Nina Vieria
12/1/2018 - 6/30/2025
Board Chair
Nina Vieira is a stay at home mom who has been homeschooling her two children for the past 14 years. The oldest is now in college and the youngest is a senior. This year, Nina is serving as our Board Chair and has previously served as Board Secretary, Treasurer, and Co-Chairman. Before stepping into her role as a homeschooling mom, Nina worked for The Outdoor Channel as manager of the editorial department. Prior to that, she spent six years as Assistant Editor for a mail order book company, feeding her love of reading. Both positions required her to pay great attention to detail, making sure that her staff and company met all deadlines given, without mistakes. She now spends a majority of her time as a homeschool teacher, wife and youth worker for her church. She is committed to her children's education and to Connecting Waters Charter Schools. She loves the variety of learning options her children have at CWCS, and serving on the Board allows her to be active in her children’s school, while also ensuring that CWCS will be around for future students. She believes that homeschooling her children in this flex-based program, whether the kids are taking online classes, learning center classes, home study or outside vendors, has created a close-knit environment within her family and built confidence within her children that they can achieve success in whatever they pursue as they grow up.
Erika Melton
7/1/2022 - 6/30/2026
Board Co-Chair
Erika Melton is excited to continue her journey as a member of the Board of Directors for Connecting Waters Charter Schools. As a parent at CWCV for 8 years, she has watched her two children excel and grow while utilizing the many resources CWCV has to offer. With an early interest in and love of education, Erika earned her Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education with a Minor in Exceptional Youth from CSU, Stanislaus and began her career working in and later managing children’s centers. Following the birth of her first child, she opened her own family day care, so she could continue to teach and work with children while prioritizing the individual needs of her growing family.
Erika is currently a proud mom to a pre-teen and a teenager who are entering the 6th and 9th grade. In addition to homeschooling her children, Erika leads her daughter’s Girl Scout Troop and also runs a small business from home that allows her to create passion projects that utilize her creativity and love of educating. As her children have grown, she has continued to seek out roles for herself that allow her to teach, including those with a focus on one of her dearest passions, sewing! When not behind an embroidery machine, Erika can be found enjoying time with her family and friends, snuggling with her 5 (that’s right FIVE!) guinea pigs, sipping on her favorite chai tea latte, and engaging in her local community. Beginning her new role as Board Co-Chair, Erika is excited and committed to ensuring the continuing success of the school and its amazing community of stakeholders—from students, parents, faculty, and staff.
Bonnie Cerruti
12/1/2020 - 6/30/2026
Board Secretary
Bonnie has been a parent at the school for over 16 years. Her youngest attended K-12th, graduating as a National Honors Society Student, a 4 year CA Scholarship Federation Student and with over 40 units of college under her belt. As a parent, Bonnie served on the Parent Council Board and understands the parent perspective. Bonnie has a heart for children and for volunteering. She founded and served as executive director for The Sonora Children's Theatre. The theatre school employed over 15 instructors teaching in a wide variety of theatrical fields and was a vendor for CWCS, giving Bonnie exposure to the vendor side of things. After leaving the Sonora area, Bonnie found herself creating engaging curriculum and instructing as a "small
group leader," at the Modesto and Ceres Learning Centers. She was employed by the school for 9 years giving her experience as a school employee and the opportunity to meet several of the amazing families that attended CWCS. She also met many of the School employees and was enlightened by seeing a glimpse of the "behind the scenes" work that takes place at the learning centers and the library.
With a heart for volunteering, she has served with The Carole Sund Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation, on the committee for Valley Home Educators and as the Guild President for Juline Regional Youth Ballet along with 4 years on the school board. Other experience includes managing a United Express Airline station, inside sales for the Modesto Bee and currently managing properties while overseeing the complete remodel of a 36 unit complex. After spending 10 years as a security supervisor at major events such as NFL football games, she is now venturing into real estate. Reading, offloading, traveling and sailing are all hobbies she enjoys.
Denise Davis
7/1/2022 - 6/30/2025
Assistant Board Secretary
Denise Davis has been married for forty-one years to her husband Mark. They have four children, two of which graduated from Connecting Waters Charter Schools. She is a grandma to eleven grandkids, and out of those, three attended CWCS. Denise is presently working as the Chief Financial Officer for a local construction corporation and spent many years working in the accounting field. Denise was one of the founding families and served on the parent counsel, volunteering when CWCS first started out. Over the twenty-plus years of Denise’s homeschooling career, she has acquired experience in the many facets of personalized learning and has become well acquainted with information on successfully navigating the homeschooling process. She has enjoyed several years of volunteering at homeschool conventions, and has volunteered at church, a
children's theater and her granddaughter's Girl Scout troop. Her passion is helping children discover and learn their individual interests and thrive in pursuing them. She has many interests, including anything involving crafts, cake decorating, and science, but her favorite is community service. Besides going to the beach and keeping up on reading and current events, she looks forward to serving the parents, students, and staff as a member of the Board of Directors.
Jennifer Louie-Monzon
12/1/2018 - 6/30/2025
Board Member
Jennifer Louie-Monzon is a parent at Connecting Waters East Bay. She and her family
are Bay Area natives and are finally seasoned homeschoolers. Jennifer has two
children, a 10th grade son and a 7th grade daughter. When Jennifer’s son completed
the 1st grade, she and her husband realized that the traditional classroom setting was
not ideal for their gifted child with impulsive-type ADHD. She spent over a year
researching the idea of homeschooling and discussing this option with her son. In the
middle of 3rd grade, Jennifer’s son told her he was ready to leave public school and to
begin homeschooling. After homeschooling her son for a year through CWCS,
Jennifer’s daughter wanted to join her brother at CWEB. Jennifer’s children are happily
starting their 7th year homeschooling with Connecting Waters Charter Schools. Jennifer
and her children take equal ownership in their homeschooling journey, and they are
enjoying this partnership.
Jennifer studied biomedical engineering at Cal Poly in San
Luis Obispo and has worked in the medical device industry ever since. Prior to being a
CWEB parent, Jennifer held various PTA officer positions at her children's public school.
During her two-year term as PTA president, she held the officers to three standards:
improve relations with school leadership, sponsor programs and events that benefit all
students fairly, and modernize PTA operations to become more efficient. Jennifer is
excited to bring her professional and volunteering experiences, and her dedication to
helping students and their parents to the CWCS Board.
Kaneez Fatima
7/1/2022 - 6/30/2026
Board Member
Kaneez Fatima is a dedicated mother of two incredible kids, one of whom has graduated from high school with Connecting Waters Charter School. Her educational journey led her to earn a Bachelor's degree in Finance, and she successfully cleared her CPA exam. Kaneez then embarked on an exciting six-year adventure as a Senior Financial Auditor at Deloitte, where she sharpened her skills and gathered invaluable experiences auditing across various industry sectors.
Kaneez chose to step away from her career to focus on her family, a decision that reflects her deep commitment and love for her loved ones. She wanted her children to have a choice and say in their own education, so they could drive their own learning with their own interests. While exploring many education options, she found Connecting Waters Charter Schools and immediately liked their Personalized Learning approach. Her family has since been with CWCS for more than ten years.
Today, Kaneez channels her expertise and passion into working for a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering local communities, especially youth and women, to become active and contributing members of society. This work brings her immense joy and fulfillment as she witnesses the positive impact they make together.
Outside of her professional life, Kaneez is an avid reader who loves getting lost in a good book. Traveling and exploring new places is another passion of hers – there's nothing like the thrill of discovering a new destination! She is also a true foodie at heart, always excited to try new cuisines and savor different flavors. Gardening brings her peace and satisfaction as she nurtures life from the soil up.
Kaneez lives by the motto, "Life is like art. You have to work hard to keep it simple and still have meaning," a beautiful quote by Charles de Lint. This philosophy inspires her to find joy in simplicity and seek meaningful moments in everyday life.
Ron Mayo
8/13/2024 - 8/13/2026
Board Member
Ron and his wife of 37 years have 2 adult children who attended and graduated from CWCS and 4 granddaughters, one of which attends CWCS.
He has served on the board in the past as a parent board member and also as a community board member.
He is a retired Corporate Operations Trainer and disabled veteran. He served in the Army and worked in the equipment rental industry for 35 plus years in various roles. He loves spending time with his family traveling, cooking, reading and learning. Loves all animals and has rescued and rehabbed several including exotics.
As a continual learner and one who believes knowledge should be shared he approaches each situation as a learning and teaching moment. He is an advocate for giving students and parents the tools they need to be successful in learning and in life including alternatives to college such as trade schools and apprenticeship programs.