Leadership

The founder and president of the Irvington Community School is Timothy P. Ehrgott. His vision became reality when he created a high-quality school in Irvington that gives families a reason to move into and stay in the area, by educating students to a level at which they have choices in their college educations and in their lives and careers.

For 11 years, Mr. Ehrgott was the executive director of the Educational CHOICE Charitable Trust, the nation's first privately funded school-choice program. He worked with thousands of families and nearly 100 area schools, along with a 21-member board and a budget that topped $2 million. Mr. Ehrgott serves on the board of directors for the Indiana Public Charter Schools Association. Previously, he was a member of the Athenaeum Foundation's board of directors, and the board of governors for the Ransburg YMCA. He has also run for political office.

Mr. Ehrgott has experience as a writer and editor, with articles published in Reader's Digest and numerous public-policy journals.

Mr. Ehrgott and his wife, Jenny, have been involved in their neighborhood and the Irvington community since they moved in 17 years ago, with Mrs. Ehrgott serving a stint as president of the Irvington Community Council and as president of the PTO of their previous school. Most important, the Ehrgotts have two children who attend the ICS and ICHS.

David Nidiffer has 15 years of combined financial and accounting experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers and Eli Lilly and Company. With his extensive experience in the field, Mr. Nidiffer brings important financial knowledge and oversight to Irvington Community School. Notably, he also has a long history of community involvement in Irvington, including service on the Irvington Community Council as Treasurer and chairing the Irvington Halloween Festival Board. For the past five years, he has served as Treasurer of the Irvington Community School Board and has served as the board treasurer for VSA of Indiana and the Indiana Association for Child Care Resources & Referrals Inc. The Nidiffer's have a second-grader enrolled in ICS.

Deanna Pryor currently serves as ICS's K-8 Lead Teacher. Her focus is on the administrative oversight of academic matters, such as curriculum development and implementation, monitoring academic progress of at-risk students, and supporting classroom teachers.

Mrs. Pryor holds her Indiana teaching license in kindergarten though sixth-grade as well as in middle school History. She also holds a master's degree from Walden University in Elementary Reading and Literacy. Mrs. Pryor began her career in the education field as an intermediate teacher in Clarksville, Tenn. There, she served not only as a classroom teacher but held a variety of leadership roles within the school. She has been a member of the ICS faculty since 2005, beginning as a fifth-grade teacher, later working as a Writing and Literacy Coach, and in April of 2007 assuming the role of Lead Teacher.

Russ Simnick serves as Lead Teacher of ICHS. Mr. Simnick has been recognized by the Indianapolis Business Journal as a recipient of its prestigious "40 under 40" award that recognizes the city's top leaders under the age of 40. He has also received Junior Achievement's Best and Brightest award for excellence in his field. He is a licensed Language Arts and Social Studies teacher. In addition to overseeing the day-to-day operations and faculty at ICHS, Mr. Simnick guides the school's entrepreneurial program and community relations. A graduate of Ball State University and Indiana Wesleyan University, he is active in the Irvington community as a member of the Irvington Historical Society and former Director of the Historic Irvington Community Council. He is the author of Irvington Haunts, a book about the infamous side of Irvington's history; was owner/publisher of The Irvington, a 5,000-circulation community newspaper that published from 1998-2002; and has authored several works of short fiction. Prior to joining ICS in 2005, Simnick served 10 years as Executive Vice President of Coles Public Relations, one of the state's largest public relations/communications firms. He has worked in the Indiana State Senate in media relations and as a legislative aide, and he has led several political campaigns at the congressional, gubernatorial and state legislative level.

Tim Mulherin has 20 years of management and executive leadership experience in a variety of fields, including emergency management, insurance, healthcare, and the hospitality industry.

Prior to coming onboard the ICS, Mr. Mulherin was an organizational development consultant with a special focus on customer service excellence, effective communication, professionalism, leadership development, and intergenerational workplace relationships. Previously, he served as executive director of the Indiana Hemophilia & Thrombosis Center, the largest comprehensive hemophilia treatment center in the United States. He was also the director of communications for the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies and the external affairs director for the Indiana State Emergency Management Agency.

Mr. Mulherin has nearly 10 years of college teaching experience at IUPUI and the University of Indianapolis, having taught remedial writing, composition, argumentative research writing, professional writing, and business communication courses. He holds a bachelor's degree in English (major in nonfiction writing) from Indiana University, a master's degree in journalism from Indiana University, and a master of science in management degree in leadership and organizational development from Indiana Wesleyan University. He and his wife, Janet, are the parents of three grown children.

Leslie Hiner is an attorney who currently serves as Chief of Staff to the Minority Leader and former Speaker of the House at the Indiana House of Representatives. Mrs. Hiner was formerly in the private practice of law and is a former business owner. She is listed in Who's Who in America. Her involvement in the education community has included serving on the Kokomo Montessori Children's House board of directors, as a counselor to delinquent teenage girls in Wooster, Ohio, and as a founding member of the parent-faculty organization at the Lawrence Township Forest Glen Elementary International School. Mrs. Hiner attended the Rostad teachers' college in Sweden and student-taught third grade in a suburban school and second grade in an urban school in that country. She is also a former adjunct faculty member of the University of Indianapolis School of Business. She and her husband are parents of two children who have attended both public and private schools.

Jeffrey Lozer serves as Special Counsel to the Director of the Indiana Department of Child Services. Mr. Lozer is an attorney who has advised dozens of tax-exempt organizations, including private foundations, on a variety of legal and business issues. Mr. Lozer previously served of-counsel with Ice Miller and directed the operations of the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation. He and his wife, Stacy, have two children in public schools.

Todd Durnil is the Human Resources Director for the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration. He is a former member of the MSD Warren Township Board of Education. Mr. Durnil is a professional public administrator and has served in several leadership positions for the City of Indianapolis in the areas of operations, engineering, and finance and served as the first County Administrator for Hendricks County, Ind. He holds an MBA as well as Total Quality Management certifications, which allowed him to train over 500 city employees in continual improvement methods and maintain a managerial and financial consulting practice. In addition, he is a lifelong resident of the area, with a family that has been deeply involved in community affairs. Mr. Durnil has two sons enrolled in Irvington Community School.

Sidney Norton is currently the Chief Financial Officer for the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration. Mr. Norton previously worked in the State Office of Management and Budget and for 6 ½ years for Eli Lilly and Company in various financial positions. He holds a BA in Economics from Brigham Young University and an MBA in Finance from Indiana University. Before attending graduate school, he taught Spanish at the high school and college levels. He has been active in numerous volunteer activities in the Indianapolis area including the Boy Scouts and Junior Achievement and currently serves on the Indiana Commission on Hispanic/Latino Affairs. He and his wife have four children who attend public schools.

Barato Britt is the President/CEO of the Indiana Chapter of the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO). BAEO is a national organization whose mission is to promote parental choice to empower families and increase educational options for black children. The Indiana chapter is the organization's only chapter with a statewide focus. As President/CEO, Mr. Britt manages daily operations for BAEO of Indiana, and is responsible for the implementation of programs designed to tap into statewide demand for increased educational options in Indiana.

Mr. Britt's sense of community drives his passion to empower the community with information and quality educational options. He holds numerous civic and community positions, including facilitator of the Journalism and Writing Seminars (JAWS) Program, correspondent of The Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper, the state's largest African-American news publication, and basketball coach and mentor in the Indianapolis Public Schools.

Rex Camp received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Indiana University and has spent more than 25 years in nonprofit management in positions with increasing responsibility in the areas of finance, program development, marketing, and fundraising. While in the arts management field, Mr. Camp served as the Interim Director of the Indiana Arts Commission, a state agency with a budget of $2.5 million, and served as the first Chief Financial Officer of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO), where he improved the financial position of the orchestra while the ISO became one of only 13 major symphony orchestras with a full 52-week annual labor contract. He has 14 years of experience in finance, personnel, and fundraising in private school administration, including direct responsibility for a $26 million payroll. Mr. Camp now serves as the Executive Director of the Dyslexia Institute of Indiana. He has stabilized the institute's financial picture while dramatically expanding the level of direct services.

Michael Welch is an involved resident of Irvington. He was active with the Historic Irvington Halloween Festival Committee and was co-chair for two years. Mr. Welch is also a participating member of the church which calls ICS home on Sundays and has his own musical ministry. He is founder and co-owner of an automation engineering firm that has relocated to Irvington. He is a charter member of the Central Indiana Christian Songwriters Association and runs their website. Mr. Welch and his wife are active with scouting at ICS and are the parents of an ICS student and a preschooler.

Osman Kafrawy is a consultant with Rockwell Automation. Mr. Kafrawy has more than seven years of experience working in the pharmaceutical industry, specializing in laboratory and manufacturing process compliance. He has previously volunteered with Big Brothers/Big Sisters in Waukegan, Ill. Mr. Kafrawy grew up in Indianapolis, is a graduate of Purdue University, and attended Indianapolis Public Schools. He is married and has a stepdaughter who attends a public school.