Faculty & Staff Page

Otho Tucker Otho B. Tucker, Ph.D.

Prior to joining Lake Oconee Academy as CEO, Dr. Otho Tucker served as president and CEO of Otho Tucker Educational Services, Inc., a company that served charter schools with facilities planning, financing, and development as well as curriculum and governance oversight and evaluation. He has been a leader in North Carolina and national education reform for nearly 20 years. As a founder and operator of one of the first and very successful charter schools in North Carolina, Chatham Charter School, a School of Distinction, he has been a leader in the state’s authorizing and legislative practices. Dr. Tucker served on the initial NC Charter School Advisory Committee and served as the director of the North Carolina Office of Charter Schools with oversight of NC’s 100 charter schools where he dramatically reduced the number of schools performing below par academically and financially. He has also served as chair of the National Charter School Institute Advisory Team and on the board of directors for the National Association of Charter School Authorizers.

Recently, Dr. Tucker has been revamping the operations of several schools in North Carolina. Each of these schools has improved their academic performance. Each of the K-8 programs has more than 93% of its students meeting or exceeding state standards in reading, writing, mathematics, and technology skills.

In association with the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, Dr. Tucker assisted the Florida Department of Education in the development and implementation of statewide charter school applications, contracts, and renewal documents. In this project, he worked with the newly formed Schools of Excellence Commission as it planned and implemented the processes and procedures for statewide charter school authorization and operation.

In addition to paving the way for charter schools in Florida, he has also lead the charter school initiative in South Carolina. The culmination of his work in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina, fulfills the legislative requirement that all charter school board members receive governance training within one year of taking office.

A graduate of the University of Illinois, Dr. Tucker consistently appeared on the Dean’s List, and was a member of the UI Basketball Academic All-American Team. Following graduation, he was drafted by the Boston Celtics and later returned to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro to earn his PhD in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Cultural Studies.

He lives in Reynolds Plantation with his wife of 33 years, Cindy. They have three children – Wade, Will, and Jill, each of whom graduated from college with degrees in biology and chemistry.




Anne Bared Anne Bared,

Curriculum Consultant

Mrs. Bared currently resides at Reynolds Plantation and Augusta with her husband, Rick. She is a professor, via distance education, for the Fischler School of Education at Nova Southeastern University (NSU) and brings over fifteen years of experience in education with her to Lake Oconee Academy. At Lake Oconee Academy, she is multitasking as a curriculum coordinator, an educational consultant, and a foreign language educator. Her past achievements have been recognized by receiving several educational awards including Educational Scholarships, Teacher of the Year, the Golden Apple Award, and articles highlighting her accomplishments. Anne has also written journal articles published by the Georgia Association of Curriculum and Supervision. She truly enjoys being a life long learner and is always advocating for early childhood education. Due to its simplicity, one of her favorite books is “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” by Robert Fulghum.

Prior to moving to Georgia, Anne was employed in various capacities at The Mailman Segal Institute of Early Childhood Studies at Nova Southeasterh University located in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. The majority of the children that attend this school are from financially privileged backgrounds including children of several famous athletes and celebrities. Anne founded several programs at NSU, was a mentor, curriculum coordinator, trainer, educator, and professor during her years there. Her dedication was evident in organizing several fundraisers to benefit Children’s Cancer Research and was always a favorite “guest speaker” at many university sponsored conferences. Many innovative session titles varied from “Improve Reading Comprehension through Active Learning Experiences” to “Creative Literacy Strategies for Early Learners.” Anne also worked for the Florida Department of Children and Families where she led a variety of training workshops for administrators and educators.

In order to expand her portfolio of experience, Anne moved to the northeast Georgia area to help meet the needs of a special population of students she had never had the pleasure of working with in the past. She immediately displayed her leadership qualities by creating and implementing an “Action Plan” with the University of Georgia that would narrow the achievement gap of students placed “at risk” due to poverty and language barriers. Her dedication and passion dramatically improved the test scores and overall education of these low-achieving students. Anne became a county representative when working with CLASE, an educational research and development center at UGA. Anne was also an administrative consultant regarding beneficial multicultural literacy strategies and techniques.

Anne’s intrinsic passion for education first began by playing teacher with her dolls in Coral Gables, Florida, where she was born and raised. Currently, she is in the process of completing her doctoral research in Child, Youth, and Family Studies program specializing in curriculum development. Anne has a M.S. in Reading Education, B.S. in Elementary Education, and Early Childhood Education through Nova Southeastern University. She believes it is imperative to lay a strong educational foundation during early childhood in order to ensure the success of all future learning.




Jennifer Lewis Mrs. Jennifer Lewis,

Kindergarten Teacher

Mrs. Jennifer Lewis, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, graduated from Georgia Southern University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Child and Family Development. Mrs. Lewis completed an internship at the Cobb County Service Board – Next Step Treatment Program. Her many duties included assisting therapists with the treatment of children with mental disabilities ranging from 6 to 12 years of age.

After her internship, Mrs. Lewis continued her career at the Day Treatment Program as a Social Service Provider. She provided daily therapy for children with mental and behavioral disabilities. Concurrently, she worked in cooperation with the Cobb County Social System in developing treatment plans for disabled children where she provided resources and therapy for families of the children.

Mrs. Lewis has taught or worked with children in grades Pre-K through 8. She enjoys children of all ages but truly loves kindergarten!

Mrs. Lewis lives in Eatonton with her husband Wes and new baby girl, Weslie Claire.




Julie Noland Julie Noland,

Art Teacher

Julie and her husband Gary have been married for 22 years and have lived in the Lake Oconee area since 1992. They moved here from Atlanta to enjoy the beauty of the lake and the outdoor activities that accompany it. They love to travel and they especially like to find scenic places to explore, hike, and snow ski. They have one furry dog child named Tipper and hope to add a few more to the clan in the near future.

Julie is a graduate from UGA with a BFA in Graphic Design plus Art Education Certification. She has worked as a Graphic Artist in Atlanta for 7 years, taught in Middle School and High School Art in Putnam County for 2 years, Primary and Elementary Art in Morgan County for 4 years, and the last 7 years she has taught Private Art Classes to children of all ages, painted commission pictures and pet portraits, plus continues her enjoyment as a Graphic Artist.

She's an active member of the Green County Art Alliance and Morgan County Artist Guild and regularly volunteers her time to teach children in our local museums, schools, and cultural centers. Her passion is definitely to promote creativity with kids and to instill a lasting love for art. Her High School art teacher was the one who ignited her love for art and she hopes to pass that same candle to many others.



Carol L. Candito,

Speech Language Pathologist

Carol is excited to be part of the Lake Oconee Academy Team. Research consistently shows that children who have a strong foundation in language skills develop strong literacy skills and become enthusiastic readers and learners for life. She has partnered with Jennifer Lewis, the kindergarten teacher, in collaborating and developing language-rich activities and lessons.

Carol enjoys using quality literature as a basis for developing phonological and phonemic awareness skills and vocabulary. She grew up in the suburbs south of Boston, Massachusetts. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech Communication from Bridgewater State College in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. She was a teaching assistant at Northeastern University in Boston where she received her Masters of Education in Speech-Language Pathology.

Carol was employed by the Plymouth, Massachusetts public schools for over twenty-five years as a speech-language pathologist. She provided speech and language services for children in preschool through Grade 8. Carol was a member of the Child Study Team and the Diagnostic/Evaluation Team. In her role, she screened all kindergarten students, evaluated children referred for speech and language delays and disorders, wrote individual educational plans, and provided both small group and classroom based therapy. Carol developed the kindergarten screening instrument for the eight thousand pupil school district. She served as the consultant and speech-language pathologist for a self-contained language based program where she developed the language based curriculum. Carol also devised a collaborative language model for kindergarten that emphasized listening skills, phonological awareness, phonemic awareness, and vocabulary. She assisted preschool and kindergarten teachers in designing play centers and theme-based activities to develop language skills. She consulted and collaborated with classroom teachers of grades 1, 2, and 3 to develop lessons designed to build strong language skills as a foundation for literacy skills.

In Pennsylvania, Carol was employed as a speech-language pathologist at a private school for children with language and learning disorders. She also served as a speech and language consultant to the Rose-Tree Media School District in Pennsylvania. Carol worked as a private speech and language pathologist with a pediatric practice. She was part of a team of occupational therapists, physical therapists, and developmental pediatricians. She provided consultation and therapy for children ages eighteen months through nine years.

Carol has presented workshops for administrators, regular and special educators, and parents in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and in Georgia on topics ranging from auditory processing disorders, pervasive developmental disorders, speech and language development, and language and literacy skills. She particularly enjoys providing strategies for shared reading to enhance language and literacy development and assisting parents in using games and daily activities to develop and enhance their children’s language skills.

She holds the national Certificate of Clinical Competence from the American Speech-Language Hearing Association and is licensed by the State of Georgia as a speech-language pathologist. She is a member of the Georgia Speech, Language, and Hearing Association. Carol volunteers in kindergarten at Union Point Elementary School in Greene County and works in a private speech and language practice. She lives in Reynolds Plantation with her husband, Tony. Her daughter, Kara, teaches English Composition and Creative Writing at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida where she is completing her Ph.D. in Creative Writing.