taught at Loyola, Dominican, Indiana State and Purdue Universities.

In August 2006, Congressman Mark Kirk recognized Dr. Hestad's leadership by honoring her as one of the "10 for the 10th." Dr. Hestad was specifically commended for "Raising academic performance to unprecedented levels," and "Pioneering new levels of academic performance for gifted students."

ADMINISTRATION

Diane Angelucci

dangelucci@scienceandartsacademy.org

School Receptionist/Secretary

Jan Buckley

jbuckley@scienceandartsacademy.org

Director of Finance

Phyllis Burks

pburks@scienceandartsacademy.org

Accounting Manager

Amanda Davey

adavey@scienceandartsacademy.org

Director of Administrative Services

George Pinz

gpinz@scienceandartsacademy.org

Mr. Pinz has been with SAA for 15 years – almost since the beginning of the school!  In his role as Facilities Engineer, he is responsible for maintaining the building, which is very different from the old SAA building with the old boiler.  Mr. Pinz has a BS in Electrical Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  He has taught at Oakton Community College and works with the Science Olympiad team at SAA.

Jan Spaletto

janspaletto@scienceandartsacademy.org

Mrs. Spaletto has been part of the SAA family for 12 years and currently serves as the Director of Admissions.  She has previously held the responsibility of Secretary to the Headmaster, taking minutes at Board of Trustees meetings, and was the past-steering committee chair for ISACS accreditation.  Before coming to SAA, Mrs. Spaletto served in the travel and television industries as executive secretary, as a flight attendant for TWA, and personnel director for a major credit union.  She enjoys genealogy research, study of biblical history, and attending theater and musical concerts when not voraciously reading the latest novels of her favorite authors.