Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Kimberly Regan, Chief Executive Officer

Dr. Regan is the Chief Executive Officer for Sierra Nevada Academy Charter School and SNACS Preschool. Dr. Regan founded SNACS with a committee of families in 1998. She developed the SNACS mission and vision based on her early experiences in education, research, and best practices in education, which drives all of our work in implementing the SNACS mission to provide an innovative education through personalized, choice, play, and exploration in a small school community, and the SNACS model.

Dr. Regan’s role and responsibilities are similar to that of a small-scale superintendent with a record of success in collaboration and innovation. Her responsibilities are prioritized in ensuring the mission and vision are implemented with fidelity; establishing school climate and culture; building capacity of board members, educational and support professionals; establishing an effective school community and building public relations within Washoe County, Nevada, and the US. Her duties include leadership of the SNACS mission and model, organizational and educational program planning and leadership; business, human resources, and financial management; school community, sponsor, state, and community relations; facilities management; school safety leadership; legal, charter, and policy oversight; public policy and research leadership; and digital marketing and social media leadership.

Dr. Regan has her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of South Carolina. She received her K-12 school administrator endorsement, and her doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Nevada, Reno. Dr. Regan is a lifelong learner and has post-doc Professional Certifications in Early Educational Leadership from Harvard University College of Education, Educational Leadership and Management, and Educational Finance from Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy.

Dr. Regan designed and developed the PLAY® Model and PLAY® Interactive Choice Board, an innovative model and learning management system implemented at SNACS. The PLAY® Model and PLAY® Interactive Choice Board are grounded in the science of learning, development, and hope to support student engagement and achievement with high-level student and teacher outcomes. Dr. Regan pitched the idea at the inaugural Harvard Zaentz Innovation Pitch in 2018 and placed 4th out of hundreds of applicants. Since 2018, she has developed and implemented the board with hundreds of students and teachers promoting student engagement, achievement and teacher efficiency and efficacy. The PLAY® Interactive Choice Board is noted as a game-changer by national experts from various organizations such as Harvard University, The Strong Museum of Play, Lakeshore Learning, and Pearson Education.

Dr. Regan is a published author, her first book, UNBROKEN Road to Freedom, is a memoir of hope on overcoming generational poverty, oppression, and abuse with insight to how the PLAY model ® was developed. UNBROKEN has been on the best seller list across multiple categories on Amazon. Her book is available in the Harvard Bookstore and at Barnes and Noble where she has been featured in book signing events. An excerpt from her memoir was featured in Yoga Journal, distributed to more than five million readers.

Dr. Regan has been in education for the past 30 years where her experiences expand across educational, political, and business landscapes. She is a founding member of SNACS and has served as an administrator for the past 26+ years. Since the inception in 1999, the school has increased enrollment from zero to approximately 300 students. Dr. Regan is the longest-running charter school administrator in the state of Nevada. She started the school because she believed in making a difference for children, especially those who might be at-risk of not graduating. Dr. Regan believes in choice in education and the small school community.

In 2004, she opened the certified preschool program because there was a need in the North Valley’s community. This later evolved into the separate, but related partner entity, Sierra Nevada Achievers for Community Services (SNACS) Preschool. SNACS Preschool is a separate entity. SNACS Preschool is partnered with the charter school, the Nevada Ready Prek Grant Program, and the Nevada Ready B-3 Community Program with FirstSchools to provide early childhood services, advocacy, and education for young children, their families, and the community. SNACS Preschool is a 4-star rated preschool through Nevada Silver State Stars. It serves children between the ages of 6 weeks until 5 years old and their families, and provides before and after school care in kindergarten through 8th grade.

Dr. Regan was appointed by former Governor Sandoval to serve on the P-20 Council, which promotes quality of care between pre-school age and through college. The P-20 movement brings continuity in education through vertical and horizontal alignment.

Dr. Regan served as the President for the Nevada Association for the Education of Young Children (NevAEYC), a state non-profit organization serving nearly 500 members, promoting high-quality early learning for all children birth through age 8, by connecting practice, policy, and research.

Dr. Regan serves on Charter School Association of Nevada (CSAN) and the CSAN School Leaders Council. CSAN’s mission is to serve students first, advocacy second, support always. The School Leaders Council supports charter school operators to continually engage with and be ready to mobilize around crucial issues impacting public charter schools in the state of Nevada. This work advances charter schools in Nevada and provides students and families with a voice and a choice in public education.

Dr. Regan is passionate about empowering at-risk children through PLAY® Model using the PLAY® Interactive Choice Board. Anyone who knows her, knows she believes in increasing student engagement through the power of play, choice, and play-based learning for all ages and in all subjects. Play provides an avenue for all children to have fun when learning in a hands-on approach. Through play, children can learn to make choices and learn to manage their time. Play also provides a voice for children who may not always have a voice. She believes everyone should have a voice and an opportunity to play. These basic premises define what Dr. Regan stands for in education.

Dr. Regan first worked as a writer in Newspaper in Education for Gannett Newspapers, a division of USA Today. She has written for Family magazine, a local Reno publication distributed to 40,000 families. She has published photographs in the NAEYC professional journal, Young Children. Dr. Regan has presented at local, state, and nation NAEYC conferences as well as at the University of Nevada, Reno. She has taught Master’s level courses for the University of Phoenix in the Early Childhood Education Department online and face to face in early childhood education, development, and leadership. She has conducted professional development activities and taught seminars related to digital learning environments, education leadership, school safety, positive behavior supports, classroom management, instructional design, 21 Century Learning, Common Core, state and national assessments, and many other education-related topics.

Her contributions in service work embody a practice of research that informs practice and policy, promoting college and career readiness, economic development and improved quality of life across the developmental levels of students and the community. Dr. Regan has participated in multiple B-3 and P-3 symposiums for the Governor and has worked with the National Governor’s Association, as a stakeholder in a community of early childhood leaders, to establish state-level priorities. She participated as a member of the Nevada Team at a Harvard professional day entitled “The Leading Edge of Early Childhood: Linking Science to Policy for a New Generation of Pre-K” to participate in statewide policy planning. She participated in Early Childhood Advisory Committee activities including supporting the Strong Start initiative, Silver State Strong, and contributing to public policy briefs. She collaborates with members representing agencies such as The Children’s Advocacy Alliance, the Nevada Institute for Children’s Research & Policy (UNLV), Head Start, The Children’s Cabinet, and Division of Welfare and Supportive Services to establish comprehensive statewide strategic plans, policy briefs, campaign efforts, and collaborate.

Dr. Regan loves her work and spending time with her family in her quite time at home. She loves writing, photography, drawing and design, acting, singing, nature, horseback riding, running, golf, pickleball, camping, and yoga.

You can follow Dr. Regan’s social media highlights by following @Dr_Kimberly_Regan or one of the organizations she works with @SNACSNevada @SNACSPreschool.

More about Dr. Regan and the PLAY® Model and PLAY® Interactive Choice Board

See more about the at https://www.snacs.org/academics/snacs-model/
Visit the SNACS blog – https://www.snacs.org/dr-kimberly-regan-shaping-the-education-world/
Visit This is Reno featured article: https://thisisreno.com/2024/08/sierra-nevada-academy-charter-school-marks-its-25th-year-innovative-initiative-sponsored