Welcome to School House Excellence
The Training and Coaching Source
for Today's Educator
Welcome to School House Excellence
The Training and Coaching Source
for Today's Educator
About School House Excellence
History
School House Excellence, an LLC, was established in 2018.
The principals of School House Excellence utilize research-based adult learning principles that educators can employ to support the implementation of effective school improvement strategies.
Our Goal
Our objective is to leverage our extensive experience and research-based techniques to tailor training and tools that enhance the capabilities of educators who are implementing strategies to improve academic performance. This includes increasing the use of quality data to drive instruction, enhancing leadership effectiveness, and maximizing learning time. Our focus areas include:
- Professional Learning Communities Team Training
- Executive leadership training and coaching
- Current and aspiring principal development
- Cultivating an environment where ethical standards are defined, understood, and practiced.
- Proven student support programs
Tailored Consulting Services
We provide customized consulting services tailored to the unique needs of district leaders, school administrators, teachers, and students. Our services focus on building sustainable systems and practices that drive student success, empower educators and learners, and strengthen school communities.
Through a collaborative approach, we help districts and schools:
Strategically Plan & Lead – Align vision, goals, and resources to maximize student outcomes.
Support Educator Growth – Offer targeted professional development and coaching that enhances leadership and instructional practices.
Foster Student Success – Implement evidence-based strategies that address academic achievement and social-emotional learning.
Whether working one-on-one with district leaders, facilitating workshops for teachers, or guiding teams through transformational initiatives, we ensure every solution is practical, sustainable, and responsive to your context. Students also benefit from working with us to learn strategies that enhance emotional growth and academic performance.
Our Founders
Lisa DeVeaux, Ed.D.
President and Talent Developer
Lisadeveaux@schoolhouseexcellence.com
Lisa DeVeaux served as a teacher, principal and Executive Director in the 15th largest district in the country. As an elementary and high school principal, she designed and implemented Professional Learning Community (PLC) protocols that significantly increased student achievement. Recognized for effective PLC practice design, she served as a presenter at a DuFour conference. Her PLC cycles and protocols continue to sustain the work of numerous campus leaders.
During her four years as the Executive Director responsible for 37 elementary schools, she designed professional development modules to improve the leadership practices of the principals in her learning community. Training and coaching efforts focused on:
- Data as a Tool to Monitor Progress and Foster Collaboration
- The Calendar as a Leadership Artifact
- Benchmarking: A Campus Improvement Tool
- The Reading and Writing Connection: Leading Literacy Efforts
- Utilizing Look for Maps to Guide Implementation
- Thinking Through the Lesson Protocol: Planning Tools to Lead
- Utilizing Protocols to Leverage Leadership
In addition to leadership development, Lisa designed and implemented processes to enhance teachers’ instructional repertoires through Content Study Teams, Teacher-led Content Study Teams and The Writing Project. These efforts resulted in increased student achievement and instructional practices that continue today.
A notable achievement is the ongoing impact on education through the twenty-one individuals chosen and mentored to become principals under her guidance. Of these, fifteen continue to lead schools successfully, while six have advanced to oversee multiple schools.
As a certified coach, Lisa utilizes her expertise to support leaders and teams with effectively identifying school improvement leverage points. Focused on utilizing existing campus tools, she guides the design process to achieve organizational goals.
After serving for 33 years, Lisa retired to complete her dissertation at The University of Texas at Austin Cooperative Superintendency Program. Her work entitled: Principal Leadership: Implementing RtI in Urban High Schools fills a research gap that supports student achievement efforts at the high school level.
As a founder of School House Excellence, Lisa is committed to ensuring leaders have access to expertly designed training and coaching services to produce results.
Charlene C. Burroughs, M.Ed.
Vice President and Talent Developer
Charleneburroughs@schoolhouseexcellence.com
The Vice President of School House Excellence is Charlene Burroughs, M.Ed. An expert training designer, Charlene was a career educator who worked most of her professional life in the eighth largest school district in the United States. Before leaving the classroom, she served children of the district for 22 years. Always aware of trends and innovations impacting teaching and learning, Charlene successfully taught kindergarten through eighth grades.
Talent development has been a constant theme in Charlene’s professional life. She received her Master’s in Education Leadership from Texas Woman’s University with a focus on training. Her thesis, District Level Transition from Restrictive Classroom Environments to Least Restrictive Classroom Environments, was a seminar for central office administrators.
Upon leaving the classroom Charlene became a talent developer and central staff administrator. She served as the liaison to the district’s Reading Language Arts Department. In that role, she developed training modules for elementary teachers and teacher assistants as well as created modules that were used by campus principals on districtwide staff development days.
Charlene left the district’s training department and moved to support a Deputy Superintendent in the Teaching and Learning Division. She continued to use her training expertise in this role and co-wrote training modules, notably one for the launch of the Dallas Collaborative Model and a training module for campus leaders on Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.
She ended her 31 year career with the school district as the Manager of Ethics and Integrity. In this position she developed ethics training for the district’s 22,000 central office and campus based employees. Three thousand six hundred central staff members (including the Superintendent and his cabinet) attended Charlene’s face-to-face training. However, campus staff received the information in other ways. Over the years, Charlene created a game that campus principals could use to deliver the training content; a plug and play video; and online training that was accessible by all campus staff. Charlene also created the district’s first Handbook of Ethics and Integrity, a manual that presented district policy in an easy to understand format with examples of inappropriate behavior.
After retiring from the school district in 2011, Charlene worked six years as a departmental trainer at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. She continued writing and delivering training until she answered a call to use her skills and her love of teaching and learning to start School House Excellence.
Brian K. DeVeaux, M.Ed.
Vice President of Marketing
BrianDeVeaux@schoolhouseexcellence.com
Brian served as an educator for 34 years in the 11thlargest district in the country before retiring in 2018. During that time, Brian served as a teacher, coach, Assistant Principal, Associate Principal, and Principal. While serving in those roles, he was instrumental in leading effective instructional programs. As a result of his efforts leading the instructional program and creating a positive culture on his campus, Brian was named Associate Principal of the year in 2012.
As the Principal of a historically Improvement Required high school, he increased the academic rigor and created a culture of excellence. His leadership allowed the school to build strong teams and create a robust school improvement plan which resulted in a consistently Met Standard rating.
Brian’s ability to develop effective instructional programs and build campus cultures that recognize the power educators have to change life’s circumstances is a rare commodity.
His expertise extends to:
- Developing a high school Master Schedule to create Smaller Learning Communities
- Implementing Professional Learning Community structures
- Designing Professional Development to support teaching staff in accomplishing instructional goals
- Creating systems for collaboratively developing a Campus Comprehensive Needs Assessment
- Creating a Culture of Excellence with Coaching Conversations
Currently, he is a part time faculty member for The University of Texas at Arlington where he serves as a specialist observing, coaching, and giving feedback to candidates in their Principal program. In Brian’s continued quest to add value to student’s education there is a quote by Franklin D. Roosevelt that resonates with him:
“ We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can always build our youth for the future”.
Our Team
Gerald Bennett
Veronica Hockett
Veronica Hockett
Mr. Bennett is an experienced educator whose expertise in reading led him to become a highly effective elementary and middle school principal. Gerald serves as an Empower U Forward: Skills for School and Life trainer.
Veronica Hockett
Veronica Hockett
Veronica Hockett
Ms. Hockett's expertise in language development has helped hundreds of students achieve their goals and built teacher capacity to continue their growth. Veronica serves as an Empower U Forward: Skills for School and Life trainer.
Our Team
Silvia Macias
Silvia Macias
Silvia Macias
Ms. Macias is an operations tactician who has used her expertise to support teachers, leaders, and students with achieving organizational goals. Silvia serves as an Empower U Forward: Skills for School and Life trainer.
Kari Miller
Silvia Macias
Silvia Macias
Mrs. Miller is a celebrated English teacher with expertise in AP writing strategies, Project-based Learning, and curriculum guide design. Kari serves as an Empower U Forward: Skills for School and Life trainer.