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LOS ANGELES — The UCLA School Management Program (UCLA SMP), a team of educators and former business executives dedicated since 1992 to improving primary and secondary education with practical and cost-effective solutions, will open its first east coast office in Trumbull, Conn. The Northeast Regional office, scheduled to open in January 2006, will be led by an accomplished staff of educators who worked most recently with The Education Alliance, a center housed at Brown University that has promoted improvements in education since 1975.

Juan López, Ed.D., former Director of Educational Leadership at The Education Alliance, will direct SMP’s Northeast Regional office. His more than 40 years of experience includes five years as Connecticut Superintendent for Career and Technical Education. He is joined at SMP by two former colleagues from Education Leadership: Laureen Cervone, M.A., former Asst. Director; and Lisa DiMartino, M.B.A., former Program Associate.

“Educational leaders know they can rely on us to deliver ‘honest bad news,’ those difficult and sometimes brutal facts of unacceptably low student achievement,” says López. “But confronting those problems is just the start. These leaders also know we’re going to be there as partners, drawing from research and professional knowledge to find solutions.”

Cervone, who specializes in working with educators in low-performing schools in both urban and rural areas, said SMP’s programs will be of critical importance in the Northeast:“We need a cadre of specialists in this area — teachers, principals, superintendents, and professional support organizations — folks who know and understand the special challenges of fixing low-performing schools.”

UCLA SMP is a UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies center that collaborates with public school teachers and school administrators to improve education. Its mission is to ensure students achieve the highest quality education possible. Dr. Dan Chernow, Executive Director of UCLA SMP, extolled the benefits the center will bring to schools in the northeast: “We are pleased and excited to be able to extend our successful support of teachers and administrators through the addition of these highly regarded and experienced educators in the northeast. They will be an integral part of the UCLA SMP team.”