Board of Trustees

This page contains the following information:
i) Members of the Board
ii) Next Board Meeting
iii) A note to those considering Board Membership

i) Members of the Board
Howard B. Radest, Ph.D., chair, is the former Director and current Honorary Board Member of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York. Dr. Radest brings a firm yet wide grasp of the ethical education community to the board, having founded the University Seminar on Moral Education at Columbia University and helped to found the Association for Moral Education. During his 30 plus years of residence in Bergen County, Dr. Radest taught philosophy at Ramapo College and served as president of the Bergen County Health and Welfare Council.  He then moved to South Carolina where he taught at University of South Carolina and served as Chair of the Ethics Committees and as Consulting Member, Emeritus, Bioethics Committee of the South Carolina Medical Association. He has recently returned to New Jersey. Dr. Radest is the author of nine books including “Bioethics: Catastrophic Events In A Time of Terror.”  

Marta Bergamini, principal, has been an educator for 14 years and TECCS’ Principal since the school’s inception. During her career she taught Spanish to first through eighth grades and established herself as the lead teacher for the district. In 2007, she was awarded the Governor's Teacher Recognition Award. Shortly after, she was recognized for her work improving the professional development of teachers. Mrs. Bergamini holds a masters degree in Educational Leadership.

Funmilayo Brown is a financial professional with over 10 years of experience in personal finance, non-profit fundraising and business development.  As a Financial Advisor and seminar leader Funmilayo has worked with major fortune 500 companies including JPMorgan Chase and AXA Advisors to provide their clients and their employees with personal financial education and coaching.  Currently an independent Financial Education and Business Development Consultant, she has expanded her curriculum to include partnering financial literacy with entrepreneurship as a means of economic growth and stability.  As a mother and educator, she strongly believes in education focused on well-rounded rigorous academics and social responsibility. Ms. Brown is a resident of Jersey City and has a Master’s Degree of Public Administration from NYU.

Edward Goodall is a Jersey City resident. Mr. Goodall has taught in New York City independent schools for 10 years and worked as a market maker on the American Stock Exchange. In early 2007, he saw the educational opportunity provided by TECCS for Jersey City's families and so became a founding member. Edward is the Chair of Board Recruitment and Chair of the Facilities Committee.

Sabrina Meah, an educator for over 12 years, serves as the Supervisor of Curriculum & Instruction at Greater Newark Charter School inNewark, NJ.  During the past five years, she has designed and implemented quarterly interim assessments in Math, Literacy, and Science and facilitated the development of a data-driven culture where teachers target their instruction to meet the individual needs of their students.  Ms. Meah is the key developer of her charter school’s math program and serves as th 8th grade math teacher, working with her students to achieve some of the highest math scores in Newark. Recently, she was selected to develop the Math and Science curriculum of two Wisconsin charter schools and train staff on data-driven instruction.  Ms. Meah is a resident of Jersey City and has a Masters Degree in School Leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Frederick D. Miller, Ph.D., is a Jersey City resident whose son is a student at TECCS.  Dr. Miller is a leader of the As One Institute, a global effort initiated by Deloitte, Touche, Tohmatsu to understand and promote the ability of organizations to collaborate effectively. He has previously been a Management Consultant, a Member of Technical Staff at Bell Laboratories and a Professor of Psychology at NYU. He become involved in TECCS as a means of providing high quality education to moreJersey City families.

Nicholas Puzo, School Business Administrator at TECCS, has been licensed as a Certified Public Accountant since 1979.  Prior to earning a School Business Administrator Certificate from the NJDOE, Nick spent over 20 years in public practice specializing in areas of not-for-profit, finance and management science.  Nick was a founding member of University Academy Charter High School, Jersey City, which began operations in 2002.  He has also served as a consultant to Discovery Charter School in Newark.

Edward Secades is currently a Lead Architect for the McGraw Hill Global Operations & Infrastructure Division where is has worked for the last 10 years.  Edward also serves as the TECCS’ Technology Committee Chair providing oversight and guidance to the day to day technology operations as well as contributing to TECCS’ short and long term technology strategies.  As a Jersey City parent who is dedicated to the improvement of the Jersey City public education system Edward continues to serve as a technology advisor to many local non-profit community groups.

Sonya (Terry) Still, a 30 year Jersey City resident, considers the academic, artistic and moral education of its children, the critical challenge of this community.  As an active and involved parent, she has successfully navigated the Jersey City Public School system.  Her prior community service includes organizing Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies, After School and Scholarship Programs. Professionally, Ms. Still is an attorney who was the General Counsel to a brokerage firm for 10 years, prior to which she served as a regulator with the NJ Bureau of Securities and the SEC.

Nicole Stratemeier has been a Jersey City resident since 2006. Ms. Stratemeier has worked in the field of Human Resources for over ten years, the last six as a HR Business Partner at Thomson Reuters. In her role of HR Business Partner, Ms. Stratemeier formulated and implemented global HR strategy on behalf of major business units to create a work environment that enabled the optimization of business performance and the performance of people, teams, and organizations. Ms. Stratemeier is a certified Professional in Human Resources (PHR) from the national organization, Society for Human Resources Management and she earned a Masters Degree in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University. She is currently a dedicated, full time mother to her two young sons.

Vikram Sura is a United Nations civil servant and a resident of Jersey City. At the UN, he was associated with establishing outreach programs on Holocaust education and genocide prevention, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and the Unlearning Intolerance seminar series. Presently, as editor of the 
UN Chronicle, the UN’s flagship journal, he is responsible for ensuring a print and online product that helps in promoting a structural understanding of issues central to the UN such as, serving the ideals of peace, of respect for fundamental rights, of economic and social progress, and of international cooperation. Vikram has master’s degrees in journalism from Columbia University, New York, and in political science from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Julia Tomasko is the teacher representative. 

Ann Wallace, Ph.D., a Jersey City parent and a founding member of TECCS, also serves on the board.  Dr. Wallace first became involved with TECCS in 2006 when exploring the educational options for her own children. Dr. Wallace has been active in various Hudson County organizations, having served on the boards of the Fund for a Better Waterfront and the Hoboken Clergy Coalition Shelter, and has a background in fundraising and management consulting. She is an assistant professor of English and Writing Center coordinator at New Jersey City University in Jersey City.

ii) The next meeting of the Board is now posted on the front page and in the school calendar.

iii) A note to those considering Board Membership:

The Ethical Community Charter School (TECCS-JC) of Jersey City is a state funded Charter School. It offers a unique education that integrates academic skills, the arts and sciences, physical education, moral education, and community service. All children of Jersey City are eligible for admission to TECCS’ ethics centered program. At present, it operates kindergarten, first, and second grades and will add one grade a year until it provides a full K-8 education. TECCS is dedicated to uniting its families and the broader community in working toward the long-term goal of improving the quality of education for all of the children of Jersey City.

TECCS is managed by a voluntary Board of Trustees that represents the Jersey City community and the wider community of those committed to offering all our children an exciting and effective education. The responsibilities of the Board of Trustees are to set strategy and policy for the school, to plan and oversee its budget and operations and to work with the principal, faculty, and staff in the continuing development of the school.

We are looking to expand the Board’s membership to represent a wider range of Jersey City’s diverse communities and a wider range of skills. Board membership is a productive contribution to the development of Jersey City. We have experienced tremendous growth as a community in the past decade, as new construction and renovation, the development of the Light Rail, and the extensive development of waterfront offices and hotels has changed our community. The people of Jersey City need a school system that can match that growth. In short, we need first-rate educational opportunities for all our children. By participating in a charter school board, concerned citizens make a tangible contribution to help Jersey City become a more vibrant, livable and worthwhile community for all of us.

The Board meets for one Saturday morning a month. Board members are expected to contribute some additional time at their discretion for activities that range from: managing infrastructure issues, fund raising and grant writing, and advising on policy. For example, recently, the board has reviewed faculty and staff benefits, advised on ways to manage health insurance costs, discussed collaboration between TECCS and a new primary school in South Africa.

If you would be interested in making this sort of contribution to our community, we would like to hear from you. Please contact Edward Goodall – Chair of Board Recruitment – at TECCS: edward.goodall@teccsjc.org.