About Us

Caitlin is a consultant at New Solutions K12. In this role, she partners with district, school, and State Department of Education leaders to improve their school schedules, special education supports, budgets, and other systems and structures to improve outcomes for students. She has worked in a variety of different roles prior to joining the team, including: working in trade settlements and investment administration at Wellington Wealth Management; in securities lending for Goldman Sachs; as a high school math general and special education teacher, grade-level leader, and Assistant Principal of Operations for a Boston Charter School; and as a new teacher coach & program manager for Teach for America.  Caitlin received her BS in Business Administration with a focus on Finance and Economics from Northeastern University, where she graduated summa cum laude from the Honors Program.  She received her teaching certification from Boston University. She brings to her work a passion for improving K-12 education and supporting educators and schools in order to see a world in which all children can succeed.

Jimena Samano is a Consultant at New Solutions K12, where she partners with school and district leaders to evaluate course offerings and staffing best practices, with a strong emphasis on cost efficiency. She brings extensive expertise in designing, building, and optimizing schedules. Before joining New Solutions K12, Jimena worked as a consultant in the manufacturing, healthcare, and e-commerce industries, where she helped organizations transform and improve their business processes and scheduling systems. Jimena received a BS Industrial and Systems Engineer from Tecnológico de Monterrey and graduated with honors. She is passionate about scheduling and is fluent in multiple languages.

Sarah Levenson is a senior consultant at New Solutions K12. In this role, she partners with school and district leaders to improve opportunities and outcomes for all students who struggle, including students with disabilities. Sarah brings years of professional experience to New Solutions K12 in the areas of consulting, project management, financial analysis, and client support. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Lafayette College, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. Sarah is committed to raising student achievement and outcomes for all students in a way that is sustainable for staff and school budgets.

Steve is a senior consultant at New Solutions K12. He brings to his work more than 25 years of experience in school-based mental health and district leadership roles, as well as experience as an adjunct professor and author. While a consultant, he has helped dozens of school districts and departments of education to make dramatic differences in the outcomes of students who struggle, with and without disabilities. 

Prior to joining New Solutions K12, Steve served as Executive Director of Special Services and undoubtedly an “out-of-box” thinker for Westminster Public Schools in Colorado. Under his leadership, the district’s Special Education program improved dramatically, moving from a state designation of “Needs Intervention” to “Meets Requirements.” A few initiatives he led to reach those impressive outcomes for the district included the implementation of a nationally recognized Interventionist Framework under a Competency-Based System by addressing “needs ahead of labels” while, at the same time, ensuring that special educators “play to their strengths. With his mental health background, he has also created a collaborative mental health model among social workers, school psychologists, school counselors and community-based therapists which was built upon increasing professional capacity to successfully and efficiently address a wide variety of significant social, emotional and behavioral student needs.

Before joining Westminster Public Schools, he served as director of special programs for Weld County School District RE-4 in Windsor, Colorado, where he revamped and led district-wide implementation efforts—like a revamped RTI process—which increased student outcomes through programming, consistent practices and capacity building among special educators through professional development and job-embedded coaching. During his tenure in Windsor, he achieved a 94% parent approval rating of the district’s special education supports. His other school-based experience includes special education leadership at Poudre School District in Fort Collins and an elementary school psychologist for Weld Co. District 6 in Greeley, both in Colorado.

Steve is a nationally recognized and award-winning educational thought leader and author. He was named a Leader to Learn From by EdWeek for creating a nationally recognized Interventionist Framework while also publishing extensively on best practices in psychology and intervention. Steve has delivered keynote speeches across the country on leading-edge topics in special education. He has also worked with and served on many state-level committees and special education associations. 

Steve received his Ph.D. in School Psychology and his M.A. in Educational Psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Liza Fryman is a consultant for New Solutions K12. In this role, she supports the team across multiple projects that range from strategic budgeting practices to special education reviews. Prior to joining New Solutions K12, Liza served as a post production assistant accountant at Netflix where she assisted teams to help ensure a balanced budget for films, maintained strategic communications with external and internal teams, and managed several projects at a time. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Lafayette College with honors. After over 6 years in the entertainment industry, Liza has discovered a new passion for impactful and meaningful student outcomes and achievements.

Meghan Magee is a consultant at New Solutions K12. In this role, Meghan serves as executive assistant, including coordinating calendars, scheduling meetings, handling invoicing and accounting, arranging travel, planning company retreats, and assisting in proposal and report review. Meghan has previously assisted on projects including struggling students reviews and strategic budgeting. Prior to joining New Solutions K12, Meghan served as a teacher and administrator at nonprofit-funded schools in East Africa. Meghan received her BA in Social Studies cum laude from Harvard College with a focus on gender and education.

Karla brings a wealth of expertise to New Solutions K12 honed through more than 40 years of varied contributions to public education: as a teacher at the middle, high school, and university level; central office administrator specializing in curriculum and human resources; superintendent in suburban and urban districts, and deputy commissioner at a state department of education. Recognized for distinguished service by every major K-12 statewide education association in Massachusetts, Karla now uses her strong analytical and communication skills as a consultant, supporting district and state leaders to focus district work on improving student outcomes and advancing equity. She brings a deep commitment to making schools work better for both adults and students with special expertise in strategic and adaptive leadership, organizational and strategy development, and resource (re)allocation.

Aaron Levenson is the Operations Director at New Solutions K12. In this role, he enhances the quality and efficiency of the firm’s consulting work by developing standard procedures and tools. Aaron brings extensive experience working with mission-driven organizations in communications, strategy, and monitoring and evaluation. He leverages his expertise in graphic design, data visualization, and data analysis to translate complex concepts into clear visuals. Aaron earned a B.A. in International Affairs from Lafayette College and a degree in Data, Economics, and Development Policy from MIT.