New Year, New Faces!

 

 

1. Andrew Carr comes to us from a family of international school educators. Growing up all around the world, in six different countries (Tanzania, Brazil, Costa Rica, Japan, Indonesia, USA), international schools were his world and safe haven. For the last three years, Andrew was teaching in Washington, D.C. and at Wilmington Friends School in Delaware. Andrew enjoys spending time in nature and learning about all living things. He is a storyteller with a passion for music, cooking, painting and gardening. Andrew is relocating to New York for a Graduate program in education, and he is very much looking forward to joining the First Grade team working alongside Jennifer Wittmer.

2. Christopher Chrzanowski has joined us as the Database Manager for the Advancement Office. He received an MBA degree from SUNY Binghamton. Christopher most recently was the Database Manager for The New Jewish Home, an eldercare facility in Manhattan. He had previously worked as a Data Administrator and Membership Services Manager for The Paley Center for Media.

3. Magda Correa joins us as the Executive Assistant to the CFO/COO in the Business Office. Prior to joining Friends she worked in the healthcare field at Weill Cornell Medicine and St. Vincent's Manhattan Hospital.

4. Danielle (Dani) Epherson-Prabhu is joining the Friends team from Los Angeles where she was born and raised. She will be teaching in Grade 3. Dani has a bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education and a master’s in Education, both from Cal State Long Beach. Before joining the Friends community, Dani was teaching at a private school for students with severe learning differences in Santa Monica.

5. Holland Hamilton is currently a student at Bank Street Graduate School of Education. One of the highlights of her career so far has been designing a performing arts program for AIDS Care Trust (ACT) just outside of Windhoek, Namibia. Most recently, she toured with American Family Theatre’s Ellis Island Stories. Holland is absolutely thrilled to be joining the team at Friends! She will be teaching Kindergarten with Judy Anderson.

6. Andrew Harrison is joining the Arts Department, teaching Middle School visual arts as well as Upper School digital media and graphic design. Prior to joining Friends Seminary, Andrew taught visual arts at the Peddie School for over ten years. Andrew holds an MFA from Maine College of Art and is a practicing artist.

7. Kimberly Johnson (not pictured) joins the Main Office as Executive Assistant to the Principal and Secretary to the Board of Trustees. Previously, Kimberly worked in event planning, and most recently, was an executive assistant to the CEO of a recruiting firm. As many of you may know, Jeneen Mangel has transitioned back to the classroom, and we welcome her as our new role as Lower School Science Specialists

8. Belal Joundeya is looking forward to teaching Arabic at Friends. He holds a MA in Special Education from the University of Jordan and has been teaching Arabic for non-native students at Renaissance Academy in Lehi, Utah; Lincoln High School in Portland, Oregon; BYU University, Provo; Middlebury Interactive Languages, Vermont ; and recently at the British International School in Cairo, Egypt.

9. Alexander Lavy joins us teaching physics to ninth graders and technology in the Middle and Upper schools. He earned a BA in Physics and Religion from Williams College and an MSEd in Physics Education from Buffalo State College. Prior to this year he taught in the science department at Xavier High School.

10. Marcus Leslie is looking forward to joining Friends Seminary as a Grade 4 teacher. He holds an undergraduate degree in language and culture and a post-graduate diploma in primary teaching from universities in New Zealand, his home country. Marcus facilitated programs with several international schools abroad prior to spending the last two years teaching at LREI.

11. Susan Li joined us January this year as Staff Accountant in the Business Office. She holds a BS in Accounting from Brooklyn College. Prior to joining Friends, she has experience working in non-profit organization for five years.

12. Samantha Malen is excited to join the Kindergarten team at Friends. She previously taught pre-k at Temple Israel on the Upper East Side for eleven years. She received her BA in Child Development from Tufts University and her MSEd in Early Childhood Education from Hunter College.

13. Luis Miranda grew up in Barranquilla, Colombia and studied English and Engineering as a college student. Luis is finishing his MA in Dual Language/Bilingual Early Childhood Education at Bank Street College and has taught at several schools in both Brooklyn and Manhattan. Luis is very excited to be joining the Friends Seminary community as the Lower School Spanish teacher.

14. Eric Owens (not pictured) is happy to join us as an After School Librarian. He holds a BS in Music, graduating from CUNY Lehman College. He has previous experience in both child care and library services, and comes to Friends to begin a new experience.

15. Ya-Chin Pan joins us as our new Part Time Middle School Strings Teacher. She received her undergraduate degree in Music Performance from the Cleveland Institute of Music and her master’s degree from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. She has taught at the Brooklyn Friends School and the Packer Collegiate Institute. A native of Hong Kong, Ya-Chin lives in Brooklyn with her family.

16. Anne Pearson is looking forward to teaching math to fifth and seventh grade students. She holds a BS in Rural Sociology from Cornell and a MA in Organizational Leadership from Columbia. Anne joined us in February as a Maternity Leave Replacement and is continuing in that role this semester. Prior to joining Friends she was working as a curriculum and instruction consultant.

17. Ravi Pillalamarri is joining Friends in the Math Department in the Upper School. After graduating from Goucher College with a BA in Mathematics Education, Ravi taught middle and high school in Maryland public schools, and most recently taught high school math in Ft. Worth, Texas.

18. Kate Reynolds joyfully joins the Friends Upper School community as Upper School Head and twelfth grade English teacher. After learning for 21 years at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School as an English teacher, grade dean, English department head, and dean of faculty, Kate worked most recently as chair of the English & World Literature Department at the Spence School.

19. Karin Spitzer, LCSW joined us last March as interim 7-12 Grade Counselor while Lila Margulies is on leave. Karin enjoys working with children, adolescents and adults in schools, non-profits and in private practice. Prior to Friends, she worked at The Calhoun School. Karin holds a Masters in Clinical Social Work from NYU and a BA in Modern Culture and Media from Brown University.

20. Stephanie Teo is looking forward to joining us as our new Visual Arts Teacher for Middle and Upper School. She recently completed her Masters in Art Education at Teachers College, Columbia. Prior to graduate school, she received her BA in Visual Arts and International Relations from Brown University and worked at an antiques gallery in NYC selling Chinese porcelain.