Our Team
Jill Goodrich, Executive Director - Prior to joining Opportunity School, Jill served on the board for six years, and then she followed her passion for children and families by joining Opportunity School as Executive Director. Jill is a graduate of the University of Nebraska and from West Texas A&M University with a Master of Business Administration. Jill also has completed 24 college credits in Early Childhood Education.
Cindy Grimaldo, Business Manager - Cindy joined Opportunity School in 2015 after serving at CampFire. She holds her associate degree from Amarillo College and is working on a bachelor degree at Wayland Baptist University in Management.
Rachel Knapp, Development and Marketing Coordinator- Rachel is an Amarillo native who returned home after completing her degree in Advertising and Public Relations with minors in Theatre Arts and Child Development from Texas Christian University. She completed the PACE program West Texas A&M University where she earned her EC-4 generalist and ESL certifications. For three years, she taught kindergarten and second grade at Eastridge Elementary. Rachel then moved to New York City where she pursued a number of adventures, but close ties to family brought her back to Amarillo. She joined our team in August 2017.
Program Leaders
Lesley Webb, Program Quality Director- Lesley joined Opportunity School in 2016 after 12 years with Region 16, most recently as Behavior Specialist. Lesley's undergraduate degree is from Texas Tech in Human Development and has a Master's degree in Counseling. Lesley has had extensive training in Conscious Discipline and attended the Conscious Discipline S.T.A.R Conference and Summer Institute. Lesley oversees our classroom program to ensure we are meeting all necessary program standards and quality measures as well as providing leadership for our training and development program.
Vonda Grantham, Central Campus Site Director - Vonda has worked at Opportunity School for almost 10 years in a variety of administrative positions. Previously she served as a director with the YMCA at the Midtown location. Vonda is in the process of gaining her associate degree at Amarillo College.
Kris Optiz, Grand Street Site Director - This is the second time that Kris has worked at Opportunity School. She worked under Betsy Singleton in the early 2000s starting out at a cook and then became a classroom teacher. She returned in 2016 as an infant and toddler teacher and most recently serves as our site director for the Grand Street Campus. Kris holds an Associate's Degree in Early Childhood Education.
April Slatter, Family Services Coordinator - April joined our Grand Street team after serving in several early childhood education positions with Region 16, most recently as a Family Service Advocate. April holds an associate degree in Social Work from Amarillo College and a bachelor degree in Human Services from Wayland Baptist University. April has had extensive training in Conscious Discipline and attended the Conscious Discipline S.T.A.R Conference and Summer Institute in 2016.
Julie Woolery, Speech Therapist - Julie joined Opportunity School in 2012 and works full time to meet the needs of children at both of our campuses. Julie's undergraduate and graduate degrees in Speech Therapy are from West Texas A&M University. Julie has had extensive training in Conscious Discipline and attended the Conscious Discipline Summer Institute in 2016. Across both campuses, Julie helps coordinate resources for specific needs that our young students have for speech, language, other therapies (OT, PT, etc.), behavioral and social/emotional challenges as needs arise.