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)

Carlos is a facil­i­ties manager and Waverly’s campus super power. His work has been a key to daily life at school since he joined the staff in 2012. Carlos is a crafts­man, apply­ing skills as a tech­ni­cian, painter, plumber, elec­tri­cian, carpen­ter, and space problem solver. He fixes anything that needs it and makes major improve­ments, too, includ­ing remod­el­ing of the art studio, recon­fig­u­ra­tion of many offices and class­rooms, and instal­la­tion of the patio surface at the high school. He is unflap­pable and meets all dead­lines, even the unrea­son­able ones. When he’s not keeping Waverly running, Carlos enjoys camping with his friends and family.

Rebecca is the High School admin­is­tra­tive assis­tant. She has her B.F.A. in theater from Pace Univer­sity, New York City with concen­tra­tions in direct­ing and screen­writ­ing. She has over 10 years of expe­ri­ence with support­ing admin­is­tra­tive profes­sion­als, in indus­tries such as health­care, finan­cial services, and various nonprofit orga­ni­za­tions. She is delighted to bring her services to such a support­ive and encour­ag­ing commu­nity. In her spare time, she writes and produces films with her fiancé, and loves to travel to new places. (Email)

Susie is the Elemen­tary School admin­is­tra­tive assis­tant. Susie is currently working on her bachelor’s degree in crim­i­nal justice at Cali­for­nia State Univer­sity, Dominguez Hills and is a certi­fied lash tech­ni­cian. A native of El Sereno, when she is not at Waverly, she loves spend­ing time with her family doing all things Disney. She is the proud mom of a Waverly student, class of 2037, and a toddler. (Email)