Jen McMillan is honored to be the Head of School, alongside the best team ever! As second grade teacher at Detroit Achievement Academy, our flagship school, Jen led her students to 2.22 years in reading and the 99th percentile for growth nationally in both reading and math. Jen was named Michigan Charter School Teacher of the Year in 2015. Born and raised in metro-Detroit, Jen spent seven years in the San Francisco Bay Area teaching high school and middle school, and working in teacher support and development with Teach For America and The New Teacher Project. She earned her BA in Psychology from Harvard University in Massachusetts and her Masters in Education from Alliant International University in San Francisco. Jen loves the environment of constant learning at DP (for kids and adults!), nurtured by our partnership with EL Education--being with our crew brings so much JOY! In her free time, Jen likes running, reading, doing yoga, eating ice cream, and drinking lots of coffee. You can often find her doing all of these things with her husband while snuggling her two baby boys!

Sarah is really excited to be a part of the Detroit Prep crew as Director of Primary for another year! Sarah is one of Detroit Prep's founding teachers! She earned her BS in Elementary Education in 2011 from Central Michigan University. She majored in English Language Arts and double minored in Child Development and Elementary Education. She has her Masters in Educational Leadership from Grand Valley State University. Prior to becoming an administrator at Detroit Prep, she taught in kindergarten - 2nd grade classrooms for eight years. Sarah is excited to motivate students to become engaged and excited about their learning experience, and support teachers along the way.

Ryen is thrilled to be returning to the Detroit Prep Crew as Director of Elementary for another transformational year. She graduated from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor in 2014 with a BA in Psychology and Women’s Studies. After graduating she joined Teach for America and has been teaching since. She is also a TFA Detroit Leads Fellow. As she embarks on her 10th year in education, she is excited to continue inspiring students and educators to achieve their wildest dreams. Ryen also holds a Master’s of Education in Community Health Education and an Education Specialist Certificate in Administration and Supervision (K-12) from Wayne State University. She is also currently pursuing her Doctorate of Education in Education Leadership and Policy Studies also at Wayne State University. When she’s not working, she’s cooking or binge watching shows on Netflix. Ryen loves to workout, cook, grill, travel, shop, and spend lots of time with her family and friends and two dogs Jackson and Dakota. She also really enjoys game nights with family and friends.

Mallory Fiske (she/her) feels so lucky to be the Director of Upper School for another year! She has 14 years of experience teaching high school and working in teacher coaching & development. Mallory holds a Bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a Master’s degree in Education Policy & Leadership from Stanford University. When she’s not at Detroit Prep, Mallory enjoys reading, spending time with her family, and trying (unsuccessfully) to clean up her children's Legos.

Kyle Smitley is the Founder and Executive Director of Detroit Achievement Academy and Detroit Prep, both of which are small, incredible nonprofit charter school communities opened in 2013 and 2016, respectively. Kyle manages the schools' budgets, partnerships, fundraising, and all things external. Kyle's previous experience is in business, where in 2009 Inc. Magazine named her among the 30 Coolest Entrepreneurs Under 30 and Forbes named her a Top Ten Entrepreneur to watch. She earned her JD in 2019.