MEET THE COUNSELING & WELLNESS TEAM
Our team is comprised of professionals passionate about helping students reach their academic, social-emotional, and career goals. It is our focus at Charles R. Drew Charter school to provide holistic, student-centered, and supportive services that meet the needs of all of our students and set them up for post-secondary success.
Rachel Kaney Weaver
Rachel.Weaver@drewcharterschool.org
Managing Director of Counseling & Wellness, K-12
Rachel Kaney Weaver is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. Her career has been devoted to supporting children and families in the Atlanta area. Rachel earned her Bachelor's of Social Work from James Madison University, and received both her Masters of Social Work and Education Specialist degree in Professional School Counseling from the University of Georgia. Rachel began her career working directly with students and families as a social worker with the Department of Family and Children Services and subsequently transitioned to working with students as a high school graduation coach at South Atlanta High School. Rachel’s work has been devoted to identifying and building effective interventions to help students graduate from high school ready for post-secondary success.
Rachel joined Charles R. Drew Charter School’s founding Senior Academy faculty in 2013 and transitioned to the role of Director of College and Career Readiness in 2014. In this capacity, Rachel developed and led a comprehensive school counseling program which ultimately graduated 100% of seniors in 2017, all of whom received acceptance to college. In 2019 Rachel transitioned to the Dean of College and Career Readiness position, where she continues her role leading the College and Career Team and serving multiple leadership roles within Drew Charter School.
Rachel has a strong commitment to helping ensure equitable practices to eliminate the many educational barriers and obstacles that exist for students as they navigate post-secondary options. Rachel recently served on the Board of the Southern Association of College Admission Counseling (SACAC) and currently serves on the Counselor Advisory Board for Georgia State University, Oglethorpe University, and Clark Atlanta University. She maintains active membership in the National Association of College Admission Counseling (NACAC), SACAC, and the Georgia School Counselor Association (GSCA). Ms. Weaver is currently pursuing her Educational Leadership certificate and is expected to complete it in the summer of 2020.
Tara Davis
Tara.Davis@drewcharterschool.org
Early College Counselor
Tara Davis is a Professional School Counselor at Drew Charter School and has worked in the school counseling profession over the last 10 years. Not only does she provide academic support through scheduling and graduation status review, but Mrs. Davis also helps students with peer mediation, crisis intervention and facilitates individual and small group counseling.
She is originally from New York and is a graduate of Hampton University. Mrs. Davis discovered her passion for helping high school students after volunteering to assist high school students craft resumes and learn effective interviewing techniques while working in Human Services. Since Tara’s move to Atlanta, she has obtained a master’s degree in School Counseling from Clark Atlanta University and an Educational Specialist Degree in school counseling from the University of West Alabama.
Rob Richardson
Rob.Richardson@drewcharterschool.org
Lead Grade Level Counselor, Grades 9 & 11
As a professional school counselor at Drew Charter School, Rob Richardson provides support to students in addressing academic achievement, career planning, and personal/social development. His passion includes equipping students with the practical skills to make effective choices aimed at achieving personal and academic success through the use of Choice Theory and Reality Therapy. As a former teacher at Drew Charter School, Mr. Richardson brings the knowledge of the classroom into his interactions with the students as each student prepares for post-secondary opportunities.
Mr. Richardson is an Atlanta native and graduated from West Georgia with a specialist degree in counseling. He also graduated from Georgia State University, where he earned his undergraduate degree in education, Master of Arts in teaching, and a master's degree in counseling. In addition to counseling, he invests time with the cross country team at Drew Charter School.
Emily Cusick
Emily.Cusick@drewcharterschool.org
Lead College and Next Steps Counselor
Emily Cusick is a College Counselor at Drew Charter School. She was born and raised in Washington, D.C., where she developed her passion for education policy and advocacy. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Education Studies and Politics, with a focus on Urban School Reform, at Brandeis University, just outside of Boston. Upon graduating, she worked as an Undergraduate Admissions Counselor at Brandeis. In that role, Cusick coordinated comprehensive recruitment efforts in the Southeast, served on the admissions selection committee, conducted college application workshops, and oversaw numerous merit and talent-based scholarships. Cusick is also affiliated with several professional organizations including: Southern Association for College Admission Counseling (SACAC) and National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). She is excited to build collaborative, tangible partnerships between Drew and colleges and universities.
Mrs. Cusick's career has been dedicated to the pursuit of increasing access and retention to higher education for underserved students, and was drawn to the holistic, student-centered approach to education at Drew Charter. She is thrilled to have moved to Atlanta to join the Drew Community, and looks forward to using her background in selective admissions to directly serve students and families to identify the right “fit” in a post-secondary plan.
Charlie Copp
Charles.Copp@drewcharterschool.org
Academic Support Coordinator
As the Academic Support Coordinator, Charlie Copp facilitates Drew’s Senior Academy Academic Learning Lab. In the Learning Lab, students take Study Skills classes for academic support in their core subjects. The Learning Lab also provides students in need of credit recovery the platform, time, and instruction to get back on track toward graduation. Mr. Copp also coordinates Drew’s Senior Academy Summer School.
Previous to Drew, Charlie spent time as a Special Education Teacher and Graduation Coach at Decatur High School, served as a Family Academic Support Liaison with the Georgia Cyber Academy, and was a Learning Support Teacher at The Galloway School.
Charlie graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. He obtained his teaching certificate in Special Education from Georgia State University and a master's degree in Kinesiology from Georgia Southern University.
Akil Rashid
Akil Rashid@drewcharterschool.org
Social Worker
Mr. Rashid has been employed at Drew Charter for 14 years. He earned his Master of Social Work degree in social work from UC Berkeley and received a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Georgia State University. In his role as the school social worker at Drew Charter, he is responsible for school wide attendance monitoring and intervention, student crisis management, family and parent support, conflict mediation, reporting abuse and neglect and follow up, individual counseling, small group counseling, community outreach, character education programming, assisting students with scholarships and summer camps, establishing mentorship programs, and linking families with medical and mental health support. He is also an avid soccer fan and has played soccer since he was a young child. Mr. Rashid started the soccer program at Drew Charter and currently coaches the Varsity Soccer team. He is married to Fontina Rashid and has two children.
Miriam Denard
Miriam.Denard@drewcharterschool.org
College and Next Steps Counselor
Bio coming soon
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Ariel McIntyre
Ariel.Mcintyre@drewcharterschool.org
Learning Lab Teacher
Bio coming soon