Meet Our Leadership Team

Contact us using our standard email address convention

Dr. Ronak Bhatt

Founder & Chancellor

Ronak Bhatt founded Telra Institute based on a simple premise. Children are all unique; why would a school march them all through the same curriculum at the same pace?

​Ronak and his wife Cathy are the parents of four young children and have called Charlotte home for more than a decade. His perspectives as a local dad and former "gifted kid" along with his experience in education, strategy, and innovation drove him to launch Telra Institute with a firm commitment to build it into a model educational program and establish it as a community institution.

​

• With a lifelong passion for education, he’s developed curricula and lectured at M.I.T. and UNC Charlotte on topics of physics, energy, and economics.

​

• He focused on innovation and strategy when leading consulting teams at McKinsey and RIN Advisors and serving as VP of Strategy at Avantor

​

• As a founding board member and later Chairperson of the nonprofit E4 Carolinas, he helped drive innovation, education, and energy industry growth in the region

Education:

​

• ScD, Physics – M.I.T.

• BS, Physics (with honors) - Caltech

Cecilia Armour

Principal

Cecilia Armour has been in the field of education for over 25 years with international experience in charter schools, private schools, traditional public schools, and at the university level.

• Most recently, she served as Director of Academics for Movement School Eastland where she was part of the Founding Team and had overall responsibility for developing and leading the school’s academic program.

​

• As Head of Early Years at the British International School of Charlotte for 10 years, she supported teachers in the implementation of the International Primary Curriculum.

​

• As a K-3 teacher and later a Literacy and Math coach in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools, she focused on differentiation and small group instruction to accelerate growth for early learners.

​

• In her home country of Scotland, she has been a Home Visiting Teacher, an adjunct teacher at the University of Glasgow where she taught undergraduate students on the elementary teacher track, an Exceptional Children teacher for students with mild, moderate, and severe learning difficulties, and a Physical Education teacher in both primary and high school settings.

Education:

​

• MSc, Educational Support and Leadership - Strathclyde University in Glasgow, Scotland

• MA, Education (with honors) - University of Edinburgh, Scotland

• Licensure – K-12 Principal, K-6 Elementary Education, K-12 EC, K-12 PE

Jessica Cuneo

Director of Academic Programs

Jessica Cuneo has been an educator for 18 years and brings a wealth of experience from her time as both an elementary teacher and administrator with a focus on gifted education.

• Teaching 3rd-5th grade science & math at Helios New School (a private gifted school in Sunnyvale, CA), she developed the level 5 math program and developed theme-based curricula in collaboration with humanities teachers.

• As the Associate Director and later Executive Director of Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy, she partnered with teachers and staff to develop an exemplary program for highly gifted children, culminating in a National Blue Ribbon Award in 2017.

• She taught all core subjects at public gifted magnet schools in Charlotte and Winston-Salem, where she accelerated the curriculum while incorporating interdisciplinary studies and project-based learning.

Education:

​

• MEd, Curriculum and Instruction, Supervision - UNC Wilmington

• BA, Elementary Education (Summa Cum Laude) - High Point University

• Licensure – K-12 Principal, K-6 Elementary Education, K-12 AIG

Jessica and her husband Steve are the parents to twin seven-year-olds. They have been residents of Charlotte for 12 years, recently returning after spending 2 years in the Bay Area of California.