Senior Leadership | E.L. Haynes Public Charter School
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Staff Category: Senior Leadership

Our senior staff translates our mission into practice and guides the strategic direction of the school.

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A portrait of Toni R. Barton.

Toni R. Barton

Chief Executive Officer
tbarton@elhaynes.org

Toni R. Barton currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer of E.L. Haynes Public Charter School. A longtime advocate for equity and inclusion, she brings over two decades of experience leading schools and systems to design learning environments where all students thrive.

Before joining E.L. Haynes, Toni was a faculty member at Arizona State University’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College and the founder of Spelligent Education, where she supported district and school leaders in developing inclusive instructional systems.

Toni previously founded the Inclusive Schools Leadership Institute at Relay Graduate School of Education and served on a national team coaching systems leaders on advancing statewide strategy through the National Collaborative on Inclusive Principal Leadership. She also led equity and student support strategy at Center City Public Charter Schools, where she served as a principal and network leader.

In addition to her leadership roles, Toni is a published author whose work focuses on inclusive school leadership and systems transformation. In 2025, she was named a Google GSV Education Innovation Fellow, joining a national cohort of leaders advancing bold ideas in education. Toni holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, a Master’s in Education from Trinity Washington University, and a Bachelor of Science from Grambling State University.

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Katie Wynne

Senior Director of External Relations and Strategic Initiatives
kwynne@elhaynes.org

Katie brings more than a decade of experience in communications, stakeholder engagement, project management, resource development, and partnership building. Before rejoining E.L. Haynes as a senior director, she served as the Deputy Chief of Communications for DC Public Schools, marshaling a team of seven to direct organic, earned, and paid media campaigns and initiatives for 117 schools. From 2020 to 2023, Katie led strategic storytelling and stakeholder engagement projects at E.L. Haynes and the DC Child and Family Services Agency. Before pivoting to youth-focused work in 2020, she drove communications and engagement initiatives for public sector, social impact, political, and higher education organizations. Katie holds a master’s in Political Management and a bachelor’s in International Affairs from The George Washington University, where she was selected as one of six Presidential Fellows in her graduating class to serve in a high-impact role and pursue a fully-funded master’s degree.

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Pankaj Rayamajhi

Chief Operating Officer
prayamajhi@elhaynes.org

Pankaj Rayamajhi has more than 14 years of operational leadership expertise and experience serving diverse communities with a focus on improving the public-school education system in Washington DC. Pankaj joined E.L. Haynes as Chief of Finance and Operations in July 2023.

Member of the inaugural cohort of operational leaders in DC Public Schools, Pankaj served as Director, Strategy & Logistics at Columbia Heights Educational Campus (CHEC/Bell HS & Lincoln MS) from 2014 to 2023. At CHEC, he led the Enrollment, Recruitment & Staffing, IT, Budget & Procurement, Attendance, Safety & Security, and Facilities teams. Pankaj received the 2021 DCPS Standing Ovation Award and was profiled by National Public Radio in 2017. He was also a member of the 2016 CHEC Restorative Justice launch team.

Prior to joining CHEC, Pankaj served on DCPS Human Capital Team as Manager, Strategic Staffing with a portfolio of 60 schools from 2008 to 2014. Before immigrating to the United States in 2007, Pankaj worked in Timor-Leste and Nepal in both non-profit and corporate sectors including in finance, conflict resolution and media. He received a BA from University of Delhi, India and a Masters in Leadership from McDonough School of Business, Georgetown University. Pankaj lives in uptown DC with his wife and son. His family are strong advocates for social justice, racial equity, and quality education for all.

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Alexandria Brooks

Chief Talent Officer
abrooks@elhaynes.org

Alexandria Brooks currently serves as the Chief Talent Officer. Prior to joining E.L. Haynes, Alexandria was the Director of Talent Development for KIPP DC, where she led the performance management strategy for their regional teams, prioritizing clear and equitable systems around onboarding, professional development, manager training, performance evaluations, and promotion policies. Before this, Alexandria was the Manager of Teacher Recruitment and Pipelines for DC Public Schools, where she implemented a national recruitment strategy for teachers. In this role, Alexandria helped to create recruitment campaigns that increased the percentage of teaching candidates of color, and created teacher residency partnerships with Urban Teachers and the Peace Corps. Alexandria has also spent time working in Baltimore City Public Schools and Detroit Public Schools creating recruitment and hiring systems. Alexandria began her education career in Washington, DC teaching 5th and 6th grade special education at Truesdell Education Campus, a DCPS school in Petworth. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from Spelman College, and a Master’s of Special Education from The George Washington University. Alexandria lives in Southeast DC with her husband and two children.

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Joel Brown

Senior Director of Human Resources
jbrown@elhaynes.org

Joel Brown, Senior Director of Human Resources joins E.L. Haynes from DC Public Schools, where he served as the Director of Strategic Staffing. In this role, he led the central office and school-based staffing efforts for 118 schools while creating innovative developments to the district’s hiring and data reporting processes. During his seven years with DCPS, Joel managed the hiring and onboarding of over 3,000 employees each year. Prior to this, he was a classroom instructor with Friendship Public Charter Schools, teaching 5th and 6th ELA. A native of Mt. Vernon, New York, Joel earned a dual Master’s degree from Lesley University in Education and Special Education. Additionally, he also holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Creative Writing from the University of Miami.

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Rob Murphy

Managing Director of Instruction
rmurphy@elhaynes.org

Rob Murphy, Managing Director of Instruction, joined E.L. Haynes in 2021. Before joining E.L. Haynes, Rob worked in international schools, traditional public schools, and DC charter schools. Rob has more than 20 years experience working with students and teachers. Rob served as a English Learner classroom teacher for 15 years and was the recipient of the Agnes Myer Award for Excellence in Education presented by The Washington Post and was a nominee for Virginia Teacher of the Year. He has worked as an instructional coach and as a leader at both the school and district level. Rob holds a BS in Secondary Education and a BA in History from the University of Scranton. He received master’s degrees in Linguistics and Bilingual Education from Georgetown University, and School Leadership & Supervision from George Mason University. He is also a certified reading specialist.

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A photo of Joy

Joy Clarke-Wells

High School Principal
jclarke@elhaynes.org

Joy Clarke-Wells, High School Principal, began her career education in 2011 as a Teach for America-Memphis corps member teaching 9th grade English. She moved to DC in 2016 joining the E.L. Haynes High School Leadership Team. After seven years as Assistant Principal, Joy became Principal in spring 2025. Joy holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science and Africana Studies from Wellesley College and a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Teachers College at Columbia University. She was a 2017 Fellow with the Relay Graduate School of Education’s National Principals Academy. She is excited to continue supporting teachers to ensure all students at E.L. Haynes receive an excellent education.

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A portrait of Alex Baron.

Alex Baron

Middle School Principal
abaron@elhaynes.org

Entering his 7th year at E.L. Haynes, Alex Baron has worked as a School Leader-in-Residence, Director of Academic Strategy, Director of Professional Learning, and now Middle School Principal. Before his time at E.L. Haynes, Alex taught secondary math in Denver Public Schools, early childhood at KIPP DC, statistics at Oxford University, and 4th grade English in Taiwan. In addition to work in schools, Alex was the Executive Director of the Urban Leaders policy fellowship in the DC Mayor’s Office, worked on Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s education team, and served in the Taiwanese Education Ministry as a Henry Luce Scholar. Alex is the author of the math book Counting On Yourself and drummer in the E.L. Haynes ADAMARE band. He holds a PhD in education from Oxford University and a bachelors in Philosophy, Neuroscience, and Psychology from Washington University in St. Louis.

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Brittany Wagner-Friel

Elementary School Principal
bwagnerfriel@elhaynes.org

Brittany Wagner-Friel, Elementary School Principal, began her career in education working with children with physical disabilities throughout high school and college, before moving abroad to teach English as a second language in Mexico. She joined E.L. Haynes in February 2007 as a teaching fellow before becoming an elementary school special education teacher. Wagner-Friel was promoted to Assistant Principal in 2012 while a member of New Leaders and became Principal in 2014. She graduated from The University of Vermont with a Bachelor’s degree in political science and earned her Master’s degree from The Catholic University of America in special education. She was a 2015 Fellow with the Relay Graduate School of Education’s National Principals Academy, and earned her Executive Masters in Leadership from Georgetown University in December 2017.

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