I really enjoy supporting students as they find their passions, both in and out of the classroom, and discover the many opportunities GA provides to assist them in pursuing those interests. Helping my students dive into material that is personally meaningful to them is incredibly rewarding, and their enthusiasm for engaging with this work makes teaching at GA an absolute joy.
REBECCA RAMOS
GROUP IX DEAN
US TEACHER (HISTORY, AP PSYCH, LEADERSHIP)
ADVISOR
COACH (SOCCER, BASKETBALL, LACROSSE)
Dance is even more than a form of artistic expression. Through dance, our students learn spatial awareness, different ways of communicating, teamwork, confidence, and how to overcome obstacles.
GENEVIEVE MIFFLIN ’10,
US & LS DANCE TEACHER
DANCE CORPS DIRECTOR
The expectation and the reality of our department is that everyone is generous with their ideas, time, and resources. There is an incredible degree of collaboration among the faculty and an eagerness to learn, grow, and become better educators. That’s just in the water at GA.
SARAH MALIAKEL ’06,
US ENGLISH TEACHER
ENGLISH DEPARTMENT CHAIR
ADVISOR
I love teaching computer science and engineering and I think I’m also a role model for the girls. Yes, girls can code, even older girls can code. We can all do it because it's really just problem-solving and about looking at the world and at life in a creative way. My goal is to develop their skills, interest, and confidence in these fields.
MARIANA KEELS,
MS COMPUTER SCIENCE & ENGINEERING TEACHER
GROUP VI ADVISOR
Whether or not you’re interested in theater, and whether or not you are comfortable being on stage, public speaking is something that will be required of every one of our students through their education and careers. I’m helping the girls work on these skills now, teaching them to get comfortable with standing up in front of an audience and speaking.
KC MORSE ’11,
MS DRAMA TEACHER
GROUP VIII ADVISOR
MS DEI ADVISOR
MS STUDENT LEADERSHIP COUNCIL ADVISOR
MS AMBASSADORS CO-LEADER
Maybe my favorite part of my work is the tangible impact. Every day, students leave my classroom having learned something they didn't know when they walked in. And by the end of the year, they've acquired a whole new body of knowledge. That kind of transformation happens every year, but it's still unbelievable to see.
ANDREW ARAMINI,
US MATH TEACHER
ADVISOR
JV BASKETBALL COACH
I teach creative problem-solving. Whether the work happens in the film studio, the art room, or the E&D lab, there is rarely a single answer to the challenges or the prompts I give my students. I tell them that the more questions they ask me about the prompt, the more they are limiting their possible solutions. I try to keep kids in a kind of creative gray zone, that gets them collaborating with each other and thinking broadly.
SEAN LAHEY,
VISUAL ARTS DEPARTMENT CHAIR
US FILM & ART TEACHER
GROUP IX ADVISOR
VARSITY VOLLEYBALL COACH
As advisors, we are the ultimate advocates for the girls our advisory. I am the adult who is there to know her as a student and as a person, to challenge her, to teach her to self-advocate, and to help clear a path when needed. My advisory and I are a team and I know I play a crucial role in making her experience the best it can be.
PAUL JAQUIERY,
GROUP VIII HISTORY TEACHER
GROUP VIII TEAM LEADER
GROUP VIII ADVISOR
MS SOFTBALL COACH
I love teaching the GA girls because they are game for any new adventure or idea. Their excitement is contagious and I can take any topic in any direction in response to their interest and enthusiasm. Recently, one of my classes was especially interested in how a microscope works. After studying their parts and how they function, they were each able to build their own microscope in the Engineering & Design Lab. How cool is that?
ABBY KATZ,
LOWER SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHER
Someone recently asked me to pinpoint the hallmark of the fourth-grade year. My response was that the entire year is a hallmark experience. We spend the year pulling together everything the girls have learned in the Lower School, and we increase our expectations of them in preparation for Middle School. And they are ready! Being the leaders of the Lower School is a big responsibility which they take seriously. We talk extensively about the school’s motto, Toward the Building of Character, what it means, and how it is essential to being a good leader.
STEPHANIE SEIDEL, GROUP IV HEAD TEACHER
As the junior class dean, I manage everything from field trips to walking the girls through the gateway of the college process. In the Upper School, advisors stays with their advisory for all four years allowing deep relationships to form between the advisor and the girls, and among the girls themselves. Deans maintain their role in a particular grade and build up a nuanced knowledge of that year of the high school experience. For example, in junior year spring, the girls and their families begin the college process, they are taking AP exams, and they are running for school-wide offices. Having gone through the process year after year, I’m in a great position to guide and advise the girls through the year.
KENT MOTLAND, UPPER SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHER
GROUP XI DEAN and ADVISOR
In Group VIII, I teach them about the skeletal system so they have an understanding of the key features of joints, bones, ligaments, tendons, and how all these components work together. Then, using tools and inspiration from the Engineering & Design Lab, I will have the girls design and 3D print their own prosthetics. Through this process the girls gain firsthand experience in the functionality of the human body. They learn that individuals have unique body mechanics, and the girls have to find creative ways of adjusting and customizing their prosthetics.
DR. COURTNEY SPADA, GROUP VIII SCIENCE TEACHER
GA HEALTH & WELLNESS DEPARTMENT
PEDIATRICIAN
What has kept me here all these years is that my job is always changing and doesn't feel the same year to year. I also have the pleasure of getting to watch the girls grow. Many of the seniors that I'm teaching in Madrigals, Gospel Choir, or in the musical, I have taught since they were in fifth grade. I really enjoy connecting with them again in Upper School. Very often I end up having a different relationship with them. It's really special, and not something that happens everywhere or for every teacher.
ERICA MCCANTS,
DIRECTOR OF THE MADRIGALS, BEL CANTO & GOSPEL CHOIR
GROUP V MUSIC TEACHER
MUSICAL DIRECTOR, US MUSICAL
My favorite part of the job is getting to know the kids. It’s why I got in to teaching. And as an English teacher, advisor, and coach, I get to know the girls in many different ways. In class I see a more serious side of the girls, and I love watching them make connections between their own lives and the literature we are studying. In advisory, I see the girls in a more low-key environment and enjoy hearing about their day and what’s on their minds. As a coach, it’s thrilling to see the girls compete, work as a team, and persevere.
ELAINE THURMAN,
GROUP VII ENGLISH TEACHER and ADVISOR
GROUP VII/VIII BOOK CLUB ADVISOR
MS FIELD HOCKEY and LACROSSE COACH
I feel like sixth grade is my wheelhouse. By Group VI, teaching history is very much about teaching the girls to become analytical thinkers, and how to present their ideas both orally and in writing. The girls are old enough that we can dig into really complex topics, and I feel in some ways, like I’m inviting them into the world of adulthood. They kind of know what World War II is, but they don't really know, and they are so enthusiastic to learn.
LISA ANCONA,
GROUP VI HISTORY TEACHER
GROUP VI TEAM LEADER
GROUP VI ADVISOR
The change that happens in the Group I year is quite incredible. In first grade, we get little kindergarteners coming to us and in one year they become readers, their math gets better, and they become better writers because they have the foundation that CC has taught them. They become so much more independent. That is one of our major focuses in Group I, to make the girls more independent. By the time they go to Group II, they're completely different kids. It’s so exciting to be a part of that transformation.
PARINAZ PAHLAVI, GROUP I HEAD TEACHER