Directors

Executive Director

Cindy Zimmermann has joined our administrative team as Executive Director. From her introductory letter to families and staff,

“My background ranges from being an experienced administrator, a gifted English teacher, the wife of an immigrant, and the proud mother of 5 grown kids.

Professionally, though, I am a teacher first. I moved into administration at the request of my teaching colleagues, who said, “Who else will propel and defend our mission to educate ALL kids?” Since then, I have been the teacher-leader of a group of teachers and parents who planned and implemented a small Paideia high school in Chicago under a Gates grant. We broke records for student achievement in a severely at-risk urban environment that had been immune to improvement. I have also been the lead district-level administrator for curriculum and instruction in a large charter school system that solely re-enrolled dropouts (4,000+ students).

By creating teacher and principal teams that worked on commonly agreed-upon goals, we moved the charter from struggling to the top alternative school system in the City of Chicago. I have also been the principal of a Colorado detention center school for committed youth and an assistant principal at a large comprehensive high school in Colorado. My work with teams of teachers, parents, students, and community members has been an amazing journey and one to which I am committed. I simply love and believe in kids and the teachers that serve them.”

Lead Director of Instruction, Grades 1-6

Amanda Shepherd is entering her fifth year as a member of the KORE Academy staff.

She earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Education from Union College in Barbourville, Kentucky. Mrs. Shepherd has National Board Certification in Literacy: Reading Language Arts for Early & Middle Childhood, and is also certified in Reading Recovery, an intensive research-based program for students with reading difficulties.

Following her son’s diagnosis of autism in 2014, Mrs. Shepherd went on to pursue additional certification in Applied Behavioral Analysis from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Amanda and her husband Scott reside in Lexington with their two children Brayden and Grace. She is an avid runner with a deep passion for meeting the individual needs of students with learning differences.

Secondary Director of Instruction, Grades 7-12

Andi Gutteridge has been a middle school teacher at KORE for the last eleven years and a member of the administrative team for the last six. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Middle School Education – English and Social Studies from the University of Kentucky and her Master’s degree in Special Education – Learning/Behavior Disorders from Asbury University.

In addition to her teaching and administrative duties, Andi sponsors the LEGO and Film Clubs. She and her husband, Tony, have three sons, one daughter-in-law, two cats, and lots of LEGOs.