STAFF

KEVIN DOBSON

Founder/Executive Director
kdobson@capcca.org

JOHN PELLMAN

Director of Curriculum and Instruction jpellman@capcca.org

SHERRY DEL MONTE

Executive Assistant sdelmonte@capcca.org

Christopher Burlando

Science Teacher
cburlando@capcca.org

Nitasha Singh

nsingh@capcca.org

Adam Snelling

asnelling@capcca.org

Jing Ren

jren@capcca.org

Brian Ding

bding@capcca.org

Worrell Williams

wwilliams@capcca.org

Edward Bumgardner

ebumgardner@capcca.org

Marianne Fernandez

mfernandez@capcca.org

Peiyuan Chen

pchen@capcca.org

Qiying Ye

qye@capcca.org

Bobby Brown

bbrown@capcca.org

Darcel Williams

dwilliams@capcca.org

Nicholas Beckett

nbeckett@capcca.org

Nicholas Beckett

nbeckett@capcca.org

Nikki Gentile

Physical Education Teacher
ngentile@capcca.org

Tasia Perry

mbritto@capcca.org

Keiessence Johnson

kjohnson@capcca.org

Virina Chan

vchan@capcca.org

Matt Johnson

mjohnson@capcca.org

KEVIN DOBSON

Founder/Executive Director

Kevin Dobson is the founder and Director of Capital College & Career Academy. He is focusing on educational related elements including Career Tech Education and community and youth engagement.

Kevin Dobson has worked in the field of education for over a decade as both a classroom teacher and a principal. This includes time at a large inner city high school in Springfield, Massachusetts, working with homebound students in New Castle, Delaware, four years in Center Joint Unified School District, and five years at Natomas Charter School.

During these nine years, he participated in a wide range of leadership activities on a variety of school campuses and demonstrated a continued passion for hands-on learning.

He possesses two masters degrees. The first from the University of San Diego in Education and Curriculum with an emphasis on technology in the classroom. The second masters from the University of California Sacramento in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies.

In his classroom, students have received national and local recognition for their work. For two straight years multiple students placed in the national CSPAN StudentCam documentary competition. In addition, a 7 th grade class received local notoriety for their collaborative presentation with the City of Sacramento’s Special Project Manager to the planning and design commission.

As a high school principal, he helped develop a school-wide system of support and led the effort to build a dual enrollment program between Natomas Charter and American River College. In two years, he increased enrollment by nearly 200%. He also spearheaded the creation of a unique math pathway to address the diverse learning needs of all the students. Kevin also led numerous teacher initiatives and instituted a systemic approach to professional learning communities.

Kevin has also coached numerous sports and is a recent graduate from the City Management Academy. He was also recognized as the teacher of the year for his academy in 2018 and was nominated for the Gilder Lehrman History Teacher of the year for the 2018-19 school year prior to moving into administration.

JOHN PELLMAN

Director of Curriculum and Instruction

John is an educator with nearly 20 years experience. He started at a non-public school working with children diagnosed with emotional disturbance. Then moved to Pleasant Grove High (PGHS) School in the Elk Grove Unified School District (EGUSD). He taught English to students with disabilities for 5 years and served as department chair of the Special Education 

Department. John took over a fledgling digital media program at PGHS. In five years he spearheaded its transformation into a full fledged high school academy – the Digital Media Academy (DMA), with two CTE pathways serving nearly 200 students at the time of his departure. He also served as department chair of CTE for PGHS. John moved to the EGUSD Department of College and Career Connections as a Program Specialist. Among his many achievements was being the point person for writing and managing grants totalling nearly $60 million and leading to construction of 9 new CTE facilities. 

John is a MakerED Faculty Coordinator at Sacramento State University in the College of Continuing Education, overseeing the graduate program for Maker Education. He was also a guest lectured at Sac State on Linked Learning. 

John has a BA in Political Science from American University in Washington D.C. and a Masters Degree in Performing Arts from UC Davis. John holds teaching credentials as an Education Specialist, Visual and Performing Arts, Arts Media and Entertainment and an Administrative credential. He is highly qualified in English Language Arts and Social Science. He is currently enrolled in the UC Davis Doctoral program in Educational Leadership. 

John spent 8 years coaching soccer both at the recreational and competitive level. He is an active participant in endurance sports and has completed triathlons, bike centuries, half marathons and full marathons. 

John began working with the CCCA team in mid 2021 to support the development of the charter proposal. He is excited for the challenge of building a new and innovative school from the ground up that gives students and families a high quality option for high school that truly prepares young people for college and career! 

SHERRY DEL MONTE

Executive Assistant

Born and raised in the Chicago area, Sherry Del Monte moved to California to pursue her college education. After  earning her degree in Early Childhood Education, she and her husband settled in the Sacramento area, where they have remained ever since. 

Sherry put her career on hold beginning in 2000 to raise her three children. During that time, she worked part-time for ten years at her local church as a high school youth minister. Sherry enjoyed that experience tremendously, and it revealed that Sherry had a gift for working with teens. During that time, Sherry also served on school boards and soccer league boards.

In 2013, when Sherry’s youngest child entered kindergarten, she worked part-time in a kindergarten classroom, and quickly realized that she missed working with high school students. Sherry accepted a position at Natomas Charter School, first as a high school Learning Center Monitor, and later as the Administrative Assistant for a high school academy. This was a great fit for Sherry, as the job provided a mix of administrative work and meaningful interaction with students and families. 

In 2022, Sherry enthusiastically accepted the position of Executive Assistant for CCCA. Sherry sees this position as much more than a job. She sees this as an opportunity to help open the door to an innovative, high-quality education and an exciting future for thousands of high school students.

CHRISTOPHER BURLANDO

Science Teacher

Chris Burlando is the Science teacher at CCCA. He graduated from UC Davis with a Cell Biology degree from the College of Biological Sciences.

After graduating from UCD, Chris spent time in the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers as a Consulting Utility Forester in Santa Rosa and Redding, CA. His enthusiasm for educating new foresters is ultimately a large part of what drove him to pursue teaching.

Chris is in his first year as an educator and he is thrilled to be part of such a passionate team that he can learn and grow with.

On a more personal note, Chris has always been involved with the visual and performing arts. He very much enjoys photography and singing.

Nikki Gentile

Physical Education

Nikki spent the last ten years coaching competitive and collegiate softball at the highschool, travel ball, junior college, Division III, and Division II level, respectively. She was a head coach for the last six years, most recently at the Academy of Art University and Solano Community College. While coaching at Solano, Nikki also taught courses in the Kinesiology department such as Weight Training, Yoga, and Body Conditioning.

A Bay Area native who grew up in Martinez and graduated from Alhambra High School, Gentile was a top 100 national recruit in 2010 who played three different positions at the University of Iowa. As a senior, she transferred to Coe College and finished her collegiate career by winning a conference championship, First Team All-Conference, and All-Region honors as well as leading the Iowa Athletic Conference in home runs and stolen bases.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in Physical Education: Fitness Development from Coe College, Gentile completed her master’s degree in Athletic Administration and Sports Management in 2016.

TASIA PERRY

Education Specialist

Born in Fort Ord California, until the age of 9, and growing up in Arizona, Tasia Perry’s career in Education has been a progressive journey. She earned her degree in elementary and special Education from Northern Arizona University in 2007. In 2007–2009, she decided to begin working with preschool-age children and disabled students.

In 2009 Tasia moved from Arizona back to California where she became a paraprofessional in 2010 in the San Francisco Unified School District. She supported students with disabilities in both mild/moderate special day classrooms to moderate/severe students. Tasia found that she enjoyed working with students that are unique and show their strengths in a multifaceted way.

Tasia was a paraprofessional from 2010 to 2015. In the fall of 2015, Tasia took the CBEST to get a preliminary license to teach special education and got her first teaching job in Fremont, California, as a high school Special Day Class Instructor in Mathematics. From 2015 to 2017, she was an SDC teacher before moving to Sacramento and working as an Elementary Special Day Class Instructor for Grades 4th, 5th, and 6th in 2017–2018.

In 2018, Tasia began working for the Natomas Unified School District, where she worked at multiple school sites. In the fall of 2019, Tasia did hang her hat with Natomas Charter School as their Education Specialist for their hybrid academy. With Natomas Charter School, Tasia developed and implemented many strategies. She remained at Natomas Charter School from 2019 to 2023.

Now, in the present day, Tasia has the opportunity to begin her career at Capital College & Career Academy as their Education Specialist. Tasia’s knowledge of special education, inclusive education, teacher support development, Individualized Education plans, partnering with parents, and having a heart for all students is what makes her an ideal instructor for the academy.

Matt Johnson

Instructional Assistant

Matt Johnson was born and raised in Sacramento Ca, he attended Sac High school, then Sierra College and finally Northern Arizona University where he studied history and anthropology. 
 
After college Matt pursued his basketball career playing professional and semi pro basketball for over 8 season. Some countries Matt has played in include China, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain.
 
Matt has also practiced real estate for the last 10 years and became a broker and started his own business being able to help the community of Sacramento, buy, rent, and sale real estate. 
 
Matt’s 2 passions are his family and coaching . He is a father of 2 with both kids attending college and has coached his kids for over 13 years. Matt also coached at Sierra college and well as Sacramento High School where he won coach of the year and won the championship in his first year coaching. 
 
Matt is eager and excited to join the CCCA family and help make a positive impact.