Clarke became the head of school in 2022. With more than 20 years as an educa­tor, Clarke joined Waverly from the San Fran­cisco Friends School (SFFS), where he served as Middle School Head for two years. Clarke brings tremen­dous school lead­er­ship expe­ri­ence. His passion for educa­tion and dedi­ca­tion to creat­ing ways for students to engage authen­ti­cally and invest in their learn­ing has been evident in his role as a history teacher, dean, divi­sion head, water polo coach, and commu­nity volun­teer. Clarke holds a master’s degree in comput­ing in educa­tion from Colum­bia Univer­sity and bach­e­lor’s degrees in history and Black studies from the Univer­sity of Cali­for­nia, Santa Barbara. (Email)

Amy is the head of the Middle School and the direc­tor of Middle and High School acad­e­mics. Amy has an M.F.A. in film and video from Cali­for­nia Insti­tute of the Arts and a B.A. from Univer­sity of Nevada, Las Vegas where she studied English and film. Prior to being the middle school direc­tor, Amy was the middle school dean where she supported student acad­e­mic and social-emotional growth and taught social justice and well­ness as well as the high school film­mak­ing elec­tive. Before coming to Waverly in 2013, she spent seven years at Wild­wood School in West Los Angeles where she was the admin­is­tra­tive direc­tor and taught the film elec­tive. She then worked as a consul­tant for Cal/​West Educa­tors, guiding inde­pen­dent school board members through the process of hiring heads of school with a strong commit­ment to promot­ing diver­sity and equity in inde­pen­dent school hiring and reten­tion prac­tices. Amy has two chil­dren, Nola and Kanaan, and two lovable dogs, Bonnie and Katie. (Email)

Ricco is the direc­tor of student life for all divi­sions and teaches English in the high school. He has a B.S. from Boston Univer­sity, an M.F.A. from Benning­ton College, and has completed doctoral work at Teach­ers College, Colum­bia Univer­sity. In his more than 22 years in educa­tion, Ricco has been a teacher, senior admin­is­tra­tor, college profes­sor, and diver­sity prac­ti­tioner at inde­pen­dent schools and colleges in Boston, New York, and San Fran­cisco. Ricco supports Waverly’s middle and high school students in making the most of their student expe­ri­ences — whether support­ing new clubs or affin­ity groups, finding extra help and study tips, or just assur­ing students have a patient ear when chal­lenges come their way. He part­ners with fami­lies, divi­sion heads, and the student support team (includ­ing a learn­ing special­ist and a school coun­selor) to navi­gate co-curric­u­lar, acad­e­mic, and socio-emotional life. Ricco is a board member at Marin Primary & Middle School and the Cali­for­nia Teacher Devel­op­ment Coop­er­a­tive, as well as a writer and published author of a collec­tion of short stories, The Foley Artist (Gaudy Boy, 2019). He enjoys hiking, cooking vege­tar­ian meals, and spend­ing time with his husband and their grumpy (but lovable) senior dog.(Email)

Crystal is Waverly’s Direc­tor of Admis­sions. Crystal joins Waverly from Camino Nuevo Charter Academy where she was the Direc­tor of Strate­gic Enroll­ment for the network of six schools in Los Angeles. Camino Nuevo ranges from kinder­garten through 12th grade and serves hundreds of multi­lin­gual fami­lies support­ing them to gain access to a top-tier educa­tion in Los Angeles. Crystal has director’s expe­ri­ence in progres­sive educa­tion from her time as the Admis­sions Data­base Coor­di­na­tor and Program Assis­tant at the Wild­wood School and during her tenure as Admis­sions Direc­tor at the West­erly School. Crystal has completed a Master of Educa­tion in enroll­ment manage­ment and policy from the Univer­sity of South­ern Cali­for­nia, and has a Bach­e­lor of Arts in soci­ol­ogy from Cali­for­nia State Univer­sity, Fuller­ton. Crystal is a data enthu­si­ast, an avid runner, hiker, and curious life-long learner. (Email)

Vella is the direc­tor of human resources, and she manages tuition and fee payments and the flex­i­ble tuition program. Vella received a B.A. in history from Virginia Tech. What Vella enjoys the most about working at Waverly is the commu­nity. She says,​“I have found my home…Waverly is a place where I feel safe, valued, and where I am truly happy to be.” (Email)

Susan Brad­forth is the direc­tor of commu­ni­ca­tions. Prior to working at Waverly, Susan served as the Direc­tor of Commu­ni­ca­tions, Market­ing, and Devel­op­ment at The Gooden School in Sierra Madre where she oversaw strate­gic commu­ni­ca­tions and market­ing and managed devel­op­ment oper­a­tions. She has also served as Direc­tor of Advance­ment at Saint Mark’s School in Altadena and in other advancement/​program posi­tions at the Asia Foun­da­tion, UNICEF, The Rotary Foun­da­tion, and the Univer­sity of South­ern Cali­for­nia. As the parent of three local inde­pen­dent school students (classes of 2018, 2020, and 2028), she also has many years of expe­ri­ence as a commu­nity and school volun­teer at Poly­tech­nic School, AYSO, South Pasadena Little League, Arroyo Vista Elemen­tary, and Westridge School. A San Fran­cisco native, Susan holds a bachelor’s degree from UC Berke­ley and a master’s degree from San Fran­cisco State Univer­sity. She enjoys trav­el­ing, spend­ing time with her family, photog­ra­phy, and reading. (Email)

Amanda is the assis­tant direc­tor of admis­sions. Amanda earned her B.A. in creative writing at the Univer­sity of Redlands and her M.F.A. at Antioch Univer­sity Los Angeles. Her profes­sional history includes many roles in the publish­ing indus­try includ­ing proof­read­ing, book editing, and web design­ing. She is thrilled to be part of a commu­nity that shares her values and commit­ment to making posi­tive change.(Email)

Lindsay is the assis­tant direc­tor of devel­op­ment. Lindsay has a B.A. in psychol­ogy with a minor in art from Metro­pol­i­tan State Univer­sity of Denver and comes to us with more than 15 years of expe­ri­ence in the nonprofit sector, with a demon­strated track record of provid­ing detailed and orga­nized atten­tion to small insti­tu­tions such as ours. Lindsay has a love of animals (espe­cially elephants), hiking, nature, and plant-based cooking. Lindsay keeps very busy with a third-grader who is enrolled at Waverly. (Email)

Stephanie is our school nurse. After complet­ing her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Cali­for­nia State Univer­sity, Fuller­ton, she worked as a nurse at St. John’s Hospi­tal in Orange, where she primar­ily worked in labor and deliv­ery. As a regis­tered nurse, Stephanie helps support the health of students and staff. (Email)

Ed is a facil­i­ties manager. More infor­ma­tion to come!

Aaron is the Middle School admin­is­tra­tive assis­tant and Middle School program coor­di­na­tor. They bring to Waverly a broad range of expe­ri­ence in infor­ma­tion tech­nol­ogy, donor data­bases, customer service, and after­school and summer camp programs in progres­sive school settings. Aaron has lived all over Los Angeles and still has more to explore. In their free time, they love to hike and camp. (Email)

Jeremy is the substi­tute teacher coor­di­na­tor and high school basket­ball coach at Waverly. Jeremy has expe­ri­ence with human resources and staffing and brings a wealth of coach­ing, athletic train­ing, personal train­ing, and manage­ment expe­ri­ence to Waverly. Jeremy received dual certi­fi­ca­tion associate’s degrees in history and kine­si­ol­ogy from Saddle­back College and attended Cali­for­nia State Univer­sity, San Bernardino, where he played basket­ball. He was recruited from CSUSB to pursue a profes­sional basket­ball career in the Philip­pines and China. Jeremy is also a Certi­fied Personal Trainer through NASM (National Academy of Sports Medi­cine) and holds an EXOS Perfor­mance Special­ist Certi­fi­ca­tion. He has a strong belief that the expe­ri­ences learned and shared through sports compe­ti­tion can act as a metaphor for the situ­a­tions we face in our daily lives and through these expe­ri­ences students can develop the skills of team­work, disci­pline, consis­tency, humil­ity, and compas­sion. (Email)