Authors
Alden S. Blodget is a mostly retired high school teacher and administrator, currently volunteering as a writing tutor at LEAP for Education (Salem, MA). He has a background in theater and was co-founder of The Gloucester Stage Company (MA). For eight years after retiring from teaching, he volunteered as a guardian ad litem, working with abused and delinquent children and adults declared incompetent to stand trial in the Rutland County (VT) family and criminal courts.
Dr. Alexandra Sundman is Head of Middle School at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, MD.
Alison Nikitopolous teaches English, Music, Theater, and a Senior Thesis course at Midland School in Los Olivos, California. Her favorite classroom moments involve observing students make discoveries on their own. When not working, she can be found working in the garden, feeding horses, reading, singing, or hiking.
Amanda Love has been teaching PE for over 20 years and was an Athletic Director in New York City and Cleveland. She played soccer at Georgetown and in Rome while teaching at St. Stephens School. Having worked extensively with Project Adventure, Amanda enjoys sprinkling "challenge by choice" into her classes at Laurel School.
Andrea Buffara is Co-Founder and COO of Gamut Education, which provides educational consulting services. She is also Co-Founder and Director of Escola Americana de Vitória (Brazil), founded in 2018.
Ann Martino is the Head of Lower School at The Ellis School, an all-girls school for girls age 3 to grade 12, in Pittsburgh, PA.
Ann V. Klotz is a reader, writer, mother, life-long educator, and consultant. Ann recently retired from leading Laurel School in Shaker Heights, OH.
Ari Pinkus is a storyteller, editor, and organizer. She is a research scientist with the American Communities Project based at The George Washington University.
Website: http://aripinkus.com
Read Articles by Ari
Bee Stribling is the Middle School Dean of Students at Moorestown Friends School and a Leadership + Design Fellow. He’s on Twitter @wmstribling
Ben Wetherbee is a college counselor at Lake Forest Academy and is pursuing his Masters degree in Educational Leadership at the Klingenstein Center at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Bianca Nunes is a 5th Grade Head Teacher at Riverdale Country School. She has taught internationally and in the US for the past 10 years, and is an Ed.M candidate at the Klingenstein Center at Teachers College.
Brandon McNeice is the Head of School at Cornerstone Christian Academy in Southwest Philadelphia and the founder of Tack Educational Consulting. He is a 2025 Klingenstein Fellow and is currently pursuing his EdD in Leadership and Innovation at Purdue University Global. He volunteers as a Court Appointed Special Advocate and serves on nonprofit boards focused on supporting undeserved students.
Bree Pickford-Murray is a math teacher at The Bay School of San Francisco. She earned her MA in Private School Leadership from the Klingenstein Center at Teachers College, Columbia University. To date, Bree has visited 41 of the 63 US National Parks and intends on traveling to the remainder as soon as possible.
Brooke Biggar Littman is the seventh grade dean and a middle school art teacher at University School in Shaker Heights, Ohio. She goes home in the evenings to her family of five and a small menagerie of animals that have taken over the house.
5th grade Language Arts and Project teacher, Claire Koerner has been in the classroom for the past seventeen years and at Duke School for the past six.
Clare Sisisky is the Executive Director of the Global Education Benchmark Group, a nonprofit that supports its 280 member schools in 15 countries in all aspects of global education.
Website: https://gebg.org
Read Articles by Clare
Dan Sturdevant is Head of School at The Oaks, an innovative Christ-centered independent school in Charlotte, NC. Raised on a boarding school campus, Dan has spent his life and career in independent schools and is passionate about student and faculty development, experiential education, and creating space for innovative learning opportunities in and out of the classroom.
David Cutler teaches history, journalism, and government at Brimmer and May, an independent PK-12 school in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Follow him on Twitter at @SpinEdu.
Deborah Offner is an adolescent psychologist in private practice outside of Boston. She currently serves as Consulting Psychologist to Beacon Academy, Worcester Academy, and The Winsor School.
Derrick Willard is the Head of Augusta Preparatory Day School which serves students from the Augusta, Georgia area. He is a career educator passionate about creating optimal learning environments within our brick and mortar school as well as creating productive virtual learning environments online.
Elliott Smith is the Head of Middle and Upper School Learning Support at St. Bernard’s School in New York City. He is currently pursuing an Ed.M. at the Klingenstein Center at Columbia Teachers College. When not teaching or studying, he can be found riding his bike in Central Park or along the Hudson River.
Eric Taylor is the Middle School Dean of Students at Breck School in Minneapolis, MN. He believes that for students to succeed in school they need to truly feel that they belong, and he aspires for every one of his students to feel known.
Gabriel Lucas is a search, staffing, and strategic consultant for schools, associations, nonprofits, and other mission-aligned organizations across the country, overseeing two search services: Ed Tech Recruiting and 12M Recruiting. Lucas worked for many years as an educator and later administrator in both K-12 and higher ed. He is the co-founder of ATLIS (Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools) and continues to serve on its board. Lucas regularly presents and writes on topics including organizational structure and management, leadership development, and diversity and hiring.
Gay Cioffi was Director of Little Folks School in Washington, D. C. for 38 years. An Early Childhood specialist, Gay consults and writes a weekly blog called Little Folks Big Questions.
Ida Beth Malloy is currently the Coordinator of Civic Engagement at The Baldwin School in Bryn Mawr, Pa. Her personal and professional lives revolve around civic engagement and community activism. She believes that people define their lives by what they do and their willingness to make sustainable change. Ida is a proud resident of the City of Trenton, NJ. She enjoys traveling, meeting new people, listening to music, and reading.
Jessica Flaxman is Associate Head of School at The Pingry School in Basking Ridge, NJ. Jessica is a co-founder and editor of Well-Schooled and teaches at the Klingenstein Center.
Jessica is a math teacher and the principal of the 11th and 12th grades at John Burroughs School in St. Louis, MO. A self-proclaimed "school geek," Jessica is fascinated by the ways in which humans learn and grow together in community. She is inspired and supported by her 10-year-old daughter, her husband, and her two infinitely-happy dogs and is fueled by caffeine, fresh air, and thoughtful conversation.
Jill Donovan has taught English for 35 years. This is her 14th year at John Burroughs School (MO) where she teaches 7th and 12th grade English, sponsors the Green Team and Bird Club, keeps score at JV Volleyball Games, and conducts admissions’ interviews.
Jill Maza is the Director of Libraries and Research and Upper School Librarian at Montclair Kimberley Academy, a PK-12 independent school in Montclair, NJ. She has served as a school librarian in both elementary and high schools in CT and NC, taught summer reading and project-based learning workshops to middle schoolers in New York City, and worked in bookselling, publishing, and public libraries. She loves exploring the intersection of creativity, curiosity, and inquiry both in school with her students and colleagues and outside with her husband and two boys.
Kathryn Beaumont Murphy is counsel at the law firm Saul Ewing Arnstein & Lehr, where she represents independent schools, colleges, and universities. Prior to this role, she was in-house counsel at a K-12 school and boarding school.
Kawai Lai is a designer and facilitator partnering with K-12 leaders in planning for the future with an equity lens. She is a co-author of The New Team Habits © 2020, which provides practices for leaders to build better habits for team learning, meetings, and projects. She started VizLit to unleash the visual mind of every learner, formerly served as Vice President of Innovation at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), and helped launch and grow Education Elements. Prior to her career in education, Kawai was at Deloitte Consulting. She has an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Southern Methodist University.
Kelly is a Guide at Khan World School teaching English and Art. She has also taught at the university and community college level, as well as creative writing at GrubStreet, a Boston-based nonprofit writing center. She received her MFA at the University of New Hampshire and has work published in Flash Fiction Magazine, Litro, and in New Hampshire Emerging Writers Anthology. She lives near the New Hampshire seacoast.
Dr. Kristen Ring serves as President and Head of Hutchison School, a private all-girls' school founded in Memphis in 1902. She currently serves on the boards of the Tennessee Association of Independent Schools and the English-Speaking Union Secondary School Exchange.
Laura Deisley is President and CEO of Lab Atlanta 2.0, Inc. and loves building bridges and networks of opportunity.
Laura Reardon is an Ed.M. candidate at the Klingenstein Center at Teachers College. Laura teaches 6th grade English and is the English Language Arts Coordinator at Sierra Canyon School.
Laura Vantine is a lifelong learner and educator who has supported students, families and teachers in independent schools for more than 25 years. She is passionate about bringing people together across cultures and continents, and believes wholeheartedly in the power of people to serve the greater good.
Laura Zappas has worked in independent schools for 26 years in Colorado, Oregon, Ohio, and now California. She is the Head of Middle School at Castilleja School, an independent 6-12th grade girls' school in Palo Alto, California.
Lauren Calig is Director of Multicultural Curriculum & Global Programming and Co-Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging at Laurel School.
Lauren Huddleston is a doctoral candidate at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College and a middle school English teacher at Hutchison School in Memphis.
Laurie Gruhn is Head of the Gateway School, a K-8 School in New York City. She lives with her teenage daughter and their rescue dog, Marcie. Both mother and daughter can often be found obsessing over jigsaw puzzles.
Linda Flaga, PhD, is Psychologist at Cranbrook Schools in Michigan.
Liza Garonzik works at The Westminster Schools in Atlanta and is the founder of R.E.A.L. Discussion.
Marina Palomino-Bach is a woman business owner, urban educator, literacy specialist and mother in Garfield Heights, Ohio, where she is the founder and lead consultant of Bright Side Educational Partners, a start-up dedicated to creating lasting systemic change in urban education and teacher retention.
Mark Crotty is executive director of the Northwest Association of Independent Schools.
Maurice "Mo" Hill, Jr. currently works at his alma mater, Cranbrook Schools, as Dean of Upper School Enrollment. Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Mo graduated from Wesleyan University (CT) and is a Master's candidate at the Klingenstein Center at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Megan McCall is the Director of Learning Support and the Options Program at Seattle Academy. She is also Master's candidate for Educational Leadership at the Klingenstein Center at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Dr. Melinda Bihn leads French American International School in San Francisco, where she also serves on the Board of Directors of the California Association of Independent Schools.
Michael Brosnan is an independent writer and editor with a particular interest in education and social change. His latest book of poetry, “The Sovereignty of the Accidental,” was published by Harbor Mountain Press.
Michael is a veteran drama teacher with more than 30 years of teaching experience highlights of which include publishing his adaptation of Shakespeare on a Shoestring: Cymbeline!, winning the 2017 Connecticut Halo Award for Best Classical Musical with his production of Godspell, and taking over forty students to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Scotland. He currently teaches at Hopkins School in New Haven, CT.
Miranda Orbach teaches at the Chapin School in New York, New York, and is a certified Wilson Dyslexia Practitioner. Miranda is a fierce advocate for all girls’ education.
Monserrat “Monsie” Muñoz is an educator, lifelong learner, and passionate advocate for equity in education. As a queer, first-generation, Latina, she lives at the intersection of many beautiful and complex identifiers, which help inform her practice as an educator and equity and inclusion practitioner. Monsie is the Associate Director of Equity and Inclusion at her alma mater, Greenhill School, in Dallas, TX.
Najee Warner originates from Harlem, NY, and has worked in public education since completing the Teach for America program in 2016. Najee currently works in the Bronx at Urban Assembly School for Computer Science and recently earned his Masters in Educational Leadership from the Klingenstein Program at Columbia University's Teachers College.
Nancy Mugele is the Head of Kent School, MD. She is the President of the Board of the Association of Independent Maryland and DC Schools, and a board member of The 1911 Group, Mid Shore Community Foundation, and Horizons of Kent and Queen Anne's.
Natasha Chadha is a Middle School English teacher at Avenues, The World School, in New York City. Natasha is passionate about social justice and believes reading and writing are powerful forms of catharsis for all. Natasha is currently pursuing a Ed.M. in Private School Leadership from the Klingenstein Center at Teachers College.
Nathan Taylor teaches at Zurich International School, where he draws on his experiences as a designer, communications consultant, and special education teacher to create project-based, innovative courses in journalism, film, and social studies.
Ned Heckman is a science teacher and more at the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, CT.
Dr. Nicole Brittingham Furlonge is professor and director of the Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership at Teachers College Columbia University. A 20-year veteran of Independent Schools, she enjoys reading and writing, cooking for family and friends, watching a good movie or broadway show, listening to music, and hiking rural and urban terrains with her partner, Nigel (also an educator), and their three children.
Paige Boncher teaches English and Spanish to grades 9-12 at Montclair Kimberley Academy in Montclair, New Jersey. Her writing has been published in McSweeney's Internet Tendency, The Massachusetts Review, Confrontation, and a handful of other anthologies.
Pankti Sevak, currently the Head of Middle School at Friends Seminary in New York, has devoted her professional life to fostering the magic of school. In all she does, Pankti strives to balance evolutionary transformation with staying true to history and mission.
Paris McLean is the Head of Lower School at Princeton Academy of the Sacred Heart. An independent school educator for 16 years, Paris has led student centered initiatives, faculty development and sponsorship, along with institutional advancement. Paris is also an associate of 120 Education Consultancy.
Penny Evins is Head of School at Holton-Arms. In addition to her immediate family, including her husband, children and sisters, she spends lots of time with her family pets - GiGi, a standard poodle and Gumbo, her cat. She also loves to enjoy nature and fitness, especially when there is no cell service. Namaste!
Peter Hatala is the Director of Curriculum and Innovation at Emma Willard School in Troy, NY, and a visiting instructor in the Bard College Master of Arts in Teaching Program. A perennial student, he is an Ed.M. candidate at the Klingenstein Center at Columbia Teachers College.
Rachel Kaelberer Mattson is an 8th grade Social Sciences teacher at Hutchison School in Memphis, TN, where she directs the 8th grade seminar and Middle School capstone projects.
Rob Dunn is an English and writing instructor at Revolution School and a freelance writer for StrXur.com. He lives in Philadelphia.
Sally Taylor is a musician and the founder of Consenses, a multidisciplinary, artistic collaboration that brings artists together from around the world by asking them to interpret one another’s artwork, in the vein of a game of 'Telephone,' and express it in their own mediums. Sally, in collaboration with Harvard School of Education graduate students, has created a multidisciplinary, SEL curriculum that enables students to find empathy and tolerance for others' perspectives by "listening" to one another, not through words, but through various art forms.
Samantha Simpson teaches English at Winsor School and at the Kenyon Young Writers Program.
Santiago Morgan is a father, husband, engineer, educator and entrepreneur. And an eternal learner, of course. He recently earned his Masters in Educational Leadership from the Klingenstein Center at Teachers College and joined the Phillips Academy faculty as a Mathematics Instructor.
Sarah Barton Thomas is Upper Elementary Division Head at Trinity School in Atlanta, Georgia. Her career pursuits have taken her from the elementary music classroom, to the computer lab, the opera world, to the principal’s desk. She was inspired to be a teacher and principal by Mr. Bruce (her elementary principal) and Mrs. Sobel (her middle school history teacher). She enjoys running; singing; reading multiple books at a time; and snuggling with Atticus and Toby, her rescue pups. Her most prolific writing comes in the form of 280 characters at @teach2connect.
Sarah Cooper is the Associate Head at Flintridge Preparatory School in La Canada, California. She is the author of Creating Citizens: Teaching Civics and Current Events in the History Classroom (Routledge 2017), and all of her recent writing can be found at sarahjcooper.com
Sarah Neidhoefer is the Director of The Plumb Line Institute, focused on mission alignment, spirituality and personal student growth programming. A mother of four teens, she is currently co-teaching 4th and 7th grades at Stone Bridge School, a Waldorf-inspired public charter in Napa, CA.
Stephanie Feder Braun is the Director of Middle School at Westmark School in Los Angeles, California and an Ed.M. candidate at the Klingenstein Center at Columbia Teachers College.
Stephen J. Valentine teaches at Montclair Kimberley Academy in New Jersey, thinks at www.refreshingwednesday.com, edits Klingbrief, and writes all over.
Susanna A. Jones is the Head of School for the Holton-Arms School, a girls’ day school for grades 3-12 in Bethesda, MD. She also currently serves as Vice-President of the Board of One Schoolhouse and is a member of the Board of the Association of Independent Maryland and D.C. Schools.
Tamara Schurdak is Middle School Director at The Pingry School, where she focuses on the elements that must be in place for learning to be deep, enduring and transferable for all students. Tamara formerly served as Head of the Chestnut Hill School.
Dr. Tekakwitha Pernambuco-Wise is the Head of The Wyndcroft School (PA). She is also an executive coach and consultant with The Jane Group. and a faculty member of The Heads Network's Women In Leadership Seminar. She holds a third-degree black belt in Judo and was an international competitor and national champion for Guyana. During her years in Hawai`i, she danced hula, including competing in the highly selective Merrie Monarch Festival.
Tom McManus has been working in education for over 25 years and most recently was the founding Head of Mission at Revolution School in Philadelphia. In July, 2020 Tom will become Head of School at Montgomery School in Chester Springs, PA.
Varghese is a math teacher at heart who finds joy in searching for efficiency. In addition to seventeen years wearing multiple hats on boarding school campuses, he is a Co-Director of the Klingenstein Summer Institute for Early Career Teachers.
Wendy L. Hill, Ph.D. is Head of School at The Agnes Irwin School, an all girls’ independent school in Rosemont, Pennsylvania. www.agnesirwin.org. She is the Rappolt Professor Emeritus of Neuroscience at Lafayette College, and member of The Forum of Executive Women, Philadelphia.
Wendy Lichtman is the Math Intervention Specialist at MetWest High School in Oakland, California. She’s also a writer and has published both personal essays and young adult fiction. Her most recent book is Secrets, Lies and Algebra.
Will Abney has been teaching at the post-secondary level since 2007, and high schoolers in the dual-enrollment program with Athens Technical College in Athens, GA. Will is currently working on an MFA in creative nonfiction at Bay Path University and an M.Ed in Adult and Lifelong Learning at the University of Arkansas.
Zaineb Hussain is Assistant Director of Schools at Cranbrook Schools in Michigan. She spent 14 years serving in schools in New York and New Jersey and recently earned her Masters in Educational Leadership from the Klingenstein Program at Columbia University's Teachers College.