Jillayne Flanders

Jillayne Flanders

After graduating from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Jillayne Flanders taught second, third, and fourth graders in Western Massachusetts for 10 years, earned her master’s degree and certificate of advanced graduate study in education administration, and served as an elementary school principal in Hadley and South Hadley, Massachusetts, for a total of 27 years.

During her career, Jillayne was actively involved with the Massachusetts Elementary School Principals Association (MESPA) as president, and she mentored new principals in the organization’s administrator licensing program. She was the Massachusetts Principal of the Year and a National Distinguished Principal in 2010 in recognition of her policy and advocacy work for early childhood education. She was elected to the National Elementary School Principals Association Board of Directors and served from 2011–2014. She has taught graduate classes at Westfield State University, supervised student teachers at Mount Holyoke College, and lectured at Boston University, Springfield College, Boston College, and Harvard Graduate School of Education. After her “retirement” in 2015, she was the executive director for MESPA and managed a multimillion-dollar early education grant for the Collaborative for Educational Services.

Jillayne is currently the executive director of the Center for Educational Improvement, a nonprofit organization focused on supporting mindful and compassionate schools with heart-centered, trauma-informed practices. CEI partners with Yale University in a federal grant initiative developing the Compassionate School Leadership Academy. Jillayne continues to consult for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care.