Jacqueline Ragan, Director

Jacqueline Ragan excited to be the school director at Sierra East Valley. She loves working with her new team to create an enriching, caring and safe environment for all our students. She has worked in the field of education and with individuals with disabilities for over 10 years. She has a bachelor’s degree in educational studies and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. She has been worked as a supervisor for a company working with individuals with autism. She is also a University Supervisor and adjunct faculty at the University of Redlands. She has taught courses at California State University San Bernardino in the special education department.

Shari Burns, Teacher

Shari Burns serves as our Moderate/Severe Education Specialist. She has worked in special education classrooms since 2009. She also worked for four years as a substitute instructional assistant, four years as a long-term substitute teacher, and has served as the Functional Academics teacher at another nonpublic school for more than two years.

Ms. Burns’ experience as an instructional aid contributed to her discovery of how much she enjoys working with kids with special needs. She enjoys finding ways to connect with those who are unable to connect with the world in typical ways.

On a personal note, her favorite colors are green and yellow. She loves learning new things and finding new ways to challenge herself. In her free time, Ms. Burns enjoys reading, listening to podcasts and visiting new places outside of her cute, little house in Rubidoux. She is pleased to meet everyone and is happy to be here at East Valley!

Cindi O’Donnell, Teacher

Cindi O’Donnell has been teaching as an Education Specialist since 2004.  She completed her undergraduate, graduate studies in the areas of Psychology, Correctional Education, Special Education as well as Mild to Moderate and Moderate to Severe Education Specialists Credentials at The California State University San Bernardino and The University of California Riverside with The Center for Teacher Innovation.

She began teaching and found after working with her students for a few years, that her main areas of interest were with behavior and trauma informed practices in the classroom.

She decided to change her teaching path to involve working with ‘troubled’ youth.  She has taught students, in the Juvenile system and other nonpublic schools, with severe maladaptive behaviors.  Her classroom style is centered toward positive reinforcement and teaching strategies that involved creating a therapeutic environment catered to student based needs, assessment, instruction and individualization with adapting curriculum, social skills, life skills and behavior management strategies.

When she is not teaching, she enjoys spending time with her daughter and family.  Her hobbies include fashion, gymnastics, singing, dancing, music and doing as many fun activities as she can with her daughter, Christi.  She is comical, enjoys making people laugh and is always helpful in making people feel important, part of the team, comfortable and loved.  She is everybody’s favorite cheerleader! Go Team Go!

Jessie Holston, Behavior Specialist

Jessie Holston is currently a graduate student at Boston University pursuing a master’s degree in Social Work. She graduated from California State University, Fullerton in 2019 with dual degrees: her Bachelor of Science in Child and Adolescent Development (with an emphasis in Family and Community Contexts) and Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies.

Her career goal is to incorporate evidence-based and developmentally appropriate wellness and mental health care practices in schools as an everyday exercise; to educate school and community members on diversity, equity, and inclusion, and how to respectfully and effectively work with others –  including parents/caregivers, and students.

In her spare time, Kisha enjoys ballroom dancing, and may be caught dancing in the hallways. The opportunity to work at with East Valley has given Kisha the opportunity to continue combining mental wholeness with her love for the creative arts.

Daniel Dang, Occupational Therapist

Daniel Dang is a graduate student from University of St. Augustine and received his Master’s in Occupational Therapy. He will be here to help our students function to the best of their abilities by addressing sensory processing skills, fine/gross motor skills, handwriting, keyboarding and other areas of educational need. It is such a rewarding experience when we see our students succeed and reach their goals through therapy fueled by their motivations. In his free time he loves tinkering with technology, playing video games, trying new food and working out. He hopes to incorporate both his students’ and his own interests into fun and exciting intervention sessions to create a fantastic way of learning. As a brand new occupational therapist, he is looking forward to learning and growing together with Sierra School of East Valley as we build a solid foundation for our students.