The UCSC Board shall have no more than seven directors and no less than three. The number of Directors may be increased or decreased from time to time by amendment to the Bylaws. All directors shall be designated by the existing Board of Directors. One seat is reserved for appointment by the Superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District.
The terms of directors shall be staggered in one, two, and three years. Board members will serve three-year terms with approximately one-third of the Directors appointed. Each Board member can be reappointed for an unlimited number of successive terms. All terms shall commence on July 1 and shall expire on June 30 of the year of the term.
Responsibilities
The UCSC Board is responsible for the overall success of the YPSA Charter. The UCSC Board’s responsibility is to provide support and review decisions made by Academy Council for alignment with law and UCSC policies.
In carrying out this responsibility, the UCSC Board, among other things:
- Adopts policies and regulations
- Hires appropriate staff
- Monitors progress towards the academic and non-academic goals stated in the charter
- Approves and monitors the business plan of the Academy
- Delegates the responsibility of implementing the academic and social program to the YPSA Academy Council
Board Members
Miles E. Myles, B.S., President
President. He was elected to the Urban Charter School Collective Board in 2014. As a resident of Sacramento, Miles has been working in the field of education for over 20 years. He holds both a CLAD Certification and Administrative Credential. His educational involvement has included school-site administration, parent educator/trainer, classroom teacher, university assistance manager of program services and professional development for teachers, Academic Efficacy trainer, and multiple school-site level committees. He believes all children deserve to receive an excellent education and opportunities for growth that are befitting to their unique personalities and desires for this rapidly changing world. His passion for educational equity and experiences have prepared him to fulfill his new role as an UCSC board member and provide keen insights and directions to the challenges our scholars are facing today and moving forward.
You can contact Mr. Miles by email at Miles-Myles@urbancsc.org.
Yong Lor, B.A., M.A, Vice President
Vice President. Ms. Lor was elected to the Urban Charter School Collective Board in 2017. She has over twenty-years of experience as a science teacher at Goethe/Rosa Parks Middle School and Albert Einstein Middle School, teaching both Life Science and Physical Science. Ms. Lor, a founder of Hmongstory40, has a passion for celebrating culture and diversity as well as promoting leadership within our community. She has served on the SCUSD Hmong Extended Summer School Program Curriculum Committee and held leadership positions such as lead teacher for Project Green.
You can contact Ms. Lor at Yong-Lor@urbancsc.org
Bao Xiong, B.S, Board Secretary
Ms. Xiong was elected to the Urban Charter School Collective Board in 2018. She is the proud parent of two sons, both of whom attended Yav Pem Suab Academy. Since 2011, Ms. Xiong has volunteered her time to support the YPSA community in numerous capacities, including on the PTA and Academy Council. She is committed to giving back to the communities that have nurtured her growth and development personally, academically, and professionally. As such, she has spent her entire career working for mission-driven organizations committed to building healthy and thriving communities.
Currently, Ms. Xiong serves as the Assistant Director of Health Center Operations with the California Primary Care Association. In this capacity, she leads strategic efforts to strengthen the primary care system to improve the health status of communities throughout California, particularly underserved communities. Previously, she held positions with Dignity Health, where she supported efforts to address the workforce needs of hospitals, clinics, and systems offices spanning three states, and for UC Davis School of Medicine, where she managed an innovative undergraduate medical education program aimed at improving access to effective, culturally respectful and equitable health care services for underserved communities by providing rewarding community-based training opportunities to support interest in primary care and underserved care among medical students. Prior to this, Ms. Xiong served as an AmeriCorps member, where she led community outreach and education initiatives in Sacramento and the Central Valley. She earned a B.S. in Psychology from UC Davis.
Dr. Dennis M. Mah, Ed.D., Board Treasurer
Dr. Mah is the board treasurer and senior member. He was one of the original founders of YPSA and was the superintendent on a voluntary basis when the school opened in 2010. Prior to helping start YPSA, Member Mah worked in and then retired from the Sacramento City Unified School District. He began his educational career in 1974 as a student teacher and teacher at the original William Land School building when the front door faced U Street. He returned to William Land in 1989 as the acting principal before going to Bowling Green School as principal in 1990. In 1993, he and the teachers created the district’s first charter school and the 18th in the state. He was the 2001 recipient of the prestigious California Charter Schools Association Hart Vision Award for outstanding school administration.
Mah has served as a team leader and presenter at the Charter Schools Development Center’s Summer Leadership Institute and served as an adjunct professor at CSU Sacramento teaching a course on educational finance to aspiring administrators. More recently in 2014, he worked with parents to develop the New Joseph Bonnheim Community Charter School located near Hiram Johnson High School.
Dr. Mah was educated at the University of Washington College of Education (Ed.D), CSU Sacramento School of Education (M.A.), UC Davis Teacher Credentialing Program, and UC Davis College of Agriculture (B.S.). He did not speak English when he started kindergarten in Corvallis, Oregon; just Chinese.
You can contact Dr. Mah at Dennis-Mah@urbancsc.org
Guy Ollison, B.A., M.A, Board Member
Mr. Ollison was elected to the Urban Charter School Collective Board in 2017. Mr. Ollison holds an Administrative Services Credential and has over twenty years of experience as a science teacher at Rosa Parks (formerly Goethe) Middle School. Besides this, Mr. Ollison is a Senior Fellow for Emerging Leaders Program (NELP). Currently, Mr. Ollison works as a classroom teacher at Golden Empire Elementary School. Mr. Ollison believes in the power of education and its ability to change lives radically. He serves as a proud Science mentor for Breakthrough Sacramento inspiring scholars to pursue careers in education.
Mr. Ollison has served in many leadership positions, including being a District Support Provider for new teachers and joining the SCUSD Middle School Task Force Committee that examined the implementation of school reform. In addition to that, Mr. Ollison served as an advisor to develop a curriculum for the Biological Science and Curriculum Studies and on the Board of Directors for Improve Your Tomorrow, Inc. for over three years. Mr. Ollison is currently a doctoral scholar at the University of Pacific.
You can contact Mr. Ollison at Guy-Ollison@urbancsc.org