Our Staff

Jennifer Beagan - Senior Program Director

Jennifer has been an educator for 27 years, serving as a K-8 teacher, gifted education instructor and building principal in Michigan. She has a Bachelor’s Degree from Adrian College, Master’s Degree from Oakland University in Curriculum, Instruction and Leadership and Letter of Eligibility from the University of Pittsburgh. In 2001, she relocated to Pittsburgh. Jennifer has held leadership positions as the Senior Program Director, Teaching and Learning working with a variety of programs: Waterfront Learning, PA-Educator.net, transformED, and the K-12 ESL Program Director. Currently she leads the administrative team of Waterfront Learning, involved in the direct instruction of 1000+ students and the professionals whose responsibilities are aimed at providing high-quality, leading-edge cost effective services . She also is part of the team responsible for transformED: a Digital Playground for Teachers. Jenn loves spending time with her family and is a foodie at heart! She loves to entertain, as cooking is her passion.

Jill Manczka - Program Director

Jill has 20 years of experience as an educator serving as a special education teacher, online learning program director, assistant principal, and principal. Additionally, she has worked as a Communications Director for an educational service agency. Jill is an adjunct professor at Westminster College’s Graduate School of Education where she teaches online courses in Special Education and Educational Leadership. She earned a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Duquesne University and a bachelor’s degree in Special Education from Clarion University of Pennsylvania. She holds a K-12 Principal Certification and a Level II Instructional Certification in K-12 Special Education. In her spare time, Jill enjoys distance running, traveling with her husband and son, and reading.

Sarah Johnston - Coordinator of Instructional Learning & Technology

Sarah is involved with the day to day operations of Waterfront Learning, as well as providing professional development to our schools, completing fiscal reviews, and invoicing. She also coordinates the master schedule within our student information system, and assists with the integration between our courseware systems and our student information system.

Sarah started with Waterfront Learning as an Elementary Teacher, and has also served as an Implementation Specialist for the program. She earned a Master of Education in Reading from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Slippery Rock University. She holds an Instructional Certification in Elementary Education K-6, Mid-Level English 7-9, and a K-12 Reading Specialist Certification.

Sarah likes to spend her spare time with her husband and daughters. She also enjoys camping and reading.

Lori Keener - Coordinator of Student Services

Lori comes to Waterfront Learning with extensive experience having served as a building Assistant Principal, Special Education Teacher, and most recently a Program Supervisor at the AIU. This new position will focus on driving student achievement across all services. Lori will be empowering students and supporting district liaisons and administrators. Another key aspect of this position will be devoted to the coordination and execution of summer school.

Karen Connor - Virtual Learning Outreach Specialist

Karen joined Waterfront Learning in November 2021 as the Virtual Learning Outreach Coordinator. She performs a variety of duties associated with the acquisition, management, analysis, and reporting of educational data for virtual learning partners and schools.
She has a BA in Education from Point Park University and a MA in Communication from Duquesne University. Karen has been a short and long term substitute teacher, as well as a trainer in the corporate environment for many years.

Craig Sinning - Technology Specialist

As Technology Specialist Craig is involved in all technology related aspects of Waterfront learning. Craig prepares Waterfront’s computer fleet, pulls reports for school districts, and manages waterfrontlearning.com. He is also responsible for behind the scenes works including making our courseware systems talk with our student information system. You are most likely to encounter Craig on a tech support call.

Craig joined Waterfront Learning in fall of 2010. He has extensive technology support experience, a master’s degree in Leadership and information Technology from Duquesne University, and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Virginia Tech. During his free time Craig enjoys spending time with his family, video games, and fly fishing.