Board Members

Region: B (Newlin, Pocopson, and Birmingham Townships)
Elected: November 2019
Re-elected: November 2023

Victoria Baratta was elected to the Board for Region B in 2019, Vice President in 2021, and President in 2022. She has lived in Birmingham Township with her family since 2007.  

Victoria has advocated for children her entire life. After graduating from Denison University in 1990, she worked for the Connecticut State Department of Education with the Beginning Educator Support and Training (BEST) program and on a grant for the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. These programs focused on collaboration, mentorship, and developing the highest standards in teaching. She earned her doctorate in Educational Psychology from the University of Connecticut in 2001. She has worked as a school psychologist supporting students, partnering with parents, and developing wellness programs for classrooms in Connecticut, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. She has also taught graduate and undergraduate classes as an adjunct at Widener University.

Victoria has been married to her husband, Mike, since 1997. They have five children who attended UCFSD schools K-12. Her children have a diverse set of interests, talents, and needs and she appreciates that each has received a quality and responsive education in our district. Tory has volunteered in the classroom, in Girl Scouts, and as a URA coach over the years. She views serving on the UCFSD School Board as an opportunity to combine her personal and professional experiences to serve her community in a meaningful and impactful way. 

Region: C (Chadds Ford and Pennsbury Townships)
Elected: November 2019
Re-elected: November 2023

Erin Talbert moved to southeastern Pennsylvania after graduation from Penn State, Schreyer Honors College. With the business consulting firm Accenture, Erin advised clients on communication, strategy, and change management. In her years at AstraZeneca, Erin worked in a number of different areas including marketing, managed markets, and sales. She now owns and runs Brandywine Outdoor Living, LLC, an outdoor design firm. 

A resident of Pennsbury Township, Erin has two children. Her husband, Tony, is a 1994 UHS graduate. 

An active community volunteer, Erin was appointed by the Borough of Kennett Square and Kennett Township to the Kennett Area Park Authority Board, who owns and runs Anson B. Nixon Park. She was elected to the Schreyer Alumni Society Board of the Schreyer Honors College at Penn State and ultimately served as Alumni & Student Engagement Committee Chair. Erin helped grow the Unionville Crew program at the Unionville High School and is also co-chair of the UCFSD Community Scholarship Fund. 

Elected in 2019, Erin is committed to understanding and balancing the needs and concerns of students, parents, teachers, staff, administrators, and residents. She believes that we all have stakes in providing our children with the best public education possible and aims to serve as an informed, thoughtful, and decisive intermediary.

Region: A (East Marlborough & West Marlborough Townships)
Elected: November 2019
Re-elected: November 2023

Rashi Akki, elected to the Board in 2019, lives in East Marlborough Township and has been a resident of UCFSD since 2001. She and her husband, Umesh, have three children who attended UCFSD. Abu and Ashwin attended Texas A&M for Chemical Engineering and Anushka is currently attending the University of Connecticut.   

Rashi Akki founded Ag-Grid Energy LLC in 2016 with a vision to convert agricultural and organic waste into renewable energy, compost, and support local area practices that lead us towards a sustainable environment. Prior to launching Ag-Grid Energy LLC, she worked for 20 years at the chemical company DuPont. She held positions in central R&D, DuPont Titanium Technologies, Nonwovens, and Industrial Biosciences. She received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Osmania University, M.S from the University of Connecticut, and Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Region: C (Chadds Ford & Pennsbury Townships)
Elected: November 2023

Jody Allen, elected to the Board in 2023, attended Chadds Ford Elementary School and Unionville Middle School before graduating from Tower Hill School. After earning a BA in Biology from Brown University, Jody returned to Chadds Ford and began his 20+ year career with Barnes & Noble by opening the original store in the Concord Mall. He then managed several B&N stores in New York City before opening the company’s new flagship store in Manhattan, which he ran for seven years until moving to Morocco, where his daughter was born. He and his wife Melissa moved back to Chadds Ford to raise their daughter, who is a student at Chadds Ford Elementary School.

Having grown up in Chadds Ford, Jody appreciates our top-notch school district, beautiful open spaces, rich history, and strong cultural institutions. Since returning home in 2018, he has been very active in local community organizations, serving as a Judge of Elections until he ran for UCFSD School Board. He also serves as a Board Director and the Treasurer of the Chadds Ford Township Residents Association, where he has organized events such as the semi-annual roadside clean-up, Citizen of the Year award ceremonies, Township holiday tree lighting and decorating events, and the first-ever flag retirement ceremony held at the Brandywine Battlefield Park.

Region: A (East Marlborough Township & West Marlborough Township)
Elected: November 2025

Susan Still Elks, elected to the Board in 2025, is a K-12 graduate of the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District. Susan has lived back in Unionville since 2005, following time spent in North Carolina during her husband Jake’s active duty U.S. Coast Guard service. One of their children is a current student at Unionville High School and the other is an alumnus. 

Since earning a B.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of North Carolina at Asheville and while earning an M.A. in Geography from West Chester University, her career has spanned the public, private, and nonprofit sectors with a consistent thread of community and land use planning. She has extensive training in mediation and facilitation, and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), a Senior Fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program, and alumni of Penn State Extension’s Rural-Urban Leadership Program.

Susan is focused on ensuring that the students of today and tomorrow have a safe environment to learn the skills needed to navigate the world they will encounter beyond their K-12 experience and throughout life. She looks forward to contributing to UCFSD through her experience in community engagement, planning, and project implementation, and has a special interest in career pathways for students and young professionals and mental health and wellness.

Currently a small business owner, Susan also serves on the East Marlborough Township Planning Commission and on the boards of the Chester County Water Resources Authority and Friends of Unionville.

Region: B (Newlin, Pocopson, Birmingham Townships)
Elected: November 2025

Sandra has been a resident of Chester County since 1980. She received her Chemistry-Biology B.S. in 1990 and her B.S. in Secondary Education in Biology in 1993 from West Chester University. She completed her M.A. in Education from Gratz College in 2007 and her M.A. in Biology from University of St. Joseph in 2017. She first taught at Avon Grove High School in 1994 and in 2005 began her tenure at UCFSD teaching Advanced Placement Biology and Freshman Biology. She retired in 2022 and taught one year at Westtown School until June 2025.

She is a Fulbright Teacher for Global Classrooms Fellow and in 2019 traveled to Senegal to work with American Embassy coordinators and Sengelase educators.

She was named Pennsylvania Outstanding Biology Teacher of the Year in 2013 by the NABT.

Sandra sought election to the UCF School Board because, as a teacher in the District for 17 years, she believes she can offer a unique perspective to the challenges facing our District, particularly those relating to our most fundamental obligation, the education of our students.

Sandra and her husband have been residing in Newlin Township since 1999. She has one daughter who graduated from UCFSD in 2008.

Region: C (Chadds Ford & Pennsbury Townships)
Elected: November 2023

Brian C. Schartz has lived in southeast Pennsylvania since 2005 and in Chadds Ford since 2017. He and his family moved to the community primarily for the outstanding public schools.

Brian is a product of a public school education in his native Kansas. He went on to Yale University, graduating magna cum laude with a degree in economics. Brian extended his education while earning his M.B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin. Professionally, he has spent the majority of his career in finance-related positions and co-founded an educational consulting company. He currently serves as Chief Credit Officer for a boutique private lending organization specializing in loans to small- and medium-sized businesses across the U.S. Brian serves on the Yale Alumni Schools Committee and Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association. He can often be found tracking his daughter, Avery, at various U.R.A. sporting events throughout the year. Avery is currently a student at Unionville High School and a member of the Class of 2029.

Region: B (Newlin, Pocopson, Birmingham Townships)
Elected: November 2013
Re-elected: 2017, 2021, 2025

Steve Simonson was elected to the Board in 2013. He currently serves as the chairman of the Personnel Committee. Prior to this, he served on the Pocopson Township Planning Commission for four years. 

Steve is a physician with over 25 years of experience in medical practice and the pharmaceutical industry. He is currently the Sr. Vice President and Chief Development Officer at a biopharma company. He earned his MD from the Medical College of Wisconsin. Steve completed his post-graduate training and a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Duke University Medical Center. He also earned a Master of Health Sciences degree in Biometry from Duke University. 

Steve and his wife Ruth live in Pocopson Township and have been residents of UCFSD since 1996. They have two sons, both of whom graduated from the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District. Their sons’ experience in the district schools left them well-prepared for higher education. One is completing a medical degree at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia; the other is studying biomedical engineering at Penn State University.