Meet Our Reputable Leadership Team Here

---

 Robert Pilkington, Ed.D. Emeritus is a long-time Rhode Island charter school leader, founder of the RI League of Charter Schools, former teachers’ union official, and charter school designer and operator. Village Green is Dr. Pilkington's fourth RI Charter School. Schools based on his design have also been started in New Hampshire and Washington, DC. He is a licensed Superintendent in Rhode Island and, along with Rochelle Baker, both are the longest-serving administrators in the RI Charter School movement. He has a demonstrated track record of starting and sustaining local charter schools, demonstrates consistent student achievement, and creates positive school cultures and professional learning communities for teachers and staff. 

 Rochelle Baker, MSW, M. Ed., LCSW is VGV’s Executive Director/Head of School and is a long-time charter school leader. Along with Dr. Pilkington, she co-founded the Textron/Chamber of Commerce Academy (TCCA) which opened in 1994 and was re-named the Academy for Career Exploration (ACE) 1998-2013. She shares the distinction of being the second longest serving administrator of the Charter Schools in Rhode Island. She had multifaceted leadership roles at TCCA, which included Admissions, Student and Family Services, Building and Business Operations, Fundraising, After- School Programming, coordinating 2011 RIDE charter renewal process and data binders, and organizing community appeal. In 2013, along with Dr. Pilkington and Dr. Butler, she cofounded the Village Green Virtual Charter School. Beginning with 2021-2022, Miss Baker became VGV’s Executive Director/Head of School to champion her strength based professional leadership. Miss Baker is well known within the RI charter school community as a devoted advocate for excellent and personalized small schools that respect and motivate serving both students and families. 

 John Butler, Ph.D., PE is the Director of LEAP (Learning, Equity, & Accelerated Pathways) Initiatives and Research. Along with colleagues Dr. Pilkington and Rochelle Baker, he is a cofounder of Village Green Charter School. Dr. Butler is the recipient of the 2010 Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award from URI. He is the author of several publications including books: Who's the New Kid in Chemistry?, Inventing School, Knocking it Out of the PARCC, and A Personalized Learning Framework. From 2005–2013 he served as the Mathematics Department Chair and Data Analyst for Beacon Charter High School. Prior to a career change in 2001 to teaching high school mathematics, he spent 22 years in engineering, designing automated machines and supervising installations both in the U.S. and Europe. He is the inventor of over 15 U.S. patents. In 1982, he co-founded the Mechtrix Corporation (a leading manufacturer in the electrical wire processing industry) located in Wisconsin. He is a licensed Profession Engineer (PE).