About Patricia Monticello Kievlan

Tricia is a writer and educator based in her hometown of Houston, Texas. She has reviewed websites, apps, and games for Common Sense Media and Common Sense Education since 2013. Tricia has spent a decade working as a teacher and administrator in schools in Texas, California, and Pennsylvania, where she taught history and French and directed programs in college counseling and community service. In San Francisco, she founded the Academic Support Program at Convent of the Sacred Heart High School, part of Schools of the Sacred Heart San Francisco, where I also served as a leader in technology integration and the implementation of the four-school community's 1:1 iPad program. She also served as coordinator of a professional learning community of school learning specialists in the San Francisco Bay Area called BAISLD. Additionally, she worked in the Education Department at WQED Multimedia as the project manager and associate producer for iQ: smartparent, an Emmy Award-winning television series about parenting in the digital age. Most recently, she served as Program Associate on the Community Building team at The Sprout Fund, Pittsburgh's leading agency supporting innovative ideas, catalyzing community change, and making the region a better place to live, work, play, and raise a family. Her interdisciplinary work at Sprout included projects focused on connected learning, civic engagement, public art, open innovation, and economic opportunity. Tricia has spoken at conferences including Mozilla Festival, the Digital Media and Learning Conference (now the Connected Learning Summit), and the Parents Education Network’s annual EdRev conference and celebration. She also serves as a volunteer college admissions adviser and college essay writing instructor for the Athletic Scholars Advancement Program (ASAP) at San Francisco’s Mission High School. Tricia holds a master's degree in Mind, Brain, and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a bachelor's degree in Plan II Honors and English from the University of Texas at Austin.