Maria is a kindergarten/​1st grade asso­ciate teacher and teaches Spanish in the elemen­tary school. Maria has worked with chil­dren for more than 25 years and has been with Waverly since its days as a preschool. Of her work, Maria says, ​“It gives me joy to watch the chil­dren grow year after year and see how they become passion­ate artists, confi­dent speak­ers, talented musi­cians, and kind young adults who love us all for being part of their journey.” Maria’s two daugh­ters attend Waverly: Aaliyah in 7th grade and Natalie in 9th grade. (Email)

Oonagh is a kindergarten/​1st grade lead teacher. Oonagh has a B.A. in Theater Arts and English Liter­a­ture and a Post Grad­u­ate Certifi­cate in Educa­tion from the Univer­sity of Manches­ter in the U.K., and Early Child­hood and Site Supervisor/​Program Direc­tor Certi­fi­ca­tion through the Univer­sity of Cali­for­nia, Los Angeles. She has over 25 years of expe­ri­ence in educa­tion and has been the owner, direc­tor, and lead teacher of the highly regarded The Little Preschool in North­ridge for 13 years prior to teach­ing at Waverly. Oonagh’s three sons grad­u­ated from Waverly: Sam​’20, Patrick​‘16, and Eamonn​‘15. (Email)

Victo­ria is an asso­ciate teacher in the kinder­garten class­room. She has a Bach­e­lor of Music from the Univer­sity of Denver Lamont School of Music and a Master of Music from the Univer­sity of South­ern Cali­for­nia Thorn­ton School of Music. Victo­ria was previ­ously a teach­ing artist with Los Angeles Opera’s Educa­tion and Commu­nity Engage­ment depart­ment, and she has served as an asso­ciate teacher in 5th/​6th and 1st/​2nd class­rooms at Waverly. Victo­ria is a natural teacher who brings a warm and thought­ful pres­ence to the classroom.

Susan is a lead teacher in the kinder­garten class­room. Creden­tialed by the State of Cali­for­nia as a teacher (preschool-12th grades) and as a reading special­ist, Susan holds a Master of Science in educa­tion special­iz­ing in language and liter­acy from the Univer­sity of Penn­syl­va­nia as well as a Child Devel­op­ment Program Direc­tor Permit from the State of Cali­for­nia. Susan chal­lenges the kinder­garten­ers by first support­ing them emotion­ally. She says, ​“There is so much flux and trans­for­ma­tion taking place socially, emotion­ally, and cogni­tively at this point in their devel­op­ment, that my role is to listen, observe, and recog­nize when and where to push regard­ing their learn­ing expe­ri­ences.” (Email)

Cheenu is an asso­ciate teacher working with students who are learn­ing remotely during the ​’20-’21 school year. She has a B.A. from the Govern­ment College for Women in Punjab, India, and has studied early child­hood devel­op­ment and educa­tion at Pasadena City College and through UCLA Exten­sion. Of Waverly’s approach to teach­ing, Cheenu says,​“Above all, we appre­ci­ate that every student will have a differ­ent path, and that it is incum­bent upon us to under­stand each student’s journey thus far as well as the chal­lenges and oppor­tu­ni­ties that lie ahead. We provide students with tools to reach farther, a support­ive plat­form where they are comfort­able taking risks, and a culture of cele­brat­ing values-based deci­sions.” Cheenu loves to cook and she has two sons, one of whom also teaches at Waverly. (Email)

Emily (Waverly Class of 2008) is a 5th/​6th asso­ciate teacher. Emily received her B.A. in social and behav­ioral sciences with a concen­tra­tion in anthro­pol­ogy from Cali­for­nia State Univer­sity, Monterey Bay, and is working on her M.A. in anthro­pol­ogy with a concen­tra­tion in biolog­i­cal anthro­pol­ogy. Emily loves working with kids because ​“they are so fresh and real, their ideas and opin­ions are fasci­nat­ing, they are hilar­i­ous and adorable, and they give [her] hope for human­ity.” (Email)

Rains is a 2nd/​3rd lead teacher. Rains has a B.A. in modern culture and media and compar­a­tive liter­a­ture with Italian from Brown Univer­sity and an M.S. in educa­tion for early child­hood and child­hood general educa­tion from Bank Street College of Educa­tion. Rains has taught preschool through 4th grade over 10 years, includ­ing five years at the Packer Colle­giate Insti­tute in New York and two years at The Poly­tech­nic School in Pasadena. Rains works tire­lessly to create devel­op­men­tally appro­pri­ate and engag­ing lessons for her students. Her daugh­ters attend Waverly: Valerie is in preschool and Adele is in 2nd grade. (Email)

Megan is a 4th grade asso­ciate teacher. She holds a B.A. in child devel­op­ment from Cali­for­nia State Univer­sity, North­ridge. Megan became an educa­tor to help students achieve their poten­tial and to help build their self-confi­dence. She supports and chal­lenges Waverly students by being their biggest moti­va­tor. Megan says, ​“Should students approach me, proud to have told their parents what they have learned, this shows me I’ve done my job well.” (Email)