The FlipTurn Story

The flipturn is one of the most seemingly simple yet technically complex skills a swimmer must master in the pursuit of athletic excellence.  The process, all occurring under water and out of sight, has the potential to slice seconds from a swimmer’s practice, making the difference between a crushing loss and a strategic victory.  A perfectly executed flipturn requires careful aim and approach, a skillful rotation, and a solid streamlined launch into the next leg of the race.

FlipTurn Education Consulting approaches our work much like a swim meet – while it is critical to build endurance, power and strength, it is even more essential to leverage the critical moments, like the flipturn.  A sound process and a strategic plan is our flipturn for success.  Done wrong, you may end up treading water.  Done right, it blends seamlessly into the other parts of the race, gives you the momentum and foundation to reach your goals, and when practiced, becomes a fluid and natural motion.

Sarah Sandelius, Esquire

FOUNDER AND CEO

A common thread throughout Sarah Sandelius' career is her experience and focus on the intersection of operations, legal, and program in service of strengthening organizational impact and mission. With nearly 15 years of experience driving operational policy and strategy on behalf of our nation's young people, focusing on the most vulnerable populations, including disconnected youth, justice-involved students, and students with disabilities, Sarah is passionate about connecting the dots of policy, process, and performance. 

As Founder and Chief Executive Officer of FlipTurn Education Consulting, Sarah is most commonly identified as a trusted advisor and strategic partner to school leaders to identify opportunities to streamline practices, improve compliance, build effective systems, and translate vision into action in order to achieve measurable and sustainable results on behalf of children. 

Sarah has also worked as the Senior Director for Litigation and Policy in the Office of General Counsel for the New York City Department of Education where she created and managed the Litigation Implementation Unit. The Unit focused on developing resources for schools, building stakeholder coordination, and managing communications to successfully implement settlements across city schools. Sarah also worked for the New York City Department of Education (NYC DOE) as the Executive Director for Policy and Student Advocacy for District 79: Alternative Schools and Programs running the district’s special education services and other strategic advocacy/policy projects across seven citywide programs. 

Prior to her time at the NYC DOE, Sarah worked at Teach for America – New York City and spent several years practicing corporate law in the areas of education law and litigation at Hogan and Hartson, LLP (now Hogan Lovells) in Washington DC.  She lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland with her husband and daughter.