Our Board
Overseeing excellence
Meet Our Board Members
Our school Board of Trustees play critical role in leading Pharos Academy Charter School. As the school’s governing body, the board is legally responsible for the academic, financial, and operational quality of our school. Learn more about board members and locate essential documents, procedures and references for more information.
Governance Committee
Javier Lopez-Molina
Chairman
Javier Lopez-Molina
Chairman
Mr. Lopez-Molina was born in Puerto Rico and has lived in Baltimore, Boston, San Francisco, and the Tampa area of Florida, in addition to New York City. He earned his undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins University, a Masters in Biology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and a Masters in Business Administration at Columbia Business School in Manhattan. Mr. Lopez-Molina spent five years as a cancer researcher and has three patents for cancer drugs in development. He is now U.S. Director of Strategy for IQVIA, a healthcare data and clinical research organization.
Jarrod Sowell
Vice Chair
Jarrod Sowell
Vice Chair
Tamara South
Secretary
Tamara South
Secretary
Keyur Shah
Treasurer
Keyur Shah
Treasurer
Mr. Shah is currently a director within Connor Group’s Technical Accounting and IPO Services group providing assistance to clients with technical accounting issues and helping clients achieve IPO readiness. Prior to working at Connor Group, Mr. Shah spent a number of years working within the Transaction Services group at both KPMG and PwC working with companies in the consumer products, technology, financial services, and life sciences sectors. Mr. Shah has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the Pennsylvania State University and is Certified Public Accountant licensed in New York.
Board Trustees
Vanessa Angeles
Trustee
Vanessa Angeles
Trustee
Gustavo Garcia
Trustee
Gustavo Garcia
Trustee
Tahina Perez
Trustee
Tahina Perez
Trustee
Ms. Perez is the Executive Director of the Teach For America New Jersey region (TFA-NJ). She started as a Teach For America corps member in 2003, and since has dedicated her career to creating more equitable systems for all children across New York and New Jersey. After working for several years in Newark, the Bronx and Brooklyn, she joined the TFA-NJ staff. In her current role, she leads a team to coach and develop 80 teachers as well as connect and galvanize a force of 1,500 alumni of the program across the state of New Jersey. Tahina earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Emory University and her Master of Public Administration from the Metropolitan College of New York.
Joseph Rivera
Trustee
Joseph Rivera
Trustee
Stacy Sutherland
Trustee
Stacy Sutherland
Trustee
Ms. Sutherland holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English and Masters in Education—Counseling. Ms. Sutherland has served in the non-profit sector for over 20 years developing youth enrichment and college readiness programming. Ms. Sutherland transitioned to the New York City Department of Education to continue empowering students and advocating for equity. Ms. Sutherland currently serves as an Education Analyst supporting several NYC public schools, building capacity and creating partnerships among school faculty/staff, families, youth, and the community to raise student achievement by ensuring that children are physically, emotionally, and socially prepared to succeed.
Patrick Wesonga
Trustee
Patrick Wesonga
Trustee
Resources
Board
Calendar & Minutes
All board meetings are open to the public. You may view the board calendar to find out when our next scheduled board meeting will take place. you can also find all published agendas and meeting minutes from the past board meetings.
Open Meetings Law
All board meetings are open to parents and to the public. Please click the Open Meetings Law document from The NYC Charter Center.
Complaint Procedure
Please follow these 6 steps as a guidance on how to formally file a complaint. These steps will help direct you to the appropriate person based on your needs.
Covid-19 Reopening Plan
Pharos Academy Charter School has determined that for Quarter 1 of the 2020 – 2021 school year, it will offer two options for families. the first option will include a fully-remote option, whereas the second option will include a reduced capacity in-person option. Click below to view our reopening plan in full.
Videoconference Resolution
Remote participation by individual board members is allowable under certain circumstances as the Board has passed a resolution that articulates the acceptable reasons for virtual attendance.
Fueled by care and dedictation
We are committed as a school community to providing our students with an outstanding education anchored in inquiry, interesting problems, rigor, and fun.