Ian MacMaster was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia, but feels most at home in California. He came to San Diego to play collegiate baseball at Point Loma Nazarene University, where he earned his bachelor’s in media communications. While competing at PLNU, he received the Champion of Character award and developed a strong desire to use his creative skills to serve others.

After a long and dedicated commitment to The Church at Rancho Bernardo, Mr. MacMaster joined LJCDS as the director of marketing and communications in 2023. He believes story is the most effective catalyst for change and aims to use storytelling to erase the lines of apathy that divide. When it comes to marketing and communications, Ian loves a complex challenge and is always looking for simplicity on the other side of complexity.

Ian and his wife Kristen enjoy all that San Diego has to offer. Their favorite thing to do is teach their two children new skills and travel together as a family. 

 

 

 

Lindsay McCreary joined La Jolla Country Day School in January 2020 as the director of philanthropy operations. She has been in non-profit fundraising for more than 10 years, including positions at Scripps Health, University of San Diego and YMCA of Los Angeles.

Mrs. McCreary graduated from the University of San Diego earning a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in leadership and change management. She is passionate about working with others towards collective goals. 

In her spare time, Mrs. McCreary enjoys traveling, outdoor activities, board games, anything do-it-yourself, and spending time with her husband Brandon and son Theo.

 

Shannon Merrill joined the LJCDS community in 2021 as the philanthropy manager, operations. She supports the Office of Philanthropy to help set and implement strategic and tactical plans to meet fundraising goals. Her background includes experience in fundraising and event management at various local nonprofits, including the Lawrence Family JCC, Scripps Health Foundation and San Diego Habitat for Humanity.

Ms. Merrill was born and raised in San Diego and graduated from High Tech High Media Arts. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in communication studies from the University of San Diego. Shortly after graduating, she received her Certificate in Event and Meeting Management from San Diego State University and went on to earn a Master of Business Administration from California State University, San Marcos.

In her free time, you will find Ms. Merrill spending time with her family, playing cooperative board games, watching Doctor Who and going to a spin or barre class.

Caitlyn Milazzo joined LJCDS in 2023 as a kindergarten associate educator. She wants to guide children and their families in discovering the joyful process in which we all learn together. Ms. Milazzo is committed to empowering young learners to be change-makers and involving them in co-creating the classroom curriculum. She deeply connects to the Reggio Emilia Approach and values the opportunity for children to explore a wealth of unique materials as they give life to their thoughts and feelings through expressive art.

Ms. Milazzo earned a Bachelor of Arts in elementary and special education from Seton Hall University, where she also played for the SHU women’s soccer team. In 2020, she earned a master’s degree in early childhood education (ECE), focusing on inclusive education, constructivism, and curriculum and instruction. Since 2012, Ms. Milazzo has been a lead and assistant educator in Boston, Los Angeles and Chicago. Drawn by the desire to support children’s social-emotional growth and early academics, she dedicated herself to ECE by helping children develop self-love and cultivate a positive relationship with school and learning. 

Ms. Milazzo enjoys learning to surf, playing soccer, hiking, running, traveling, building charcuterie boards and gardening. She loves hanging out with her husband, Joe, family and friends. And she always takes advantage of every opportunity to sprinkle some puns into her daily interactions. 

Annie Milleret has been working in world language departments teaching middle and upper school students since 2014 and joined LJCDS in 2022 as a Middle School world language educator. She loves to learn everything she can about languages and linguistics. Ms. Milleret earned diplomas in Teaching French as a Second Language from McGill University and in French Literature from the University of Montreal. 

When she has time, Ms. Milleret enjoys doing pro-bono interpretation and translation work for asylum seekers coming from French-speaking countries. She received the Wiley W. Manuel Certificate from the State Bar of California for her volunteer work and was a recipient of the Casa Cornelia La Mancha award in 2020.

Ms. Milleret loves to share her passion for languages with her students. She is a very enthusiastic teacher and uses the communicative approach.

When she is not at school, Ms. Milleret spends time with her husband, three kids and two dogs. She loves to travel, read anything about World War II, and take long walks exploring California’s beautiful nature.

“I inspire greatness through my passion for sports medicine and helping others. I accomplish this by integrating the most current research with personalized care in order to optimize patient outcomes and keep athletes at their highest performance levels, both on the court and throughout the community.”

Christine Mitchell is committed to helping students do more than overcome their injuries by working to improve their functional movement so they can succeed as athletes and improve their joint health.

Here at La Jolla Country Day School, Ms. Mitchell started a student athletic training program in order to share her love of sports medicine. She hopes to inspire students to pursue careers in the medical field. At the very least, students will learn about their bodies and the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, and how to perform CPR and use an AED.

As LJCDS’s certified athletic trainer, Ms. Mitchell ensures the safety, well being and success of all Torrey athletes, whether it’s caring for abrasions, rehabilitating reconstructed ACLs, educating on concussions, developing injury-prevention plans, or implementing emergency action plans.

Ms. Mitchell obtained a Bachelor of Science in athletic training from the University of South Carolina and a Master of Science in exercise physiology from Boston University. She has worked with South Carolina’s football and basketball teams, Boston University’s field hockey team, the New England Revolution’s academy soccer teams and San Diego State’s women’s soccer team. In her spare time, she teaches injury prevention at the San Diego Circus Center, where she is also learning to hand-balance.

After exploring the East Coast, Ms. Mitchell returned to Escondido, where she resides with her chihuahua, Charlie.

Geordie Mitchell joined LJCDS in 2020 as assistant head of school for enrollment management and outreach after spending 30 years in admissions and 39 years in independent schools. He comes by his passion for education honestly as it is the “family business.” He grew up on a school campus in Baltimore and his mother, father, wife, daughter and son have all held various positions in independent schools.

Mr. Mitchell began his teaching career as a chemistry and AP computer science teacher at a boarding school and later taught middle school math and computer skills. He has always loved technology and data and deepened his knowledge in these areas when he earned his M.Ed. in educational technology at Lesley University. Mr. Mitchell has shared his interest in data with admissions professionals all over the world presenting at conferences and running workshops on how to use and interpret data for enrollment management. 

Mr. Mitchell also has a passion for sports. He played soccer and lacrosse at Haverford College and has coached four different sports at the high school level. As a typical well-rounded independent school graduate, Mr. Mitchell also was involved in chorus and drama in high school and met his wife, Mary, in community theater. He is a founding board member of the Association of Independent School Admission Professionals and is the current Board Chair of Common Ground on the Hill, an organization that uses the arts to bring together people of different racial and ethnic backgrounds with the goal of forming relationships through the arts that can lead to some of the more difficult and challenging conversations we need to have in this country and world.

When not working or spending time with his children and grandchildren, Mr. Mitchell can be found working on or riding one of his many bikes.

Shivani Mohan joined LJCDS as a second-grade associate teacher in 2022 and quickly discovered that the school’s values align with her own personal teaching philosophy. Ms. Mohan applies a growth mindset to her everyday life. She believes every child has the ability to learn and appreciates the emphasis LJCDS places on the whole child and on creating lifelong learners. 

Ms. Mohan has worked with children since she was in high school, babysitting and volunteering for summer camps. While at Arizona State University, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in elementary education, completed her student teaching and internship, and led a freshman introduction course. 

Ms. Mohan is a San Diego native and is excited to be back in the city she loves. When not at school, she enjoys being outdoors taking advantage of the San Diego weather, especially at the beach and while hiking Torrey Pines. She also enjoys crafting and has recently begun taking pottery classes. 

Daniel (Danny) Mulvihill joined the LJCDS community in 2022 as an Upper School science educator. From a young age, he loved learning about how the world worked. Mr. Mulvihill frequently explored mechanical phenomena such as disassembling his dad’s lawnmower and natural biological wonders, like when he stopped running during a second-grade track meet to inspect an insect in the middle of the track. 

After completing a bachelor’s degree in biology at Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, Mr. Mulvihill spent time conducting stem cell research at The Scripps Research Institute, working for the USDA on the Asian Longhorn Beetle eradication project in New Jersey, and teaching kids at Oak Crest Day Camp survival skills, including how to safely construct a proper s’more over their fires.

During his seven years as a science teacher at Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Edison, NJ, he earned his teaching credential, served as Director of STEM and established the school’s educational makerspace.

While teaching in New Jersey, Mr. Mulvihill also met his significant other, LJCDS design and innovation educator Casey Walker, and they moved to San Diego together in 2021. They are proud cat parents and even prouder of their garage workshop, which features a 1947 South Bend metal lathe and a 1930 Ford Model A Coup, which he last restored to working condition in high school. Mr. Mulvihill is a huge fan of Star Wars; he likes it almost as much as he likes spiders.