Meet Our Board of directors
Andy Grover
Teacher Member
contact@hope-school.org
Andy Grover is married to Laurie for over 25 years and lives in Savage with three children and three cats. He enjoys golf, coaching, church, and eating tasty food. Andy has over 24 years of working in education. After starting as an elementary teacher and volleyball coach, Andy moved to teaching computer classes for the last 12 years. He still likes to coach volleyball. Andy thoroughly enjoys working with children and especially the children of HOPE the past three years.
He is serving his second year of a three-year term on the school board. Andy has degrees in the following areas: B.S. in Social Work – Bemidji State University, B.S. in Elementary Education – Bemidji State University.
Don Lorr
Community Member
contact@hope-school.org
Donald Lorr lives in the Railroad Island neighborhood since 2000. He lives with his wife, Elizabeth, and daughter, Maude. Since 2014 he has help lead the Railroad Island Neighborhood Group (RING) worked to grow the outreach to all members of the neighborhood (residents, businesses, and local organizations) to ensure that all voices are included in our discussion & planning. Railroad Island Neighborhood Group (RING) and HOPE Community Academy have partnered on many occasions. Don hopes to foster additional collaborations.
Donald Lorr works at Thomson Reuters as a Taxonomy Manager classifying news stories for better search & retrieval. Don has worked at there since 1999 in a variety of roles including phone technical support, training, and database management. Don received a Master’s in Library and Information Science (MLIS) from Dominican University in 2007 and Master of Arts in American Literature from the University of North Dakota in 1995.
Don enjoys running and usually can be found rambling around the paths and trails of the East Side, including Swede Hollow, Bruce Vento, and Battle Creek.
Staci Ahrens
Teacher Member
contact@hope-school.org
Staci Ahrens is serving her first term as a teacher member of the school Board of Directors. This is her 10th year at HOPE teaching math to middle school and now high school students. She lives in Hastings and has 4 adult children. She has participated in many HOPE committees prior to joining the School Board. Staci prides herself in being a very detail oriented person and a strong advocate for students and staff at HOPE. She is passionate about student success and wants to continue to help students by giving them unconditional support and resources to grow academically.
Hayley Ball
Community Member
contact@hope-school.org
Hayley Ball is serving her first term on the school Board. She lives in St. Paul and has experience teaching in charter and public schools with students K-12. Currently, she serves as Executive Director of Urban Roots, overseeing all operations of one of the longest running youth development organizations Her strengths are in school and nonprofit finance, curriculum development, evaluation metrics, fundraising, grant writing, relationship building and partnership collaboration. She hopes to provide learning opportunities to HOPE students through collaboration with Urban Roots and other organizations.
Patchia Xiong Vang
Parent Member
contact@hope-school.org
Patchia is serving her first term as a parent Board member. She has four children attending HOPE. She lives in St. Paul and works as an HR Generalist at Spring Lake Park School District. She is a strong advocate for quality and equitable education for all children. She has also been a part of the Charter world for many years and is excited to serve on the Board of Directors to support the mission and vision of the school and district.