PTHV announces four new board members: Shital Shah (Board Chair), Georgia Rhett, Mary Jane Cobb (Treasurer), and Dr. Adriane Dorrington to lead expansion.
WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, January 20, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Parent Teacher Home Visits (PTHV), a national leader in fostering strong family-school partnerships, announced today that its Board of Directors has elected four new members: Shital C. Shah, who returns to the Board after previously serving from 2015 to 2019 and has been elected as Board Chair; Georgia Rhett, Superintendent of Arvin Union School District; Mary Jane Cobb, who has been elected as Board Treasurer; and Dr. Adriane Dorrington, Program Manager for the Innovation & Transformation Team at the National Education Association (NEA).
“At a time when trust between schools and families is fraying and teacher retention is in crisis, PTHV’s evidence-based approach offers something rare: a solution that actually works,” said PTHV Executive Director Andrea Prejean.
“These leaders understand that transformation doesn’t happen through policy mandates or technology platforms—it happens through relationships. Shital has spent her career building the cross-sector partnerships that accelerate change. Georgia leads with both the practical wisdom of a superintendent and the fierce advocacy of a parent focused on learning about student and family needs. Mary Jane brings the strategic clarity that comes from leading thousands of educators through complex challenges. And Adriane brings the deep expertise in teacher preparation and educational equity that ensures this work reaches the educators who need it most. Together, they’re positioned to help us scale what we know works.”
Shah currently serves as Senior Advisor at United Way Worldwide, where she leads special initiatives and supports enterprise-wide strategy, external engagement, and education-focused philanthropy. She previously served as Senior Advisor to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and Director of Strategic Partnerships at the U.S. Department of Education, where she led national public-private partnerships across K–12, higher education, and workforce development.
“I’ve watched PTHV prove something profound over the past decade: when teachers walk into a family’s home with curiosity instead of judgment, when they ask about hopes instead of homework, everything shifts,” said Shah. “I’m returning to this Board because the evidence is overwhelming, the need is urgent, and the moment demands that we move this work from ‘innovative practice’ to ‘how we do school.’ The families I’ve met through this work don’t want another parent portal or another deficit-focused intervention—they want educators who see them as partners. That’s what PTHV delivers, and that’s what our country’s children deserve.”
Rhett has served as Superintendent of the Arvin Union School District since 2018. An educator since 1988, Rhett began her career as a teacher in Arvin and has served in multiple roles, including bilingual educator, Resource Teacher for English Language Learners and Migrant Education Programs, School Site Administrator, and Assistant Superintendent.
“I became an educator in Arvin and have observed how various systems have impacted our family and our grandchildren.” said Rhett. “Our district efforts are expanding the opportunity to have a teacher show up at your door and say, ‘Tell me about your child’—not to fix a problem, but to build a relationship. I’ve seen our teachers come back from home visits transformed, talking about students they thought they knew but are now seeing fully for the first time. This isn’t soft work or nice-to-have work. This is the foundation work. When families trust schools and schools honor families, children thrive. It’s that simple and that urgent.”
Cobb served as Executive Director of the Iowa State Education Association for 15 years, where she led a statewide affiliate representing thousands of educators. She played a key role in the development and implementation of the Iowa Teacher Leadership and Compensation Program. She currently leads her own coaching and consulting practice, focusing on leadership development for women executives and organizational excellence.
“I spent more than 30 years working alongside educators who were drowning in mandates, buried in paperwork, and told to do more with less,” said Cobb. “What they rarely heard was this: your relationships with families matter as much as your lesson plans. PTHV gives teachers permission to do what drew most of them to education in the first place—connect with kids and families as whole human beings. As someone who has managed budgets and staffing and strategic plans for a large organization, I know this model works precisely because it’s simple, sustainable, and centered on what educators and families both want: authentic partnership. That’s the kind of work I want to help steward.”
Dorrington, a former high school science and math teacher and PreK–12 science curriculum specialist, has taught in higher education in Canada and the United States, preparing educators to work effectively with diverse students. Her current portfolio includes expanding NEA’s Community Schools network, strengthening professional learning and higher education, and overseeing multi-year state and local grants for innovative projects that improve student learning.
“Too many families have only experienced school as a place that talks at them, not with them,” said Dorrington. “What excites me about PTHV is that they rewrite that story and put relationships at the center of how learning happens. When educators are invited into families’ living rooms and front porches, they gain a completely different understanding of who their students are and what they carry with them into the classroom.”
These appointments come as PTHV continues to expand its national network of educators trained in relationship-building home visits. The organization currently works with more than 400 school sites across 32 states, Washington D.C., and Saskatchewan, Canada, with an average of more than 30,000 documented home visits conducted annually.
About Parent Teacher Home Visits
Parent Teacher Home Visits (PTHV) is a national nonprofit that trains K-12 educators to conduct voluntary, relationship-building home visits with students and families. Founded nearly 30 years ago, PTHV’s evidence-based model has been shown to reduce chronic absenteeism by 21% and improve family-school trust. Research from Johns Hopkins University and RTI International demonstrates the effectiveness of the PTHV approach in strengthening family engagement and student outcomes. Learn more at pthvp.org.
DEQUENDRE BERTRAND
Parent Teacher Home Visits
dequendre@pthvp.org
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