Meet the Team
CEO/Founder & Administrative Specialist
Amy Trombetti
Amy began her career in 1996 working in Clark County, Nevada as a teacher where she taught all subjects K-12, including Special Education, Gifted and Talented and ELL.
Amy relocated to Southern Utah in 2006, to begin work as a school administrator with Utah Charter Schools. She has been a District Special Education Facilitator, Charter School Principal, Charter School Assistant Principal and Charter School Special Education Director. She is currently contracted with the Utah State Office of Education working in compliance, coaching, mentoring and monitoring.
Amy has experience with complaint investigation, due process and mediation/conflict resolution. In addition to special education, Amy has broad range of knowledge with Federal Title Programs, coaching general education teachers in the following areas; accommodations, modifications, classroom management, behavior, pre-school and multi-tier system of support.
In 2010, Amy founded Special Education Consulting Services (SPEDCO). Based on her experience as a Charter School Director, she witnessed the struggles schools were having with their special education programs due to limited resources and funding. Through SPEDCO, Charter Schools now have the support and resources to maintain a well-structured and compliant program at a substantial savings enabling every child the opportunity to learn.
Amy earned her B.S. in Education/Special Education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Master of Arts in Education, Administration and Supervision from the University of Phoenix and recently completed the Mediation/Conflict Resolution course at the University of Utah.
SpedCo Consulting Team Members
Director of Finance
Marlies Burns, Ed.D.
Marlies Burns, Ed.D., is the Chief Development Officer at edXponential (edX), a worldwide educational reform consulting firm. She has 17 years of public education experience in school choice settings, including teaching, coaching, advising, administration, and state-level administration. Dr. Burns has expertise in developing, planning, implementing, and evaluating schools of choice at the local and state level. As the former Executive Director for the Utah State Charter School Board, she has worked with associations and special interest groups, school leaders, and parents, creating effective educational communities among diverse constituencies and solving problems. Dr. Burns serves on the board of Odyssey Dance Theater. She earned a B.S. in Biology (Brigham Young University – Hawaii), M.Ed. in Educational Leadership (University of Nevada, Las Vegas), and an Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction (Utah State University).
Behavioral Specialist BCBA
Glenn A. Dyke
Glenn began working with children and adults with severe and mild/moderate disabilities in 1992. He has been a Special Education teacher at the elementary and secondary levels, a behavior specialist for Davis school district, a District Coordinator for 40 highly specialized self-contained programs, an adjunct instructor for USU’s teacher preparation program, and a private consultant. He currently provides technical assistance and behavioral support to school administrators and classroom teachers throughout Utah, Nevada, Colorado and Wyoming. Glenn earned his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Utah, Masters of Education from the University of Utah, Special Education Teaching Certification and Administrative/Supervisory License from Utah State University. In addition, he is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst, a PBIS Coordinator for Utah and a SWIS Data Facilitator.
M.ED
Cara Baker
Cara has been working in the field of Special Education for 15 years and has worked with SPEDCO for 5 years. She has experience teaching a wide variety of ability levels, school settings and ages. Her passion before becoming a Charter School Director was working with students with severe to profound disabilities. Prior to teaching in the classroom setting, she did in-home ABA therapy. Cara graduated from California State Polytechnic University Pomona (Cal Poly) with a bachelor's degree in Sociology and a minor in Criminology. Cara continued at Cal Poly Pomona to obtain her teaching credential in Moderate/Severe and obtained her Master's in Special Education from Point Loma Nazarene University. Her experiences have allowed her the opportunity to coach and mentor new and experienced teachers, work in the area of compliance and monitoring, as well as help schools improve outcomes.
Education Consulting
Jennifer Slade
Jennifer has worked in education for over 32 years. She began her career as a para educator working in preschool and then a severe k-2 unit. Throughout her career, she has taught grades 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 6th, was the ALP (Alternative Language Plan) lead for students learning English K-6, special education teacher K-6, and an administrator in elementary and secondary. While in administrative roles, Jennifer has been responsibly for leading out on equity, Title 1, special education, and section 504. Jennifer also provided professional learning in Sheltered English Instruction Protocol (SIOP), Cultural Diversity training, Anti Bullying, IDEA compliance and High Leverage Practices. As a mother of seven and grandmother to 31, Jennifer has had a lifelong passion for teaching and ensuring equity for all education.
Education Consulting
Stephanie Christensen
Stephanie has been a Utah special educator for over a decade as teacher and Special Education Director. She received her Bachelors from BYU-Hawaii in Special Education and a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from WGU. She has served as President of Charter Special Education Directors (CSPED) and worked as an Educational Consultant for charter schools throughout Utah as well as Nevada. She currently works for the Utah State Board of Education (USBE) as a Utah Program Improvement Planning System (UPIPS) Specialist. Previous to this role, she was the Alternate Path to Professional Educator License (APPEL-SpEd) Mentor Specialist for USBE. Stephanie served as a member of the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability, and Reform (CEEDAR) Team, to help build capacity in mentor preparation programs with institutions of higher education throughout Utah. She also has experience as a charter board member in the proposal phase. Stephanie and her husband Kevin have been married for 25 years and have four children, three of them are adults and living independently, the youngest is in highschool. She is an Advanced SCUBA Diver, has received her Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification, is Green Belt Six Sigma Certified, and enjoys traveling, spending time with family, weight lifting, golfing and many other activities.