Karen Hunter Quartz
Director
Karen Hunter Quartz spearheaded the design team behind the RFK UCLA Community School, which opened in 2009. In 2017, she served on the design team for a second site, the Mann UCLA Community School. She currently oversees a portfolio of research-practice partnerships at both schools designed to advance democracy, inquiry, and change. Her research agenda , teaching, and writing focus on new school development; the struggle to recruit, prepare, and retain good urban teachers; the measurement of effective teaching; and the use of data and research to improve practice in schools.
Karen earned her Ph.D. in Education at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Marisa Saunders
Associate Director, Research
Marisa Saunders has served public schools nationwide for over 25 years as a researcher and practitioner. Her primary areas of research focus on K-12 transformation efforts that address longstanding educational inequalities, like community schooling. In her current role, she explores the influence of teacher leadership on school improvement efforts, and student outcomes.
Marisa earned her Ed.D. from the Harvard University.
Leyda W. Garcia
Associate Director, Professional Learning
Leyda W. Garcia served as the principal of the UCLA Community School for ten years, during which she and the UCLA CS team worked to transform public education through practices that authentically elevate and center student and community voices. As a scholar and practitioner at the UCLA CCS, she serves emerging community schools across California with the State-Transformational Assistance Center (STAC).
Leyda earned her Ed.D. at Loyola Marymount University.
Dandan Yang
Research & Evaluation Specialist
Dr. Dandan Yang earned her Ph.D. in Education from UC Irvine in 2022 and completed her postdoctoral training at the Boston College Lynch School of Education and Human Development. She joined the UCLA Center for Community Schooling in 2024 as a Research and Evaluation Specialist, supporting the California Community School Partnership Program (CCSPP). Her current work focuses on developing the multiple measures specialization program, conducting quantitative and qualitative data analysis for the annual performance report, and supporting the center as a state transformation center for the CCSPP. Dr. Yang holds a B.A. in English Language and Literature from China and an M.A. in TESOL from USC.
Wendy Salcedo-Fierro
Partnership Lead
Wendy Salcedo-Fierro is a former Lead Teacher at the UCLA Community School where she was also a guiding teacher for UCLA’s Teacher Education Program. In her current role as the Partnership Lead, she seeks to strengthen K-12 and University partnerships. In addition to her work at the UCLA Community School, Wendy is also deeply invested in state and national school transformation efforts. As an NEA partner in the State Transformational Assistance Center, she supports California’s Initiative for Community Schools Implementation. She also helps build and support the national network of Teacher-Powered Schools where she partners with teams in developing collaborative leadership practices for student-centered learning. She is driven by social justice and a passion to democratize schools.
Brenda Benitez Alcantara
Program Coordinator
Brenda was a student at UCLA Community School from 2009 to 2018. She went on to Wellesley College where she completed her B.A. in Education and Latinx Studies. Prior to joining the center, Brenda worked as a college advisor creating and facilitating college readiness programming for high school students in Los Angeles and Detroit. In her current role, she works with Horace Mann UCLA Community School and her alma mater, UCLA Community School to support events and projects.
Natalie Fensterstock
Graduate Student Researcher
Before joining UCLA, Natalie dedicated five years to teaching middle and high school English in the Bay Area of California, where she also mentored new teachers. Her research interests lie in examining how community schools function as a coherence strategy for whole child policy initiatives, district systems, and school practices, with a focus on the intersection of education, policy, and social welfare.
Natalie holds a nM.A. in Social Sciences and Comparative Education from UCLA.
Andrés Fernández-Vergara
Graduate Student Researcher
Having extensively evaluated educational policies and programs in Chile and Latin America, Andres is interested in how community schools collect and utilize data, focusing on the types of data they prioritize and how various levels of policy leadership, make informed decisions based on this data.
Andres holds an M.P.P., and an Industrial Engineering B. Sc. from Universidad de Chile.
Rebekah Kang
School Leadership Fellow
As one of the founding teachers of the RFK UCLA Community School, Rebekah M. Kang helped start and develop signature learning programs such as the Seminar Program and Integration Program for students with disabilities. She is also a National Board Certified Teacher, a UCLA Writing Project Fellow, and Teacher-Powered Schools Ambassador.
Lauren Kinnard
Graduate Student Researcher
Lauren taught elementary and middle school students for almost a decade before returning to graduate school to study how children and adolescents develop their racial identity and how this process unfolds in and is influenced by school contexts. Lauren supports emerging community schools across California with the State-Transformational Assistance Center and supports publication of the Community Schooling Journal.
Lauren earned her M.S. in Education from Georgia State University.
Jonathan Oyaga
Research Associate
Jonathan Oyaga graduated from UCLA in 2023 with a B.A. in Education and Social Transformation and a minor in Central American Studies. He is a first-generation transfer student from Pasadena, CA and the son of Guatemalan and Colombian immigrants. He has worked in public education spaces for 5 years and is an active member of the California Teachers Association. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the National Education Association, representing aspiring educators. As a research associate with the UCLA Center for Community Schooling, he supports the Research Practice Partnership at the UCLA Community School. His primary focus has been developing a College and Careers Transition course to support first-generation students of color at the school.
Nadia Sabat Bass
Graduate Student Researcher
With ample experience in evaluation of educational programs, in community schools and in early childhood centers, and a research interest in measurement and evaluation, Nadia Sabat Bass joined the UCLA Center for Community Schooling in 2022. She is a doctoral student in the Social Research Methodology Division at the UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies. Her current work is focused on the formative value of educational measurement to advance equity, particularly around the development and use of multiple measures and local measures. She holds an M.A. in Global Policy Studies and a B.A. in Philosophy.
Jeffrey Yo
Research Associate
Jeffrey Yo is an educator and scholar who has been part of the center for several years. Currently, he is dedicated to researching how community schools can serve as a strategy to improve teacher retention, with a particular focus on teachers of color. His research focuses on teacher-child interactions, particularly how teachers’ racial-ethnic identity influences the academic and social development of their students.
Before joining UCLA, Jeffrey worked as a middle school science teacher in Chicago and Northwest Indiana, as well as serving as a teaching assistant. He earned both his Ph.D. and M.A. in Human Development and Psychology from UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies (SE&IS) and holds a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Chicago.
Christine Zhou
Undergraduate Student Researcher
As a research intern at the UCLA Center of Community Schooling’s College Research-Practice Partnership, Christine focuses on implementing a college transition curriculum for high school seniors. Her responsibilities include collaborating with educators and researchers, teaching, data collection, and contributing to curriculum planning. Additionally, Christine is currently working on exploring alumni post-secondary trajectories and factors that drive their ongoing engagement with the school, aiming to enrich the educational environment and cultivate student success through elevated community cultural wealth and a reciprocal network connecting alumni and the school community.