Alyssa teaches art in the upper elemen­tary, middle, and high schools. Alyssa has a B.F.A. in paint­ing and sculp­ture from Syra­cuse Univer­sity School of Visual and Perform­ing Arts and an M.F.A. in anima­tion from the Univer­sity of South­ern Cali­for­nia School of Cine­matic Arts. Alyssa’s animated films have screened and won awards at festi­vals in the U.S. and inter­na­tion­ally. Prior to coming to Waverly, Alyssa taught video art, drawing and paint­ing, and photog­ra­phy for almost eight years at Harvard-Westlake’s Middle and Upper Schools. (Email)

Jim teaches instru­men­tal music from preschool through twelfth grade. Jim studied jazz guitar, vocal perfor­mance, and philos­o­phy in college at Oberlin, Ohio. He also has a back­ground in sound engi­neer­ing, working in the Los Angeles studio scene for over 10 years. A working musi­cian today, he has had expe­ri­ence touring in bands, working in sound studios, manag­ing live concert sound events, and song­writ­ing. His music has been licensed for film and tele­vi­sion, most notably on the tele­vi­sion show Sons of Anarchy. Currently, you can see Jim locally and on tour as The Jim Reynolds Band. During his time at Waverly, students have formed rock bands, wood­wind quin­tets, string quar­tets, and several incar­na­tions of a jazz band. Focused primar­ily on partic­i­pa­tion, Waverly students have a chance to explore all aspects of music and have many oppor­tu­ni­ties to get on stage and perform. (Email)

Maria is an asso­ciate teacher in the kindergarten/​1st grade class­room 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 8th grade and Natalie in 10th grade. (Email)

Meg teaches human devel­op­ment at the elemen­tary and middle schools, co-facil­i­­tates queer affin­ity space, and works closely with the board of trustees and head/​assistant heads of school. Certi­fied as a Body Trust coun­selor, anti-diet nutri­tion­ist, and yoga and medi­ta­tion teacher, Meg has been a member of the Waverly commu­nity since 2003. She is inspired by the school’s progres­sive peda­gogy, commit­ment to build­ing conver­gences of respect and indi­vid­u­al­ity, and students who, even at age four,​“teach me what it means to be rad, resilient, and a potent source of hope and change.” (Email)