The La Jolla Country Day School faculty, administration and staff are strong, diverse and talented individuals who have been drawn together for a common purpose. Ours is a vibrant community with an exciting charge—to create a stronger, better place where our children and those of future generations can grow to become excellent individuals, citizens and adventurers of the world.
Below is a list of the administration, staff and faculty. To locate a member, click on the drop-down menus below to search by division, department or last name. Faculty and staff bios are also available below.
Faculty/Staff Directory
JonathanShulman
Educator, US History; Director of the Center for Excellence in Citizenship
“I inspire greatness by educating our students on the importance of civic engagement. In a free society, we have the constitutional right to say what is on our minds. As such, we can make the choice to speak truth or falsehoods, to speak laudably or reprehensibly. It is our obligation to seek out the facts and to respond in a way that recognizes our own as well as others’ sense of dignity.”
As the history department chair, Jonathan Shulman is passionate about promoting civic engagement. He develops partnerships with civic organizations, including the City Club of San Diego and the San Diego Historical Center, and coordinates off-campus and travel opportunities for students. Mr. Shulman is head teacher–coach of the Torrey Mock Trial Team, a program that is recognized as one of the best in San Diego County.
Mr. Shulman graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Tufts University and a master’s in war studies from King’s College London. He was the first K–12 educator to be elected president of the California World History Association, he is an active partner with EUROCLIO—the European Association of History Educators, and he has served as an AP World History exam reader for the College Board since 2010.
Before joining LJCDS in 2003, Mr. Shulman taught at the American School of Milan, in Italy; the Beijing Film Academy, in China; and the Greenhill School, in Dallas, Texas. He previously worked as chief of staff to the Appropriations Sub-Committee Chair in the Maryland House of Delegates.
A fan of the movies, Mr. Shulman was the co-producer and director of Minyan in Kaifeng, a documentary about the modern-day descendants of an ancient Chinese Jewish community. The film, narrated by Leonard Nimoy, played at several international Jewish film festivals to great acclaim.
DeborahShaul
Educator, US Humanities; Student Publications Coordinator
“As a teacher of literature, I have the opportunity to talk with students about how texts connect to their lives. I help them find their own voices through writing, presentations and discussion. The conversations of the class—the ones that connect to the students’ lives, their dreams, and hopefully through which they find inspiration—serve as the key way in which I can inspire greatness for a better world, starting with the small world of an English classroom at La Jolla Country Day School.”
Deborah Shaul has been teaching at LJCDS since 1997. She taught in private high schools and in several colleges in the Washington, D.C. area before moving to San Diego. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English and communications, with a French minor from the University of Michigan, and a master’s in American literature from the American University in Washington, D.C. She is ABD (all but dissertation) in American studies, working toward a Ph.D. at the University of Maryland. American studies makes connections between literature and the historical context in which it was written, and Ms. Shaul regularly makes those connections in her classroom.
Ms. Shaul created the American studies program in 2009.