Board of Directors

Scroll down for meeting agendas and minutes.

Board of Directors meetings are held at Baxter Academy on the third Tuesday of every month (unless otherwise noted).

board@baxter-academy.org

More information on the Maine Charter School Commission can be found here.


Board Meeting - Finance Documents Approved Only
October 29, 2024 6-6:15 pm

You may join virtually by clicking the link below.

Click Here for the Zoom Link to the Board Meeting

Ruth Dean - Board Chair

Ms. Dean is the co-owner of Circa Guitars in South Portland, Maine. She attended the University of Maryland in Munich, Germany, and later received her BA in Psychology from Evergreen State College in Washington State. She worked as a counselor in a program for pregnant incarcerated teens, the first of its kind in the US. She also has extensive experience working in the fields of domestic violence and sexual assault prevention. She earned her RN degree in 1997. She served on the Board of Directors for Birthwise Midwifery School from 1999 to 2007. She also served on the Board of Casco Public Library from 2004 to 2010. Ruth has served on the School Council of the French School of Maine in Freeport since 2010.

Ms. Dean was one of the founders of Friends of Baxter Academy, an organization created in May 2012 to offer support for the founding and start-up of BA. She has also served on the school’s Advisory Board. For the past fourteen years, Ms. Dean has been active as a homeschool mother. Her family lives in South Portland.

Nik Charov - Vice Chair

Nik Charov is chairman of the Wells Reserve and president of the nonprofit Laudholm Trust. In that dual role since 2012, he oversees communications, fundraising, and strategy for the Wells Reserve at Laudholm, a center for coastal science, education, and conservation in Wells, Maine. He previously worked for Bette Midler's environmental nonprofit New York Restoration Project in New York City, building community gardens, planting trees, and raising capital and program funding. Charov began his career at the New York Hall of Science, a hands-on science museum in Queens, developing STEM education programs and exhibitions. He has been involved with Baxter Academy since 2012, helping with fundraising, communications, internship programs, and college interviews. A father of two and husband of one in South Portland, he’s an honest, funny problem solver.

Dr. Daniel Mickool - Secretary

Dr. Daniel Mickool is an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice and the College of Health and Pharmacy’s Director of Interprofessional Education (IPE) at Husson University. Dr. Mickool also has an adjunct appointment at Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine.

Dr. Mickool serves as a Past President of the Maine Pharmacy Association, where he is involved in legislative activities promoting the profession of pharmacy in our state. He also serves on the Interprofessional Global Workforce Policy Group appointed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the only pharmacist contributing to workforce redevelopment strategies to implement IPE in various healthcare settings. Their mission is to update global policies that can be shared with healthcare entities from academia to national frameworks to ensure better patient outcomes through cooperative learning and practice.

Dr. Mickool’s research centers around patient care outcomes such as renal dosing of medication, opioid reduction strategies, and interprofessional collaboration.

Outside of academic pharmacy practice, Dr. Mickool enjoys reading about history, philosophy, theology, art, and music. In addition, Dr. Mickool is an avid musician and plays one of the great pipe organs in Portland on Sunday mornings at his church.

April Theberge - Treasurer

April is the Vice President, Accounting and Process at Avangrid where she plans, directs, and supports accounting and related accounting close processes performed by Avangrid and its affiliates. Additionally, she serves as the treasurer for the Avangrid Foundation, an independent 501(c)3, that engages in mission-driven giving and is the principal philanthropic are of Avangrid. April earned an MBA from the University of Southern Maine and a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Maine. She is a lifelong Maine resident and a US Army Veteran. April resides in Gray with her husband and two young children where the family enjoys spending time outdoors in all four seasons.

Jana Lapoint

Jana Lapoint comes to Baxter Academy’s board after completing eleven years on the State Board of Education. She has also served on the Maine State Charter Commission where she served as Chair for two years and helped approve the charters of Maine’s first charter schools.  She has also served as a trustee of Dean College in Massachusetts and of Cheverus High School in Portland, Maine.

Jana graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Bridgeport with a BS in History and a MS in Business Education. 

Before moving to Maine in 1988 from Connecticut, Jana taught in the business department at New Canaan High School. She served as President of UF Strainrite in Auburn, Maine until it was sold to her two sons.

She has four grown children, 13 grandchildren, 2 great grand children. Jana enjoys travel and has visited more than forty countries.

Dr. Justin Richards

Dr. Justin Richards is a Veterinary Pharmacist for Covetrus, a global animal-health company based in Portland, Maine. He also serves as an expert witness in pharmacology, lectures at The University of New England’s School of Pharmacy and works as a free-lance artist. Prior to practicing animal medicine, Justin worked as a retail pharmacist in various communities throughout Southern Maine and served as an Interpretive Ranger and Naturalist for the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. Justin received his Bachelor’s in Biology from the University of Maine and his Doctorate in Pharmacy from The University of New England.

As an avid outdoorsman Justin spends his free time hiking, camping, hunting, fishing and exploring the backwoods of Maine.

Kathleen de Silva

Kathleen is Vice President of Account Service at Rinck Advertising with over 20 years of exxperience in Marketing/Advertising. Througout her career, Kathleen has worked in various facets of advertising - from account planning and graphic design to account service, buget development, media planning, and public relations. This experience helps her communicate clearly with her clients and the Rinck team. Kathleen is committed to keeping her clients at the forefront of her work and works to creatively integrate marketing initiatives into their strategic plans. She has partnered with clients in numerous fields, including finance,, higher education, healthcare, affordable housing, retail, nonprofits, and transportation.

Kathleen resides in Windham with her husband Joe and their two children Finnley and Julian as well as her 50-pound lapdog Griffin and two cats Fred and Daphne. Finnley is currently a sophomore at Baxter and Julian will be attending Baxter next year as a freshman. Kathleen is the only member of her family obsessed with endurance sports such as Nordic skiing and long-distance running.

Dan Strader

Dan Strader is a partner at Pierce Atwood focusing on employment law. He represents employers in a wide variety of employment matters, including wage and hour litigation, discrimination and whistleblower claims, contract disputes, and enforcement of restrictive covenants. He regularly counsel clients on compliance with state and federal employment laws such as FLSA, FMLA, Title VII, ADA, and ADEA. He also works closely with employers with unionized workforces, handling labor negotiations, managing union elections, and representing employers in unfair labor practice charges and other proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board.

When Dan is not working, he spends as much time as possible outdoors, hiking, skiing, and exploring the Maine woods with his wife and three daughters.