Milca is a 1st/​2nd co-lead teacher. Milca has a B.A. in art history with a minor in anthro­pol­ogy, an M.F.A., and a Multi­ple Subject Teach­ing Creden­tial from Cali­for­nia State Univer­sity, Los Angeles. Prior to coming to Waverly, Milca substi­tute taught in Spanish Dual Immer­sion class­rooms in South Pasadena USD and was on the faculty of the Creative World Art Camp held at our campus during summer. (Email)

Lydia is Waver­ly’s school coun­selor. Lydia holds a B.A. in Africana Studies from Bing­ham­ton Univer­sity as well as an M.S. in Social Admin­is­tra­tion from Case Western Reserve Univer­sity. Lydia is a native of New York City and a recent trans­plant to the area, moving from north­east Ohio where she served in multi­ple roles, includ­ing school liaison, school based ther­a­pist, and asso­ciate teacher coun­selor. In her roles, she has coun­seled chil­dren and adoles­cents with mild to severe behav­ioral, mood, and trauma-stres­sor related disor­ders. She has provided indi­vid­ual and group sessions to K‑12 students, supported fami­lies with commu­nity resources, mental health tech­niques, and collab­o­rated with teach­ers and parents on devel­op­ing behav­ioral inter­ven­tions and emotional support for students. She is excited to join the Waverly commu­nity where she will be working collab­o­ra­tively to bring advi­sory program­ming to the high school. Lydia loves to serve in her church commu­nity, travel the world, and play sports in her free time. (Email)

Stina is a 5th/​6th 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)

Oonagh is the kinder­garten 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)

Susan is a 3rd/​4th lead teacher. 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)

Jennifer is the learn­ing special­ist for kinder­garten through 12th grade. Jennifer has a Cali­for­nia Teach­ing Creden­tial, a Master’s in teach­ing, and certi­fi­ca­tion as an educa­tional ther­a­pist. Led to a career in educa­tion by a life­long fasci­na­tion with the many differ­ent ways people think and learn, Jennifer is happi­est when around chil­dren and teens and believes that most kids are natu­rally curious and seek chal­lenges to stretch them­selves. To support them, she explains,​“Often, you just need to give them the time and space to follow their curios­ity. For chil­dren who may find them­selves facing tasks which are too chal­leng­ing, what is often needed is support in build­ing the skills to feel capable of meeting a chal­lenge.” (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 will complete a Certifi­cate in Educa­tional Therapy at Univer­sity of Cali­for­nia, River­side this fall. 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 an asso­ciate teacher in the kinder­garten class­room. 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.”