• Athlos Academy of St. Cloud at sunset

Our Founders

Jason Kotter

Jason Kotter
Cofounder
Athlos Academies

The idea behind Athlos Academies began after co-founders Ryan Van Alfen and Jason Kotter became impressed by the idea of parental choice in education and recognized other needs within the education system, including developing the whole child beyond academics alone.  To succeed in life, students need more than just book smarts, and Van Alfen and Kotter wanted to make a social impact.

“In an era of emphasis on common standards and standardized testing, core subject areas can become the sole focus of a child’s daily instruction. However, students also need instruction in social-emotional learning. Are these things typically measured on a standardized test? No, but like academic knowledge they are critical to a child’s future success and should not be overlooked.”

Entrepreneurs in their own right, the two founders always chalked up their success to life lessons: integrity, hard work, service, and healthy choices.  In examining their own childhood experiences, they realized many of the most influential lessons they learned were not taught in a typical classroom lesson. Often, they were experiences in an extracurricular or sports setting that required development of leadership skills, grit, or social intelligence. They were fortunate enough to have families and coaches that helped them see the relevancy in these experiences and develop their character. However, Performance Character traits are not always taught in the home and very rarely in the classroom.

“Children are no longer defined by how they perform in the classroom. It’s how can they perform in life? How are they going to deal with the challenges that life will inevitably throw at them?”

~ Ryan Van Alfen

A concept began to take shape. Consulting with education experts, fitness specialists, and social emotional thought leaders, a new school model was born—Athlos.  Athlos, derived from the Greek word for “feat” or “contest,” revived the classical ideal of balance—balance of mind, body, and character.

Ryan Van Alfen

Ryan Van Alfen
Cofounder
Athlos Academies

The idea behind Athlos Academies began after co-founders Ryan Van Alfen and Jason Kotter became impressed by the idea of parental choice in education and recognized other needs within the education system, including developing the whole child beyond academics alone.  To succeed in life, students need more than just book smarts, and Van Alfen and Kotter wanted to make a social impact.

“In an era of emphasis on common standards and standardized testing, core subject areas can become the sole focus of a child’s daily instruction. However, students also need instruction in social-emotional learning. Are these things typically measured on a standardized test? No, but like academic knowledge they are critical to a child’s future success and should not be overlooked.”

Entrepreneurs in their own right, the two founders always chalked up their success to life lessons: integrity, hard work, service, and healthy choices.  In examining their own childhood experiences, they realized many of the most influential lessons they learned were not taught in a typical classroom lesson. Often, they were experiences in an extracurricular or sports setting that required development of leadership skills, grit, or social intelligence. They were fortunate enough to have families and coaches that helped them see the relevancy in these experiences and develop their character. However, Performance Character traits are not always taught in the home and very rarely in the classroom.

“Children are no longer defined by how they perform in the classroom. It’s how can they perform in life? How are they going to deal with the challenges that life will inevitably throw at them?”

~ Ryan Van Alfen

A concept began to take shape. Consulting with education experts, fitness specialists, and social emotional thought leaders, a new school model was born—Athlos.  Athlos, derived from the Greek word for “feat” or “contest,” revived the classical ideal of balance—balance of mind, body, and character.

Our Leadership Team

Bill Bressler

Dr. William Bressler, Ed.D.
Chief Executive Officer
Athlos Academies

Dr. Bressler has more than twenty years of PK-12 education administration experience. He is known for his transformational leadership approach, helping develop others and effectively managing, guiding, and motivating groups to create, implement and execute innovative strategies and structures.

Dr. Bressler started his career in education as a high school guidance counselor. Later, serving as a teacher, assistant principal, principal, superintendent, chief academic officer, and executive director.

Dr. Bressler earned his doctorate in education leadership and management from Capella University, his master’s degree in education administration and supervision from Arizona State University, and his bachelor’s in social work from Arizona State University. He is also a state-certified superintendent and principal.

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Chris Brooks
Chief Financial Officer
Athlos Academies

Chris Brooks has over 15 years of experience in finance and accounting.  He started his accounting and finance career in the public sector, working for several CPA firms preparing financials and taxes for closely held businesses.  After a national Education Service Provider recruited him, he started in the education sector, beginning as a staff accountant and progressing to Director of Finance. Chris left the education industry for a year and then returned as a CFO of a school district in Arizona. Chris has become a big proponent of school choice and has developed a passion for helping provide choices for parents and students.  As a financial leader, he has participated in several K-12 public school transformations and growth initiatives.  Chris is a Certified Public Accountant in the State of Arizona.  He earned his post-bac certificate in Accounting from Arizona State University and his Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness from Arizona State University.

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Teresa Tate
Chief Operations Officer
Athlos Academies

Teresa Tate has worked with K-12 charter schools for the past 16 years.  Her work has focused on school personnel and school/systems operations.

Teresa received her Bachelor of Science degree from Iowa State University. She started her career working for the city planning and zoning office and a marketing and printing company before entering the education field.  She has worked in human resources for twelve years and has overseen school operations for eight years.

In her most recent two roles, she was the Chief Operations Officer for a charter network based in Arizona. She supported the growth of eleven additional campuses during her tenure, creating systems to support their development to serve over 12,000 students and 1,000 staff.  Her primary duties focused on growth strategies and efficient building design while overseeing eight departments. These included HR, Marketing, Compliance, Finance, IT, Food Services, Facilities & New Construction.

From 2018-2023, Teresa worked as the Vice President of School Services at the Colorado League of Charter Schools, a non-profit support organization serving the 269 charter schools in the state of Colorado.  In this role, she oversaw Academic Services, Business Services, Exceptional Student Services, HR & Talent Services, and New School Development.  She also managed Board Governance Services directly.  She focused on providing resources, training, crisis support, and networking opportunities to the charters across the state – serving various school models and sizes.

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Our Operations Team

Juliana Giovannini

Juliana Giovannini
Student Information System Manager
Athlos Academies

Juliana Giovannini has worked at Athlos Academies since 2015.  She was hired as a Research Assistant on the School Launch Team in the year prior to the opening of Athlos Academy of St. Cloud and Athlos Academy of Utah.  Her responsibilities included researching and writing school board policies and creating the Family Handbook.  By the time the schools opened in 2016, her role evolved into the School Launch Specialist where she took on managing the student enrollment process.  In 2018, her role again transitioned, this time into the Student Information System (SIS) Administrator just in time for launching Athlos Academy of Jefferson Parish.  Her responsibilities grew to include managing each school’s SIS and state reporting of student data.  She has enjoyed being a part of a start-up educational venture and witnessing the changes that each school has experienced over the years.

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Sarah DiSimone

Sarah DiSimone
School Operations Manager
Athlos Academies

Sarah DiSimone is the School Operations Specialist at Athlos Academies. DiSimone has a Bachelor’s Degree from SUNY Empire State College in Business Management, Economics, and Finance, specializing in Business Management. DiSimone has worked for a business accelerator for over five years as an Associate Project Manager. She then moved on to specialize in Office Management and Human Resources for the past few years. DiSimone uses this background to successfully recruit and coordinate on and off boarding for school employees, as well as assist in other operation projects.

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Scott Milbourn
Apparel Operations Manager
Athlos Academies

Scott is an experienced professional with 23 years of marketing and apparel product experience. Since 2016, he has been working with Athlos Academies, where his primary role has been to establish the school’s online uniform distribution department. Initially hired as the Wearhouse Manager, Scott was soon promoted to Apparel Operation Manager. His responsibilities include managing the store website, designing products, purchasing, and distributing uniforms.

Scott relocated from California to Idaho in 2015. Before the move, he had worked in the merchandising and apparel industry for 16 years, including seven years with major bands and artists and nine seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and San Francisco Giants. He was fortunate enough to have worked at exciting events such as NFL playoff games, MLB World Series, WWE WrestleMania, and many others. Despite the excitement of those events, Scott has stated that working for Athlos Academies has been his greatest professional decision.

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Our Finance Team

Julie Ogden
Finance Manager
Athlos Academies

Julie  Ogden has a Bachelor’s degree in accountancy with a Master’s in business administration. She is a CPA exam candidate, qualified by the Florida Board of Accountancy. She has extensive knowledge of financial accounting for local and state school systems, including ten years of overall experience with finance and accounting and five years of experience in the generally accepted governmental accounting standards, program cost accounting and reporting, and school internal funds. She brings a thorough knowledge of the segregation of governmental, proprietary, and fiduciary funds and their revenue recognition on a modified accrual basis. She belongs to the Florida School Finance Officers Association and The National Society of Leadership & Success.

Ms. Ogden stated, “School finance is a broad and evolving field encompassing three resource-related functions – raising revenue, allocating resources, and using resources – all aimed at providing educational opportunities and producing educational outcomes. I look forward to bringing my expertise to the network of schools at Athlos Academies.”

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Kevin Tompkins
Accounting Specialist
Athlos Academies

Kevin Tompkins is presently employed as the accounting specialist at Athlos Academies, where he specializes in accounts payable. Tompkins hold a Bachelor’s of Science degree in business with a concentration in accounting from Indiana University. His professional experience includes working in accounts payable, accounts receivable, purchasing, and full cycle accounting. Prior to moving to Florida in 2019, Tompkins coached high school baseball in his home state of Indiana for three years. His first job out of college was in the accounts payable department of a staffing agency in Columbus, IN, and since then, has worked in accounts payable, accounts receivable, and purchasing for a marina forklift company in Fort Myers, FL. Additionally, he has worked as a full cycle accountant for a non-profit charter school organization called Optima Ed in Florida.

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Our Academics Team

Dr. Brian Dawes
Executive Director
Athlos Academy of Utah

Dr. Dawes is a lifelong learner with a Bachelor of Science in Social Science from Southern Utah University, a Master of Science in Social Science and HR Management from Utah State University, and a Doctorate in Advanced Educational Leadership from Argosy University. Dr. Dawes comes to Athlos with a wealth of knowledge and over twenty years of educational leadership experience.

He taught for seven years at the middle and high school level and was the principal at Ferron Elementary, a National Title 1 Distinguished School. He was the past President of the Utah Association of Elementary School Principals. As a school leader, he significantly improved teacher retention at his previous schools. He has worked to build inclusive school communities for children of all faiths and diverse cognitive and physical abilities. Dr. Dawes has a portfolio of notable successes and a career filled with helping push the bar of educational excellence for students, educators, families, and school communities.

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Heather Ebnet
Executive Director
Athlos Academy of St. Cloud

Heather Ebnet has been working in education for over 25 years. She has held various roles including classroom teacher, Talent Development Specialist, Academic Coach, Administrative Intern, Assistant MS Principal, and Elementary Lead Principal. Currently, Ms. Ebnet is serving as the Executive Director for Athlos Academy of St. Cloud.

Ms. Ebnet’s educational journey began when she earned her BS degree in elementary education from the College of Saint Benedict in 1996. Since then, she has taught a wide range of grades from K to Post Secondary Courses. In 2003, she received an MS degree in Human Relations and Multicultural Education. Most recently, she obtained her Principal Licensure through St. Mary’s University and is licensed as a K-12 principal. Additionally, she still holds an active teaching license in Minnesota for Grades 1-6.

Ms. Ebnet was honored to receive the Principal of the Year Award from the Central MN Counselors Association for her support of Social Emotional Learning in schools. She strongly believes that students can only experience academic growth when their social emotional needs are met and is a firm advocate for educating the whole child.

Equitable access and opportunities for all students are at the core of Ms. Ebnet’s beliefs. She aims to bring this equity-focused mindset to Athlos St. Cloud, with the goal of providing high-quality instruction to all students as well as cultivating a thriving community of learners.

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Ivy L Curtis
Executive Director
Monarch Academy

In the words of Ivy Curtis, “My highest educational achievement was the ability to inspire others to reach their full potential regardless of their race, gender, or socioeconomic status.” Seeing their success is a source of joy to her, as she knows what it takes to succeed: hard work, determination, and persistence. By being an educational leader and continuing her own academic pursuits, Ivy demonstrates her deep understanding of the benefits of education and, in doing so encourages others to be high achievers. Her academic achievements include a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Dillard University, a Master’s in Business Administration, State of Texas Teacher and Principal certifications, and her latest pursuit as a 2024 Doctoral Candidate at Houston Christian University, studying Executive Leadership (superintendent track).

After completing her undergraduate degree, Ivy began working as a case manager for The Amachi Mentoring program of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Baton Rouge, LA. The program provided one-to-one mentoring for youth ages 6–14 and whose participants were products of parents or family members who were presently incarcerated or recently released from the prison system.

The program focused on three components: reducing juvenile delinquency, improving educational achievement and promotion, as well as enhancing the personal and social well-being of the entire family unit. Ivy’s responsibilities included coordinating academic wraparound services, providing supportive counseling safe places, in addition to assisting the families with transitional support that included food vouchers, healthcare immunizations, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program assistance.

Although it took several years before Monarch Academy was envisioned, the Amachi program was the seed idea where the passion to serve others was planted.

Ivy’s professional experiences range from adjunct teaching for Lone Star College, the Vet Tech Institute to teaching dual credit math at an Early College High schools, to being a district administrator in Spring ISD. Her proudest career accomplishment was taking all her professional experiences and launching Monarch Academy.

The foundation of the Monarch Academy is built upon her professional mission: Reach One, Teach One, Lead One. Monarch’s mission is “to increase STEAM careers in underprivileged communities by creating opportunities for student exposure and providing hands-on real-world learning”. Monarch’s goal is to build strong character and positive self-image in students of diversity. And lastly, Monarch Academy chooses to be reflective of, and responsive to community need.

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Michael Jennings

Michael Jennings
Healthy Body & Performance Character Manager
Athlos Academies

Michael Jennings has over a decade of experience teaching and coaching at every level.  He has a Master’s Degree in both Secondary Education: Curriculum & Assessment and Exercise Physiology.  He is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength & Conditioning Association.  He has nearly a decade of experience in various youth development fields in both the public and private sectors.  Michael is a proponent of physical literacy, long term athletic development and the holistic development/education of all students. Along with speaking both nationally and internationally, he is a regular presenter at local, state, & regional conferences. He is passionate about the powerful role that movement, physical activity, & sport play in the holistic development of young people. He is dedicated to showing that physical education, physical activity & sport build strong foundations in our youth!

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Our Marketing & Communications Team

Oladoyin Taiwo, Marketing and Communications Manager

Oladoyin Taiwo
Marketing & Communications Manager
Athlos Academies

Taiwo has a bachelor’s degree in mass communication with an MBA in Marketing. She is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, United Kingdom.
She has extensive knowledge of brand marketing and corporate communications for schools, including 15 years of overall experience with Marketing and Communications and five years of Senior management experience helping schools increase enrollment and supporting their communication and marketing needs.
She brings a unique blend of skills to our team.
Her dedication to creating dynamic and engaging marketing communication initiatives and her proficiency in project management and analytics make her an invaluable addition to our organization.
She belongs to the American Marketing Association and The Women in Management, Business & Public Service.
Her commitment to excellence is evident in her successful marketing and strategic brand communication track record.
She has a proven knack for crafting messages that resonate with diverse audiences, effectively conveying organizations’ mission, vision, and values.
Her experience in traditional and digital media ensures that our communication strategies remain adaptable and impactful in an ever-evolving landscape.
As Marketing and Communications Manager, she plays a pivotal role in shaping our Marketing Team and reinforcing our brand.
Her enthusiasm for fostering meaningful connections will contribute to the continued growth and success of Athlos Academies.
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Chukwunwike Diayi

Chukwunwike Diayi
Digital Marketing Specialist
Athlos Academies

Chukwunwike Diayi is the Digital Marketing Specialist at Athlos. He graduated from Montclair State University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. He has been involved with digital marketing as a marketing & social media manager for translation services and as an administrative assistant & social media manager for a cosmetic company. Not only that, but he has also been involved in education at his university as a Resident Assistant, Academic Advising Assistant, and Service Assistant. Utilizing his unique experiences, Chukwunwike helps Athlos engage their current audience and market to new ones.

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Brianna Ridinger
Graphic Designer & Website Content Manager
Athlos Academies

Bri Ridinger is a part of the Communications team as the Graphic Designer at Athlos Academies. She double majored with a BA in Journalism and Advertising with a vocational diploma in Graphic Design. She graduated from the University of Idaho and as a member of Kappa Delta sorority. After gaining her diploma, Bri did freelance graphic design in Utah until she joined the promotions team at Beaches where she promoted the company at events, local gyms and universities and had the opportunity to design promotional pieces for them as well. She then became the graphic designer for Notched Timber Structures and was in charge of their website re-design and management, email campaigns, photo editing, and promotional print/digital pieces. She loves getting people excited about upcoming events and projects, through the things that’s she designs & creates – flyers, apparel, posters social media graphics, banners, etc. Outside of the office she’s committed to the Healthy Body pillar by enjoying the outdoors and going on hikes and camping trips. Bri’s work at Athlos Academies focuses on design requests that come in from each school and creating designs that will engage and connect with the school’s students, families, and community.

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Pillar Overview

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