Leadership

David Nidiffer has 18 years of combined financial and accounting experience with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Eli Lilly and Company, and for the last 3 years with ICS. Having extensive experience in the financial management field, Mr. Nidiffer brings important financial knowledge and oversight to Irvington Community School. Notably, he 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. Mr. Nidiffer served five years as the founding 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 Nidiffers have a fourth-grader enrolled in ICS.

Deanna Pryor was formerly Irvington's Community School's Lead Teacher and now serves in the role of Director of Operations and Instruction. 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. As well, she oversees the general daily operation of the campus, making sure that all services are delivered in a timely, professional manner.

Mrs. Pryor is licensed in Indiana to teach Kindergarten though 6th grade and 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 an ICS faculty member 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, and now Director of Operations and Instruction.

Jill Thorn has taught 1st grade for nine years, the past four here at Irvington Community School. She was recently named Director of School Climate for ICS. Working closely with Mrs. Pryor, her focus will be on character education, behavior management, and attendance. She will also provide classroom management support for teachers.

Mrs. Thorn is licensed to teach 1st - 6th grade and 7th and 8th grades non-departmentalized. She received her Bachelor of Science in Education from Valparaiso University. Mrs. Thorn began her teaching career teaching in the public schools in Gary, Indiana. In 2003, she moved to Indianapolis to work at a newly opening charter school. She joined the ICS team in 2006.

Michael McFadden was formerly Irvington Community School’s Behavior Coach and now serves in the role of Director of Operations for the Irvington Community Middle Schoo (ICMS). His focus is on the administrative oversight of the middle school including monitoring academic progress of at-risk students and classroom management support for teachers. As well, he oversees the general daily operations of the campus, making sure that all services are running in an efficient, professional manner.

Mr. McFadden is licensed to teach grades 1-6, and 7-8 non-departmentalized. He is currently working towards his MAE in Educational Supervision and Administration through Ball State University. A lifetime resident of the eastside of Indianapolis, Mr. McFadden began his teaching career at St. Philip Neri Catholic School teaching 5th grade. He held a variety of leadership roles at St. Philip's, including technology coordinator. He has been a member of the ICS faculty since the fall of 2004, serving four years as a 4th grade teacher. Mr. McFadden also has experience working with a home school hybrid charter school during the 2008-2009 school year. In 2009 he returned to ICS as the school’s Behavior Coach, and in June 2010 was named Director of Operations for the ICMS.

During the 2010-2011 school year, Loryn Venekamp will celebrate 16 years of teaching English/language arts to more than 1,500 middle school and high school students in three states. She will also begin her role as the Director of Instruction for ICMS, coaching teachers and serving as a resource for her colleagues.

Mrs. Venekamp earned her bachelor's degree at Minot State University in Minot, North Dakota, where her husband served in the Air Force. She started her career at Warsaw Community High School in Warsaw, Indiana, teaching high school English, including AP English, and served as a district trainer in lesson plan design.

Mrs. Venekamp later moved with her family to Warrensburg, Missouri, and taught 8th grade language arts for several years. At Warrensburg Middle School, she served as the English department chair and mentored many pre-service teachers through her school's collaboration with the University of Central Missouri's Professional Development School. In 2005, Mrs. Venekamp earned her master's degree in curriculum and instruction at UCM, where she studied brain-based learning, grammar research, and K-12 curriculum.

The Venekamps relocated to East Lyme, Connecticut, where Mrs. Venekamp served as a 7th and 8th grade language arts teacher in a large middle school near the Long Island Sound. While there, she learned more about the "school-within-a-school concept" to give students in a larger environment a more individualized, small-team experience, which proved to be of great benefit given her next career move.

In 2008, "back home again in Indiana," Mrs. Venekamp joined the faculty of ICS, serving as the language arts teacher for students in grades 7 and 8. She is very excited to be a member of the ICMS founding faculty. She and her husband Bob have two grown children who attend Purdue and IUPUI.

Daryl Werner has been with Irvington Preparatory Academy since its inception in 2006, serving first as a Social Studies teacher, then Lead Teacher, and now as Director of Operations. Mr. Werner has earned two degrees from Indiana University, a Bachelor of General Studies and a Master of Science in Education. Additionally, he holds an Indiana License for School Administration and is pursuing a Doctorate in Education at Indiana University. As Director of Operations, Mr. Werner is responsible for executing the vision and mission of Irvington Preparatory Academy and overseeing its daily operation. He works with the teachers and staff of IPA to ensure that students are receiving a rigorous curriculum to prepare them for college and their careers following graduation.

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

Prior to coming onboard the Irvington, 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 and Director of Programs and State Relations for the Foundation for Educational Choice, a national foundation headquartered in Indianapolis. Prior to joining the foundation, Mrs. Hiner served as Chief of Staff to the former Speaker of the House at the Indiana House of Representatives. She has also practiced 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 3rd 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.

Jeff Lozer serves as General Counsel 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 was with the Indianapolis law firm of Ice Miller and directed the operations of the Christel DeHaan Family Foundation. He and his wife, Stacy, have three children.

Todd Durnil is a management consultant who specializes in Lean Management, continual improvement, and public administration. He has held numerous leadership positions within state and local government over the past 20 years, with specific experience in public purchasing and bidding laws, project management, contract management, government budgeting and finance, and human resources. He holds a BS in Public Affairs from Indiana University and an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University. Mr. Durnil is a former member of the M.S.D. Warren Township Board of Education and was on the founding board of Irvington Community School, where he established a Cub Scout program. He and his wife Kim have two boys who attended ICS.

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.

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 small 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 the organization's website. He is also committee chair for a 100-year-old Boy Scout Troop in Irvington. Mr. Welch and his wife are the parents of two ICS students.

Geoffrey Slaughter has extensive experience in many aspects of complex business litigation, including administrative, antitrust, appellate and constitutional litigation. Mr. Slaughter has litigated cases at all levels of the state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of Indiana and the Supreme Court of the United States. In addition to his work for firm clients, he is also retained by other law firms to consult on litigation strategy and help them prepare for appellate oral arguments.

Mr. Slaughter has held numerous leadership positions in legal and judicial organizations. He has served on the Local Rules Advisory Committee for the Northern District of Indiana since 1999. Mr. Slaughter was president of the Alumni Board for the Indiana University Maurer School of Law in Bloomington from 2005-2006 and has been a member of its Board of Visitors since 2007. He has served as the president of the Indianapolis Lawyers Chapter of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy since 2007 and was the chairman of the Indiana Public Employee Relations Board from 2001-2005. He has been named an Indiana Super Lawyer by Law & Politics Magazine since 2006, appears in Best Lawyers in America and is AV Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell, its highest level of peer recognition for ethical standards and legal ability.

Before joining Taft, Mr. Slaughter served as special counsel to the Attorney General of Indiana, where he litigated cases on behalf of the State of Indiana, including the State’s tobacco litigation. He was also associated with the Chicago law firm of Kirkland & Ellis and was a law clerk to Chief U.S. District Judge Allen Sharp in South Bend. He and his wife Julie are 10-year residents of Irvington. Mr. Slaughter became a director for the Irvington Community Schools in January 2010.

Garland Graves joined the board of directors in 2010. He is the Warren Township Small Claims Court Administrator, charged with case processing, supervising the court’s staff of five, managing the court’s scheduling and finances, and overseeing the docket to ensure that the parties follow the Indiana Trial Rules, Indiana Small Claim Rules, and court procedures. Mr. Graves sits pro tempore in the Warren Township Small Claims Court on a somewhat regular basis when the elected judge is unavailable. He also has a small private practice handling all aspects of litigation in civil cases, including family and employment law cases.

Before becoming an attorney, he worked for the Marion County Superior Court – Juvenile Division as a probation officer. He was admitted to the Indiana Bar in 2000. From 2000 to 2004, Mr. Graves worked for the City of Indianapolis - Corporate Counsel, where he prosecuted violations of city ordinances, pursued and defended tort cases on behalf of the city, and was in-house counsel for the Historic Preservation Commission and the County Clerk. Most of the litigation that Mr. Graves performed as a city prosecutor was before the Marion County Superior Court. He later worked for Mayor Peterson’s Administration as the Director of Council Relations, where he was charged with insuring the passage of the mayor's legislative agenda through the City-County Council.

Mr. Graves lives in the Irvington area with his wife of 16 years and two elementary school-aged children.