ADVANCED ACADEMICS

Dr. Jim Granada

agranada@austinisd.org 512-414-9986

Jim Granada, Ed.D., is the Director of Advanced Academic Services for the Austin Independent School District. After teaching 17 years in Kansas, he was an assistant professor for three years at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon and the University of Texas at San Antonio. He has also been an adjunct faculty member at the University of Iowa, Northern Arizona University, and Arizona State University, and was the Gifted Specialist at ESC-20 in San Antonio prior to coming to Austin. He earned his doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Northern Arizona University. He has presented nationally at conventions held by NSTA, NAGC, and NABE on a variety of topics, and has been featured or keynote presenter at regional and state conferences in Arizona, Illinois, and New Mexico. He is also a College Board presenter on the topic of Pre-AP Equity and Excellence. He is currently on the College Board's Trustee Committee on Membership, Co-chair of the Gifted Special Interest Group for the National Association for Bilingual Education, and have served as Chair of the Creative Division of the National Association for Gifted Children.

Sheila Dunn

sheila.dunn@austinisd.org 512/414-9986

Sheila Dunn began working for Austin Independent School District in 2003 as the Principal’s Secretary at Reagan High School. Three years later was hired as a Payroll Specialist III at the Carruth Administration Center. She then transitioned to the Department of Advanced Academic Services. Since coming on board with our department, Sheila has really organized the department with standard processes and continues to make improvements with our registration process for summer institutes and well as coordinating and streamlining many other projects. Sheila keeps busy with her two teenage sons, Christopher, 16, and Nicholas, 14. The boys keep her time filled with a variety of events including football games, basketball games, track, power lifting, and baseball tournaments.

Rhonda Boyer

rboyer@austinisd.org 512-414-0279

Rhonda Boyer, M.Ed., has served in various roles in the Austin Independent School District since 1994 and has been a Program Specialist for Advanced Academic Services since 2004. Although she delves into all facets of the department’s work, her current emphasis is on the Pre-AP and AP program. She has presented at the local, state, and national level on a variety of gifted and talented topics including underachievement, affective education, and talent development. She is also a College Board presenter on the topic of District-Level Management of the AP program. Her teaching experience focused on working with at-promise youth in grades 6-12 at Mendez Middle School, Alternative Learning Center, Crockett High School, and Garza Independence High School. Her certifications include Gifted and Talented, Special Education, English as a Second Language, English Language Arts, Reading, Speech Communications, and Principal. In 2004 she was honored as Austin ISD’s High School Teacher of the Year. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Texas at Austin and a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Concordia Lutheran University.

Monica Neshyba

monica.neshyba@austinisd.org 512-414-0176

A native Austinite and current doctoral candidate in bilingual and bicultural education at UT Austin, Mónica Vásquez Neshyba has been involved in education for the past ten years. She received her B.A. in Spanish from UT Austin in 1999 and an M.Ed. in Elementary Education from Texas State University in 2001. She has served as a bilingual tutor, bilingual teacher, teacher leader, mentor for novice teachers, teaching assistant for undergraduate education courses, program specialist in the Student Assessment Division at the Texas Education Agency and most recently as the assistant director for the Intellectual Entepreneurship (IE) Pre-Grad Internship at the University of Texas at Austin. She has presented at various local, state and national conferences. In her current position as the bilingual gifted education specialist, Mónica works with administrators and teachers to increase bilingual/ESL student participation in gifted services.

Debi Torres

dktorres@austinisd.org 512-414-0155

Debi Torres joined Austin Independent School District in 1992 after teaching for three years in the Rio Grande Valley and has been a Program Specialist for Advanced Academic Services since 2004. Prior to this position she was a teacher for fifteen years and earned her National Board Teacher Certification in the area of Early Adolescent English Language Arts in 2001. Her teaching experience includes grades 1-4 bilingual and regular education, and Reading Recovery at Widen and Allan Elementary Schools; language arts and social studies at Lamar Middle School; and English at Bowie High School. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Education from the University of Texas-Pan American and is currently completing her master’s degree in Educational Administration from Concordia Lutheran University. In 2006 she was honored as the Region XIII Advocate of the Gifted from the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented and has presented nationally on a variety of gifted and talented topics including student inquiry, global issues, and advanced English language learners. Debi is married to an Austin ISD high school teacher/coach and all of three of their boys have attended AISD schools.

Delaine Canales

dcanales@austinisd.org 512-414-0139

Delaine Canales has worked in education for over 16 years and has been the Data Processing Assistant for the Department of Advanced Academic Services since 2005. She is responsible for the department’s Gifted and Talented teacher database and testing materials. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Communications from Texas A&M University, Kingsville in 1991 and began her career as an education reporter. Her creativity and design skills led to a three-year public relations position where she honed her desktop publishing, photography, and public speaking skills. She worked at the Professional Development Academy for five years creating the training catalog and maintaining the district’s teacher training database. During her 5-year hiatus raising two children she continued to work for AISD on the New Teacher Handbook, TEKS Learning Guides, and various other data entry, transcription and desktop publishing projects.