Lisa Chung-Nguyen is a 3rd/​4th grade lead teacher. Orig­i­nally from Arcadia, Lisa taught at The Berke­ley School in the Bay Area for past eleven years as a third-grade teacher. She has exten­sive expe­ri­ence design­ing and instruct­ing using differ­en­ti­ated curricu­lum, as well as creat­ing cross-disci­pli­nary project-based learn­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties. Lisa is also passion­ate about helping students navi­gate social inter­ac­tions and build commu­nity in the class­room, and she is skilled at balanc­ing indi­vid­ual and commu­nity needs. Lisa has a Bach­e­lor of Arts in English Liter­a­ture, with a minor in educa­tion from UCLA, and a Master of Arts in Elemen­tary Education/​Teaching Creden­tial from Teach­ers College, Colum­bia Univer­sity. (Email)

Stina is a 5th/​6th co-lead teacher. Stina has a B.A. in English and a Cali­for­nia Single Subject Teach­ing Creden­tial in Language Arts from Cali­for­nia State Univer­sity, Los Angeles. Stina is commit­ted to creat­ing emer­gent, project-based social studies units that empha­size multi­ple perspec­tives and crit­i­cal think­ing and to engag­ing her students in service-learn­ing projects. She is passion­ate about progres­sive, student-centered educa­tion. (Email)

Gisselle is a 1st/​2nd asso­ciate teacher. She earned her bach­e­lor’s degree in psychol­ogy from Mount Saint Mary’s Univer­sity. Before start­ing at Waverly, she interned at Chil­dren’s Bureau and helped run the Library and Family Enrich­ment Program. She started at Waverly as a substi­tute teacher and worked for the summer camp. Gisselle loves to read, go to concerts, and spend her time watch­ing movies. Her hope is to make sure every student feels seen and heard and to know how impor­tant it is for them to be them­selves. (Email)

Dharinne is a 3rd/​4th lead teacher. Dharinne has a B.A. in human devel­op­ment and a Multi­ple Subject Teach­ing Creden­tial from Pacific Oaks College. She completed a Certifi­cate in Educa­tional Therapy at Univer­sity of Cali­for­nia, River­side in 2023. In addi­tion to teach­ing in elemen­tary class­rooms, Dharinne has devel­oped and imple­mented eques­trian programs for Tom Sawyer Camps and has also served as a Behav­ioral Ther­a­pist in the B.L.A.S.T. Program. Dharinne has a back­ground in Visions Inclu­siv­ity Train­ing and Respon­sive Class­room, and she is commit­ted to child-centered educa­tion. (Email)

Millie is a 3rd/​4th grade asso­ciate teacher. Millie was previ­ously an elemen­tary school music teacher and long-term substi­tute at Waverly. She also has previ­ous expe­ri­ence working in summer camps and children’s theater work­shops. Millie loves to read, write, explore nature, and create murder mystery parties. Her ​“fore­most hope this year is to instill in our students empathy for them­selves as well as others.” (Email)

Claire is a 5th/​6th asso­ciate teacher. Claire grad­u­ated from Vassar College in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in English liter­a­ture, special­iz­ing in poetry and creative writing. She is also currently working on her teach­ing creden­tial through Cal State Teach. She enjoys creative pursuits and loves to sew, collage, and write, as well as spend time reading, hiking, cooking, and being with friends, family, and two cats. (Email)

Karen is a 5th/​6th lead teacher as well as an Elemen­tary School curricu­lum special­ist. Karen grad­u­ated from Arizona State Univer­sity with a Bachelor’s in Human and Family Devel­op­ment as well as a Master’s of Educa­tion, Educa­tional Admin­is­tra­tion and Super­vi­sion. Karen has been teach­ing for the last 18 years and, prior to coming to Waverly, was teach­ing and working as the Direc­tor of Educa­tional Initia­tives at Braw­er­man Elemen­tary School since 2016. In this role, she taught in the upper elemen­tary and provided support and coach­ing for the 1st-6th grade teach­ers in curricu­lum and instruc­tion. She has researched curric­ula, imple­mented project-based learn­ing, and culti­vated a devel­op­men­tally appro­pri­ate program empha­siz­ing whole child expe­ri­ences. She also brings her expe­ri­ence working with BLAST (a social skills program that works with chil­dren with and without diag­noses to build their social-emotional, inter­per­sonal, and conflict-reso­lu­tion skills). As an educa­tor, ​“I firmly believe that every student is capable of excel­lence; acad­e­mic, behav­ioral, and emotional excel­lence.” (Email)