Brendan Baran is originally from Alexandria, Virginia. After graduating from Brown University in 2003, he moved to Jacksonville, Florida to teach at Episcopal High School of Jacksonville. There he taught 9th and 10th grade history as well as Latin. Additionally he coached girls’ crew. In 2005 he attended the Klingenstein Summer Institute where he first became interested in the PSL program.

Chris Bezsylko comes to Teachers College with over twelve years of work experience in education. His education career began as a teacher in the Philadelphia Public schools and evolved to incorporate nine years working in a pre-college intervention program for at-risk Philadelphia Public School students, four years of full-time employment as an education consultant and workshop provider, and extensive experience in the area of experiential education. Chris was born in Washington DC but spent his developmental years growing and learning in a variety of locations, from Mexico City to Buffalo and places in between. When not working, he can be found enjoying the outdoors by boat, bike or boots! Chris is thrilled to join the education community at Teachers College and immerse himself in the Private School Leadership Program. He hopes to continue to explore and blend issues of diversity in education, social and emotional development, and experiential education.

Tara S. Boland has taught eighth grade English at Marin Country Day School in Corte Madera, California for the past three years. At MCDS she has co-led a three week intensive art project and weeklong backpacking trips to Joshua Tree. This past year she co-chaired a national search for a new Upper School Head, worked on the Curriculum Task Force and coordinated the Upper School Humanities department. Prior to moving home to California she taught English and Art History and coached field hockey and lacrosse at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut. Tara graduated from Bowdoin College with a degree in English and Art History and has nearly completed her Masters in literature from the Bread Loaf School of English. Before she began teaching, she worked in marketing in Boston and New York City. In her free time she enjoys reading, skiing, running and biking and she recently began painting.

Gwyneth Connell graduated from Amherst College in 2000 with a BA in American Studies. After a one-year interlude, spent partly in London and partly in western Massachusetts, she found her calling as a boarding school faculty member at Millbrook School in Dutchess County, New York. In her five years at Millbrook, she has taught American history, American Studies, philosophy, constitutional law, and human development; worked as a dorm parent; coached the varsity improv team; and advised the Model UN. She is particularly interested in exploring the applications of improvisational techniques to teaching and learning. After an extraordinary experience at the Klingenstein Summer Institute in 2004, Gwyneth is tremendously excited to be spending a whole year in the company of her fellow Klingons.

Born in Manhattan and raised on Long Island, Isabel Ezrati is returning home after four years at Hamilton College and three years teaching at the Darrow School in the Berkshire Mountains. As a student at Hamilton, she majored in French and minored in Art History. While teaching French at Darrow, she also worked as a dorm parent, coach, and director of student activities. She is excited about being a student again while living in a large and diverse community where she can exchange her car for her bike.

John Farmer has been teaching 6th Grade homeroom (English, math, and social studies) at Flint Hill School, a K-12 co-ed independent school in Oakton, VA (just outside Washington, DC) for the past 4 years. He also coached varsity girls’ volleyball, and middle school boys’ basketball and tennis. Before that he did a one year internship at The Potomac School in McLean, VA. He was born in San Francisco, but lived in London from ages 10-18. He is the youngest of four children and is very close with his family though they live far away.  His interests are in traveling and playing (and watching) sports.

Anne Foley attended Grinnell College and graduated in 2000 with a B.A. in History. After a brief stint working in Chicago in the field of children’s book publishing, she returned to her hometown of Washington, D.C. to pursue her interest in education. From 2002 to 2006 Anne served as the Assistant Head of the Middle School, teacher of History and Spanish, and coach of various soccer and lacrosse teams at The Field School in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Anne is Director of High School Programs for the NGO Intercambio Social Internaciónal (ISI) which takes US Spanish students abroad to work with Latin American children in after-school programs and orphanages. This past summer she enjoyed a three-week adventure to Panama traveling with a small group of ISI students. Anne’s work at The Field School and ISI have energized her in her role as an educator and she looks forward to the Private School Leadership program.

Sergio Frisoli comes to the Klingenstein Center from
Link Community School, a small private middle school in Newark, New Jersey where he taught American history to 7th graders. Link Community School aspires to prepare economically disadvantaged students from the central ward of Newark for the best private and parochial high schools in the Northeast. He also worked for a year at Link in the development office where he helped with fund raising, public relations, and alumni relations. He did his undergraduate studies at Princeton University where he majored in Public and International Affairs. His long-term career aspirations are to head a private school in an urban area that provides an outstanding education for disadvantaged children. He was born and raised in New Jersey to parents who emigrated from Italy and he retains close ties to that country.

Nicole Graham-Victor holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Africana Studies from Union College, and a Master’s in Teaching from Manhattanville College. After teaching at Greenwich Academy (her alma mater) for two years, she joined the faculty of Fieldston Lower School. A fourth grade teacher for the last six years, Nicole contributed a great deal to her school community. A passionate advocate for diversity, she revamped the Colonial America curriculum to include the voices of enslaved Africans, women, gays and lesbians and challenged her students to explore stereotypes around racial, gender and sexual identity. Nicole has decided to leave her position at Fieldston Lower to pursue a career in Private School Leadership. Although she will miss her classroom and colleagues tremendously, Nicole is very excited about this next chapter of her life and all of the opportunities that await her. She loves to travel and sample foods from other cultures. Nicole currently lives in Yonkers, NY with her husband Jean.

Graduating with a BA from Bates College in 1997, Sarah Hallowell continued her commitment to independent school education (Brooks School [MA] 1993) as co-developer of The Wheeler School’s (RI) first summer program. Subsequently, she taught middle school English and co-administered the school’s External Programs. Seeking to expand beyond New England, Sarah spent a year in development and as a coach at The Maret School (DC). Missing daily, in-class student interaction, she took a position at The Pine School, formerly St. Michael’s Independent School, in Stuart, Florida. Having quickly adjusted to the warm weather, she has, during the course of the past six years, taught middle school English; coached flag football, basketball and lacrosse; directed middle school plays; and been an advisor to NJHS and Student Council. In her spare time, she enjoys being outdoors, (trying) to play golf, serving on a local hospital’s fundraising committee, and spending time with friends.

Sarah Heard has taught at the Collegiate School for six years. Before Collegiate she taught at Trinity School, the International School of Tanganyika and the American School of The Hague. She has taught history, geography, and philosophy and coached several sports. At Collegiate she teaches American and World History and coaches cross country and basketball.

Sarah’s Klingenstein Fellowship project is to evaluate the differences in the way World History is taught around the world. She plans to identify differences of content as well as perspective. Her goal is to identify more globally sensitive ways of creating World History curriculum while still fulfilling the needs of an American school.

Julia Henderson comes to the PSL program from Toronto, Canada where she just completed her fifth year of teaching at the Bishop Strachan School. She has taught largely in the social sciences in Middle School, and just completed designing an on-line course in computer studies. As a sports and school-life enthusiast, she is the staff advisor to a new student mentorship program and has assisted coaching nordic skiing, volleyball, tennis and curling teams. This past year she designed a series of professional development workshops on inquiry strategies. Before moving to Toronto, Julia completed her M.Phil at Cambridge University, taught in Colombia, and worked at the Canadian Museum of Civilization’s Children Museum. She has a passion for ultimate frisbee, travel and New Yorker cartoons.

Andrew Katz graduated from Georgetown University with a B.A. in Physics and comes to Teachers College from Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn, New York, where he joined the faculty five years ago.  He began his private school career working at Poly in the Admissions Office, Coaching and teaching Math, and has served as Director of Technology for the past three years.  He has a particular passion for working with online content delivery systems in the belief they can encourage new ways to communicate, collaborate and learn.  Andrew is excited about the Klingenstein Program and looking forward to preparing himself for a leadership position in an independent school upon completion.

Brenda Leaks is a middle school educator from Philadelphia, PA. After graduating from the College of Notre Dame of Maryland, she worked with Summerbridge of Greater Philadelphia, a program centered on supporting at-risk middle school students. That work introduced her to independent schools. After two years at Summerbridge, she began teaching Spanish at the Baldwin School. She also served as Baldwin’s Director of Diversity. Most recently, she worked at The Shipley School, teaching middle school Spanish, coaching, and working as part of a seven member, school-wide diversity team. Following this year, Brenda is looking forward to pursuing an administrative position where she can share her passion for middle school education and social justice.

Veronica McMahon graduated from New Milford High School in 1997 and received a BS in mathematics from Tufts University in 2001. Over the past 5 years she has lived and worked at Cheshire Academy, a boarding school in Connecticut. While there, she served as a mathematics teacher, varsity volleyball and swimming coach, dorm parent, house head, class advisor, and proctor advisor. She worked actively on committees dealing with the creation of a faculty workbook and residential life curriculum, and served on the faculty mentoring council. She also introduced the C.A. students to competition in the New England Math League, an activity she valued highly in her own high school years. Now seeking a Masters from the Private School Leadership program, she expects to prepare herself to serve as a dean at a private school.

Nishant Mehta comes to the Klingenstein Center from Dallas, TX where he taught Middle School Humanities for 5 years at the St. Alcuin Montessori School. Nishant also served the school in an administrative capacity as the International Baccalaureate (IB) Coordinator for their Middle Years Program and as their Director of Intercultural Affairs & Social Justice. This past year, Nishant was the Co-Chair of the NAIS People of Color Conference in Dallas, TX, and this year he will serve on the faculty of the Student Diversity Leadership Conference, also hosted by NAIS. Nishant also maintains a website and personal blog at www.nishantmehta.com. The night before starting classes here at Columbia, he proposed to his girlfriend, Tia, on top of the Empire State Building. They will be married in their hometown of Mumbai, India next year.

Sarah Mongan comes to the Klingenstein program after five years at Dublin School in Dublin, NH. While at Dublin, Sarah taught History, coached several sports and lived in the upper class girls dormitory. Most recently, Sarah served as Director of Athletics for the 2005-2006 school year. Sarah graduated from Bates College with a degree in History.

Ignacio Montoya has taught at Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California, for the past five years. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard, Ignacio accepted a teaching internship at Marymount International School in Rome. After his year in Italy, he worked at an elementary school in the Los Angeles Unified School District for three years before moving on to Crossroads School.

Through his Klingenstein Fellows project, Ignacio plans to create a teacher resource that will help bridge the gap between lay conceptions of language and those of linguists. He will examine ideas from various areas of linguistics that are relevant to educational practice in order to develop ways in which these ideas can be better incorporated into teacher practice.

Michael Nachbar graduated from Indiana University with degrees in English and Psychology. He started his career in education as a Teach for America corps member in Roma, Texas where he taught high school English for two years. Michael returned home to New York and continued teaching for seven years at Village Community School in Manhattan where he was a head middle school teacher before switching to an administrative role as the school’s Director of Technology. Michael also started The Adventure Trails Hiking Camp for elementary and middle school students, which he has been leading and running for the past four summers. After attending the Klingenstein program, Michael looks forward to his continued career in education as a school administrator.

Peter Nilsson graduated from Middlebury College in 1999 with majors in English Literature and Music. One year after graduating, Peter began work as an English teacher at Deerfield Academy, where he remained for five years. During those summers, Peter spent time leading bicycle tours, including several trips in Vermont, two tours from London to Rome, and one cross-country journey from Savannah, Georgia to Santa Monica, California. He also participated in a National Endowment for the Humanities seminar entitled “Paradise Lost and the Contemporary Reader.” One year ago, however, Peter moved to New York City to become a musician. Here, he has enjoyed working by day as a private tutor and as a substitute teacher at several independent schools in the city. By night he’s been spotted at venues like the Cutting Room, the Bitter End, and the Rockwood Music Hall. He misses teaching, and hence, he is here.

Erika Penczer graduated from Colby College in 1990 with a B.A. in Biology and a concentration in Environmental Science. After a stint teaching in the Peace Corps and an internship at Colorado Academy in Denver, she went on to teach science and math at the Holderness School in Plymouth, NH and the Annie Wright School in Tacoma, WA before returning home to Gould Academy in Bethel, ME. In the past two years, Erika has taken on the administrative position as Director of the 8th Grade Winter Term at Gould and has discovered her passion for school leadership. The Klingenstein Center’s Private School Leadership program offers her the ideal venue to explore new ideas and skills with other experienced educators. Erika moves to New York from western Maine with her husband and two young children.

A native of Texas and a 1997 Magna Cum Laude graduate of Fisk University in Nashville, Chelsea Pope received her Bachelors of Science Degree in Chemistry. As a 9th year teacher, she has gained diverse experience by teaching grades 5-12 in the public schools, charter districts, and in the independent school community. Currently, Chelsea teaches middle school science and directs an Engineering Math and Science Summer Institute at The Kinkaid School in Houston.

Using more progressive independent schools as a model for learning best practices, policies, and programs that have contributed to the success of their diversity efforts, Chelsea will conduct a methodical, comprehensive study to compile and assess the best practices of exemplary admissions programs that effectively identify, recruit, enroll, retain, and support students and families who offer greater diversity to their school communities.

Christy Reardon has spent most of her life affiliated with various Quaker schools: she attended Lincoln School in Rhode Island, graduated from Swarthmore College, then taught at Sandy Spring Friends School in Maryland before joining the faculty at Friends Select School in Philadelphia. At Friends Select, she has taught third through fifth grades and served as the director of the Summer Academic Program. Christy is active in the Philadelphia community as a committee person and community garden coordinator. Her husband and two sons will join her to explore life in a new city for the year.

Christy’s Klingenstein Fellowship project will focus on continuity of curriculum and pedagogy in K-12 schools. By examining curricula and teaching methods across the grade levels and the strategies used to ease transition between divisions at a variety of independent schools, she will identify effective models that schools may use to help the students move smoothly through their educational experiences.

After graduating from Creighton University (Omaha, NE) with a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and a Chemistry Teaching Certificate in 2001, Patrick Rusca taught chemistry for four years at Creighton’s Prep school. His passion for young people extended beyond the classroom and was fortunate enough to coach football, wrestling and soccer teams. Growing up in Spokane, WA provided for plenty of outdoor activity which explains his affinity towards mountains, lakes and the shoreline. How did this guy end up in Omaha? Having great leaders at his previous school, he became inspired to follow in their footsteps by becoming an administrator. A firm believer in hard work and “others centeredness,” Patrick believes nothing is impossible with a little ingenuity and elbow grease. Living in an apartment style dwelling will be a kickback to college days, but regardless, Patrick is excited for the opportunity to study in the Private School Leadership program.

Charlie Savenor, originally from Needham, Massachusetts, currently serves as the Associate Dean and Director of Admissions for the Rabbinical School of the Jewish Theological Seminary. After graduating Summa Cum Laude from Brandeis University in 1991, he received Rabbinical Ordination and a Masters Degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1996. Charlie served for five years as the Associate Rabbi at Anshe Emet in Chicago before returning to New York. He possesses a passion for travel education and has led several summer trips to Israel, Central and Eastern Europe. In addition to rooting for the Boston Red Sox, Charlie enjoys writing, jogging, and spending time with his wife, Julie, and son, Joseph.

John Schatz graduated from Bucknell University with a BS in Mathematics and Environmental Studies. He spent four years on the island of Eleuthera in The Bahamas, working at The Island School, a semester study abroad program for high school students. John taught math there for three years and most recently, served as Dean of School, overseeing the residential and academic programs. Originally from Acton, Massachusetts, John has also taught math for The Shackleton School, an expedition-based high school, and helped facilitate communication and teambuilding workshops with student groups at the Kieve Leadership Decisions Institute in Maine. He is looking forward to his studies at the Klingenstein Center and hopes that they will prepare him well for successfully taking on leadership roles both inside and outside the classroom in the future.

Christopher Seeley is eager to return to his native city after a twenty-one year hiatus in the hinterland known as Red Sox Nation. He has been at Groton School for the past twelve years, where he teaches in the Religion and Ethics Department, coaches varsity baseball and football, has served in the Admission Office, and has run a dormitory. He is currently taking a sabbatical leave from the school and from his post as Dean of Faculty. Chris is a graduate of Groton and of Bowdoin College, where he earned degrees in Religion and Spanish. Chris, his wife, Staci, and his children, Camille and Crawford, look forward to their year in New York, and Chris is eager to take advantage of the professional and educational opportunities the Klingenstein Center will offer.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, Noah Segal spent the past five years in Washington, DC teaching Physics, Chemistry, Astronomy, and Environmental Science at Georgetown Day High School. Noah graduated with a Sc.B. in Chemistry from Brown University in 1999 and completed graduate work in Chemistry at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA before discovering the joys of teaching. His experience as a participant in the 2003 Klingenstein Summer Institute has him excited for the upcoming year of reflection and inquiry into private school leadership and education. He is also looking forward to exploring the many restaurants, cafes, and bookstores in New York City.

Jonathan Shiller began his career in education after graduating from NYU with a B.S. in Elementary Education. After teaching fifth grade in a public school in Morristown, NJ, Jonathan moved to San Francisco, CA. He worked at two independent Bay Area schools, teaching 3rd and 4th grade Language Arts, 5th grade math and science, and, most recently, second grade homeroom. He truly enjoyed working with kids at several different grade levels. In his spare time he cooks and practices yoga. Two years ago, he was certified in yoga and has taught the practice to adults and children. He is originally from New Jersey, and he is looking forward to spending time with his family while also taking on the challenge of graduate studies at Columbia University.

Guybe Slangen has spent the last six years as the Dean of Students at the Head-Royce School in Oakland, CA organizing the service learning, global education, and peer education programs, in addition to teaching a freshman history course. For the past five summers he has taken Head-Royce students to Asia on a three-week study tour emphasizing service learning and cultural immersion. Prior to moving to California, Guybe spent two years in Colorado at the Crested Butte Academy as the Director of Activities, running the school’s residential and outdoor education programs. Guybe got his start in independent schools at the Maplebrook School in Amenia, NY working with students with severe learning disabilities. Upon graduation from Dickinson College, he spent six months walking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine. An avid surfer, skier, photographer, and traveler, Guybe is looking forward sinking his teeth into the “Big Apple!”

Reinald Yoder has completed his eighth year teaching AP Computer Science and a variety of other electives in math and computer science at Marist School in Atlanta, GA. He has been active with MOSAIC, the diversity student group at Marist, and attended the NAIS People of Color Conference. He is passionate about issues of peace, justice, equity and diversity on campus and out in the world. He has enjoyed coaching Soccer and Volleyball and is currently energized with issues about Faculty Evaluation and Peer-Coaching. Prior to teaching at Marist, Reinald served as Technology Coordinator and Computer Science Department Chair at Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, an all-girls K-12 Catholic school in Princeton, NJ. His first three years of teaching mathematics were at Morristown-Beard school in Morristown, NJ where he was mentored into loving teaching as a vocation for life. He received a B.A. from Swarthmore College in Political Science, and has since taken nine computer science courses to support his efforts in teaching. Reinald loves to experience new areas of the world and of life and is currently most absorbed with exploring the outdoors with hiking and camping.