Nova Academy Board of Directors

Board Member Roster

Email: board@novaclassical.org

This email is received by the Board Chair and may be distributed to all members of the Board of Directors. Contents received at this email address will not be included in the Public Comment section of the board packet.

Colleen Hansen, Director | chansen@novaclassical.org

Colleen is the proud parent to three Nova Classical scholars, one in Lower School and two in Upper School. She, her spouse, and children have been a part of the Nova Classical community since 2016.

Colleen earned her BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Master’s of Library Science from the University of St. Catherine, St. Paul. She is currently employed as an Archivist, but has worked in public, law, and special libraries in the past. Colleen is also currently the communications/secretary board chair of the Inver Grove Heights Lacrosse Association. In the past, she held two different chairs for the SPPS ECFE Parent Advisory Board, managed a hockey association, and also volunteered for the NPTO doing social media and web maintenance.

Colleen is excited to be able to give back to the Nova Classical community that has given so much to her family and hopes to help Nova Classical remain virtuous and exemplary into the future. Term Expires: June 30, 2025.

Melissa DeJesus Hernandez, Director | melhernandez@novaclassical.org

Melissa Hernandez and her husband, Juan, enrolled their daughter at Nova Classical in 2012. Since then, she has had the honor and joy to serve Nova Classical as an active member of the PTO (2012-Present) and School Climate Committee (2014-2017), a Recess Teacher (2013-2014), as well as the Lower School (LS) Office Manager (2014-2019). Melissa’s background is in Organizational Management and prior to her work with Nova Classical, she was employed in the hospitality industry as a Restaurant Development Manager. Term Expires: June 30, 2023.

Nicholas LaRusso, Vice Chair | nlarusso@novaclassical.org

Nicholas LaRusso, M.D. is a Charles H. Weinman Endowed Professor of Medicine, the former Medical Director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation (CFI) and Mayo Clinic Center for Connected Care, and a Distinguished Investigator of the Mayo Foundation. Nicholas co-authored a book entitled “Think Big, Start Small, Move Fast” describing the fusion method of innovation that is the hallmark of Mayo’s CFI with Barb Spurrier and Mayo Clinic CEO, Gianrico Farrugia. Besides being a member of the American Association of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, he is the former editor of Gastroenterology and past president of both the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) and the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA). Among other honors, he’s been a recipient of a MERIT Award and the Principle Investigator on two R01s and on a Silvio Conte Digestive Diseases Center grant, all from NIH. Nicholas has received Distinguished Achievement Awards from the Mayo Alumni Association and both the AGA and the AASLD, the Distinguished Mentor Award and the Julius Friedenwald Medal from the AGA, and is ranked in the top 1% of physicians in the country by US News and World Report. Term Expires: June 30, 2023.

Becky Lund, Secretary | blund@novaclassical.org

Becky has been at Nova Classical since it opened its doors in 2003 and has served on several committees during her tenure here including the Curriculum Committee and the Governance Committee. Becky received her BA in Elementary Education from Augsburg College and her MA in Education from Hamline University. She also received an additional license in K-12 Reading from Hamline. Term Expires: June 30, 2025.

Suzanne McInroy, Director | smcinroy@novaclassical.org

Suzanne McInroy and her husband, Mark, are the proud parents of three Nova Classical Academy students. They have been involved with Nova Classical since their oldest child started Kindergarten in 2017 and they especially appreciate the classical education model, dedicated teachers and staff, and the supportive community. Professionally, Suzanne works in the field of communications with almost 20 years of experience working in the non-profit sector, mostly for colleges and universities. Suzanne received her B.A. in journalism from Messiah University in Pennsylvania, her M.A. in international relations and communications from Boston University, and is currently completing her Ed.D. in higher education leadership from Bethel University in St. Paul. Term Expires: June 30, 2025

Sasha Ross, Treasurer | sross@novaclassical.org

Sasha has been a mathematics teacher at Nova Classical since 2014. She teaches Algebra and Calculus in the Upper School. Sasha has been a member of Nova Classical’s Governance Committee since the summer of 2018, helping to review board policies and organize the board elections. Since 2015, she has been part of the Response to Intervention (RTI) team and is also a lead on the Data-Driven Instruction (DDI) team. Sasha grew up right here in St. Paul and is passionate about the community. She still lives in the area with her partner, dog, and a 30-year-old tortoise who serves as the oldest class pet in Nova Classical’s history. Term Expires: June 30, 2024.

Diane Ruday, Director | druday@novaclassical.org

Diane has been a teacher at Nova Classical since 2009. She teaches math in grades 1-5 and is the Math Lead in the Lower School. Diane has a Master’s of Arts in Teaching from Hamline which she earned in 2011. Prior to coming to Nova Classical, she was a math tutor for school district 833 and a long-term substitute math teacher at Lake Junior High School in Woodbury. Before that, Diane spent 20 years as a computer programmer. She worked at 3M in the Industrial Mineral division and was the computer programmer and the project manager on a system that was installed in the roofing granule plants. She was able to develop a new computer software system that she installed in all four of the roofing granule plants. Term Expires: June 30, 2023.

Bavi Weston, Director | bweston@novaclassical.org

Bavi Weston has an undergraduate degree in Community Education, a Master’s degree in Higher Education, and is ABD in an Ed.D. in Organization Development. Bavi has worked in education for over 25 years in elementary, middle, high school, and now higher education. Through all those experiences she has learned, seen, and experienced the impact that education has on the lives of students and their communities. Schools are a staple in creating connection points for people in our communities and in building the future of our world. Bavi is a Nova Classical parent of a lower and a middle school student and brings a commitment to our school into this role and in building our commitment to, understanding of, and practices of diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. Term Expires: June 30, 2023.

Jennie Winter, Chair | jwinter@novaclassical.org

Jennie has been a Nova Classical parent since 2011 and has three children, all of whom attend Nova Classical. Jennie was a founding partner at Winter Klein Communications, where she worked for fourteen years on a variety of strategic marketing and HR communications projects. Before starting Winter Klein Communications, Jennie worked in corporate finance at Medtronic, Inc., and was employed in marketing at United Way. Jennie also taught English for two years to secondary school students in Vanuatu as a Peace Corps volunteer. Jennie has an MBA in strategic management, marketing, and finance from the University of Minnesota, where she received special honors in strategic management, and a BA with honors from UW-Madison. Jennie served on a similar board alongside faculty and administrators at UW-Madison, and she enjoys serving in such a role again at Nova Classical. Term Expires: June 30, 2023.