HS Art student large canvas

HS Band practice

HS Drama performance Epic Youth

HS Art room students working

Specialists

HS Art student large canvas
HS Band practice
HS Drama performance Epic Youth
HS Art room students working

At the high school level, students may special­ize in an area or explore a differ­ent art form each year. Elec­tives offered include: drama, creative writing, art, music ensem­ble, and film­mak­ing. In addi­tion, human devel­op­ment is built into the weekly sched­ule, and trips to the farm occur with science classes for special study.

HS Bio Photo Shelbie Kelly 2

Shelbie Kelly

Shelbie teaches human devel­op­ment at the high school as well as creative writing at the middle and high schools. Shelbie has a B.A. in English – Creative Writing from Univer­sity of Central Florida, an M.A. in Creative Writing from Full Sail Univer­sity, and teach­ing certi­fi­ca­tion in high school English and drama. She has train­ing in liter­ary editing and, in her words,​“wants to instill a fasci­na­tion with language and story­telling” in her students. (Email)

Kevin Murawski 19 20

Kevin Murawski

Kevin is Waver­ly’s envi­ron­men­tal studies and outdoor educa­tion teacher. Kevin received a B.F.A. from Otis Art Insti­tute of Parsons School of Design. Prior to teach­ing, Kevin was an art direc­tor for a publish­ing company and at various anima­tion studios. (Email)

Jim Reynolds 19 20

Jim Reynolds

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)

Faculty Bio Alyssa Sherwood

Alyssa Sher­wood

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)

Bio photo Sydney

Sydney Walsh

Sydney teaches drama at all divi­sions. Syd grad­u­ated from Williams College with a B.A. in theatre and English. An expe­ri­enced actor, direc­tor, and educa­tor, Syd says, ​“I am constantly inspired by the group work ethic I see and feel in every class at Waverly. Students are inter­ested in creativ­ity and kind­ness, and they work from a place of loving support for each other’s creative processes.” Syd’s son, Harry ​‘19, grad­u­ated from Waverly. (Email)