Meet Our Faculty

"I am a big college basketball fan and enjoy watching my Pitt Panthers whenever possible!"

For my entire teaching career (20+ years), I have been lucky enough to work with seventh and eighth graders; teaching this age group fulfills me. It is an amazing opportunity to influence students as they journey through adolescence, to help them to discover who they are, and who they can be. It is a unique time in their life and each day with them is full of surprises!

I grew up in northwestern Pennsylvania and attended the University of Pittsburgh. After completing my bachelor's degree in math at Pitt, I went on to receive my master's degree in education from the University of Bridgeport. I am a big college basketball fan and enjoy watching my Pitt Panthers whenever possible!

Outside of the classroom, I enjoy traveling in the US and abroad. My travels abroad have taken me to six of the seven continents, and allowed me to enjoy time in Ecuador, Thailand, Turkey, Germany, Spain, Ireland, and Ukraine. Besides travel, I have also enjoyed a good amount of time training for and competing in road races, marathons, and triathlons.

My husband and I live in Arlington with our son and daughter. We enjoy spending time outdoors with them and cheering them on at their various activities.

I am a lover of stories and narratives; I enjoy the forward propulsion of a tale well-told, the twists and turns of a plot, the deep ways you can come to understand a nuanced character. And in some sense, schools are just full of stories: the stories of individual students' challenges and successes, the story of the arc of a year, the story of the growth an institution can experience over time, and more. I think that's why I love being an educator: doing this work is satisfying in the same way finishing a beautiful book is.

After graduating Williams College as an English and math double-major, I jumped right into teaching. Over my career I've taught all levels of high school English, I've coached swimming and water polo teams, and I've served as a faculty facilitator for school newspapers, Student Government groups, queer student affinity groups, a satire magazine, and a podcasting club. I've also been a grade dean, a service learning director, and a dean of students. I hold a master's in English from Middlebury College and a master's in independent school leadership from Teachers College, and I've taught at boarding schools, day schools, a Jewish school, and an Episcopal school. I'm excited to bring all that experience to Potomac!<

Outside of school, my husband and I live in Arlington, where we enjoy going on long walks, spoiling our feisty corgi, keeping up with all the latest TV shows, and trying new ice cream spots.

I grew up in Baton Rouge, LA, therefore I am a huge LSU fan…Geaux Tigers! Right after highschool I left LA to attend Virginia Military Institute (VMI) on a soccer scholarship. I played all four years at VMI and was the captain of the team my senior year. While at VMI I studied Economics and Business and was encouraged to join the Air Force. The decision to serve in our nation’s military had a significant positive impact on my life. 

For 20 years after college, while serving in the Air Force, I experienced a lot. I lived in 9 different locations, from east coast to west coast, and overseas. I got the opportunity to work in financial management, aircraft maintenance, education, and strategic initiatives. I earned two advanced degrees that the Air Force paid for. One from Liberty University in Management and another from Air University in Military Operations. One experience I am most proud of is reading an email from the Secretary of Defense to my Commanding Officer, which expressed sincere gratitude from the White House for the work our team was doing while deployed. I am forever grateful for the experiences and friendships my career in the military afforded me. It was an honor to serve and retire from the Air Force.

In my personal life I am married to an amazing 3rd grade teacher. We have four wonderful children together. Our family loves sports, outdoor activities, and card games. We also love pets and care for a goldendoodle, bearded dragon, and nine koi fish.

"Potomac enables me to continue exploring my own interests in innovative programming and pedagogy with the concert band and jazz band and to awaken in students a life-long commitment to music appreciation."

My passion for music began when I was young, and my career as a tuba player began somewhat by accident. My junior high band program needed a tuba player and I volunteered on a whim, not knowing that it would begin a lifelong journey in music. With a band director and musician as a father, I grew up always going to concerts and appreciating music with my family. In high school, my father even allowed me to sit in with his collegiate band at Cedarville University, where I later decided to pursue my Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance.

As an undergraduate, I was active in a series of diverse ensembles from the Brass Choir to the Jazz Ensemble to an alternative rock cover band; I was completely immersed in all things music, both as a bassist and a tuba player. From there I went on to The Ohio State University for my master’s degree in tuba and low brass pedagogy, under the mentorship of James Akins, principal tubist of the Columbus Symphony. As a lifelong Michigan football fan, the transition to OSU was certainly a challenge, but I used my time as a master's student to hone my performance and conducting skills, paving the way for a series of collegiate teaching positions.

For more than five years, I was fortunate to work as a college professor of low brass and music education at Otterbein College, Kenyon College, and Heidelberg University, all in Ohio. In addition to teaching I maintained a busy performance schedule with groups like the award-winning Brass Band of Columbus and several jazz combos.

When my wife's job brought us to the DC area in 2011, I was fortunate to find a position tailor-made to my interests and training at The Potomac School. As the beneficiary of an excellent music education myself, I know how important it is to foster a love of music in students at a young age, and I am thrilled to be a part of this process at Potomac. The environment at Potomac enables me to continue exploring my own interests in innovative programming and pedagogy with the concert band and jazz band and to awaken in students a lifelong commitment to music appreciation.

"I feel I have found a gem in discovering The Potomac School."

While teaching in a school abroad, I overheard a conversation about course selection for secondary school students—about de-selections—regarding an end-date for the study of literature. “But literature is good for the soul,” argued a colleague. From my position on the fringes of the conversation, I agreed.

I grew up in New Jersey, the daughter of a teacher and an author, and I was set free to find myself. At the time I thought I was working hard, but my life of study and travel—and supporting myself in humble circumstances—was richly satisfying. I studied philosophy, religion, literature, writing pedagogy, and teaching theory in Pennsylvania, Chicago, England, and India before arriving in Washington, DC, and falling in love with the climate, great running paths, and teaching. I left for over a decade to pursue teaching opportunities in England, and—though a favorite poet portends that “way leads on to way”—I returned to Northern Virginia and feel I have found a gem in discovering The Potomac School.

I live in Falls Church with my husband and daughters. I enjoy running, cooking spicy vegetarian food, reading, and traveling.

"On the last day of highschool, my Humanities teacher, Mr. Dart, explained to my class that learning doesn’t stop once we graduate from high school or college, we are “lifelong learners.’” At the time, the saying felt too cheesy, too simple, but little did I know how correct it would be and how correct it is in my life today."

After high school, I attended American University (AU) in Washington D.C., where I majored in Strategic Communications and minored in Education Studies. I loved studying the impact that media - whether print or digital - has on our daily lives. With a focus on education, I interned at local education nonprofits and companies, building their messaging to the audience they intended to serve - students and teachers. Post-graduation from AU, I spent two years working in the communications department of  Parents Amplifying Voices in Education (PAVE), a D.C.-based education non-profit whose mission focused on empowering parents (a majority Black and Brown) to advocate for policy changes they wanted to see in the District’s education system. 

As much as I grew from my roles at PAVE, I knew my time in the classroom - as a student - was not yet complete. I was yearning to learn more about the design and structure tools I used in my day-to-day work, but even moreso, how kids could use these tools to advocate for and make change. In 2022, I was accepted to Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education in the Learning Design, Innovation, and Technology (LDIT) program. Over 11 months, I built my knowledge about the technological programs, tools, and lessons I could put into practice in both formal and informal learning spaces. 

I look forward to taking all the knowledge and ideas I gained from Harvard and implementing these in the classroom. However, I don’t intend to only teach the materials but I look forward to my students teaching me - and their support in strengthening my identity as a lifelong learner.

“I enthusiastically return to The Potomac School after having begun my teaching career here in Summer Programs over 20 years ago.”

I enthusiastically return to The Potomac School after having begun my teaching career here in Summer Programs over 20 years ago. I never imagined then that I would become a parent to two Potomac “lifers,” or that I would have the opportunity to join the world language department teaching French in both the IS and US!

Beyond the language classroom, I have a passion for helping students develop effective strategies for conquering learning, organizational, executive function, and content challenges in all academic areas. Having grown up transatlantically, I have balanced my DC-native status as an alumna of the Washington International School with studies at Oxford University and the University of Toronto. I am fortunate to spend summers in our family home in Brittany, France and look forward to bringing authentic source materials to Potomac learners.

"A graduate school research project afforded me the opportunity to observe and analyze art classes in Japan for grades K through 5. I completed a research project on the developmental stages of Japanese children’s art according to media."

Ever since my childhood, I have been drawn to making art and exploring the outdoors. With little time in the school day devoted to my favorite pursuits, the day in the classroom felt long. Third grade, however, was different. That was the year I attended an experimental school.The school believed that children are innately aware of their strengths and weaknesses, and that they are best equipped to self-select a curriculum that meets their learning style. Rotating between art, science and physical education, third grade was a dream. Upon reflection I now see how the experimental system would have failed me in the long run, and my parents were finally forgiven for pulling me out.

Yet it was not until undergraduate and graduate school that my education was once again geared toward my life passions: art-making and outdoor recreation. I had enthusiastic support for: sharing ideas about art and artists, discussing one’s own and other’s art-making experiences, talking about the nature of art and artists, and examining the work of artists both past and present. A Semester at Sea program my sophomore year gave me insight into arts and cultures from many countries around the world as well as the itch for more travel. Junior year I attended art school in Rome, Italy, where my art history books came to life with so many of the painters, sculptors and architects I had studied. A graduate school research project afforded me the opportunity to observe and analyze art classes in Japan for grades K through 5. I completed a research project on the developmental stages of Japanese children’s art according to media. I still use some of the fresh and inventive techniques learned from this research in my classroom today.

Although I continue to use many strategies taught in my own college art education courses, I have also changed my ways of thinking over the years. In my fourth year of teaching, I became a parent. Observing my children make art gave me new insight and heavily influenced my teaching. Whether arranging stones, sticks and sand in unusual ways or bringing invented worlds to life with Play-Doh, I realized there was no shortage of imaginative ideas. The ongoing narrative dialog that took place during creative play showed that they naturally discussed the creative process. It was the most honest art I had witnessed. I no longer wanted to impose my adult ideas for art-making on the purest form of art: children’s art. Instead my place in the process was to provide enthusiastic support for their exploration while setting up artistic situations that inspire them.

As my students search, discover and invent, they never cease to provide fresh observations and inspire me with their creative ideas and art. A circular relationship exists where we are learning from each other. Sharing ideas, discussing works in progress, providing feedback and working on methods to refine works with a supportive and interested audience are vital to the growth of all artists. As an artist/teacher, the more immersed I am with my own art, the greater understanding my students gain from the art processes of others. Being an artist/teacher at The Potomac School, I am where I have always wanted to be: working with a community of artists and often enjoying the beautiful outdoor campus.