Teaching at La Jolla Country Day School

Faculty/Staff Directory

Department

Grade

Last Name

Daniel Padgett

Educator, US Science; Coach - Baseball

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Bio

“I inspire greatness for a better world by giving students the tools and confidence to become great problem solvers. No matter what career path my students end up taking, they are going to face challenges that require critical thinking. Science provides a great platform for this as students learn to gather and filter information and decide what is relevant, and then determine the best path to a solution.”

Dan Padgett spent the first few years of his post-undergraduate life playing minor league baseball three seasons a year and the winters delving further into science working as a neuroscience research assistant. While pursuing his neuroscience Ph.D. at the University of California, San Diego, Mr. Padgett decided to change the course of his academic pursuit from research to teaching. He has been a member of the La Jolla Country Day School science faculty since 2006.

Being mentored by the LJCDS legend Billy Simms opened Mr. Padgett’s eyes to finding new ways to reach the younger generation of scientists, while also realizing that some of the most basic demonstrations of scientific phenomena are timeless. He uses technology to improve the analysis and presentation of data in the physics classroom, which allows students to break down simple experiments in a more complex and thoughtful way.

Mr. Padgett is an assistant coach for the LJCDS baseball team as well, which allows him to impart many of the baseball lessons (and life lessons) he learned over his career to a younger generation of players.

Mr. Padgett and his wife, Tracy, love going to the zoo with their nearly 2-year-old twins, Edwin and Kendall, and watching them enjoy their two favorite African penguins, Dan and McKinney.
Tedd Padgitt

Coach - Fencing Club
Chris Palmer

Coach - Soccer

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Amy Parish Ph.D.

Educator, US English and Humanities

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Bio

“I inspire greatness for a better world by connecting the student with the outside world and bringing that outside world into the classroom. I aspire to cultivate a life of the mind and a polymathic experience in the classroom that draws from the humanities, the social sciences and the arts to draw connections and create depth and breadth that is then applied in real-world contexts.”

Amy Parish, Ph.D., creates a classroom experience that motivates students to internalize their learning enough to pursue it in the future in their own ways. She wants active learners to emerge—students who make sense of the world through their own eyes, experiences and values—so that their educational experiences might significantly enrich them.

Dr. Parish is an interdisciplinary scholar and internationally recognized primatologist who teaches at LJCDS and also at the University of Southern California. Her undergraduate training at the University of Michigan inspired her to pursue her doctorate in biological anthropology at the University of California, Davis. She is one of the world’s experts on the social behavior of the bonobo and has appeared on NOVA and the Discovery Channel and in National Geographic films. In 2016, The New York Times featured her work in an article about female camaraderie in bonobos. Dr. Parish applies her teaching experience in science, social sciences and the humanities to the English classroom at LJCDS, where she encourages students to think critically, re-examine their attitudes, and become aware of larger patterns in the fabric of our global society. She is a fellow of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities.

Dr. Parish is the proud parent of an LJCDS class of 2011 graduate. In her free time, you can find her among her ape friends at the zoo, in dialogue at the LA Library as part of their acclaimed ALOUD literary series of conversations, or reading Joan Didion or other favorite authors.
Noa Parker

Educator, MS Science

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Bio

“I inspire greatness for a better world by seeing the whole child, in every child, and providing a space for students to become their best selves every day. I encourage students to explore curiosities about the natural world and think critically to develop new ideas with all the resources around them. I motivate students to find joy in learning and advocate for themselves to be the most successful members of a community.”

Noa Parker, MAT, joined LJCDS in 2022 as a science educator for Grades 7 and 8. She believes that with the combination of curiosity and creativity, young scientists grow into deep critical thinkers and strong leaders of change. As an advisor and educator, Ms. Parker hopes to foster the love of nature in each student and encourage adventure, risk-taking, and advocacy in their daily lives. She was drawn to the LJCDS community by the inclusive atmosphere and the emphasis on sustainability and an inquiry-based approach in all science departments.

Ms. Parker earned her bachelor’s degree in environmental science with a concentration in wildlife conservation from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. During her undergraduate studies, she worked to rehabilitate howler monkeys back into the wild in Belize and began leading teen travel tours across the Pacific Northwest. These experiences, along with courses in environmental education, encouraged her to get into the field of education.

Her education career began when Ms. Parker joined the Chicago-Northwest Indiana Teach for America Corp. She earned her Master of Arts in teaching from Relay Graduate School of Education and has taught sixth- through eighth-grade science since 2018. During her time teaching in Chicago, Ms. Parker also started and coached Science Olympiad teams, taught art and coached ultimate frisbee.

Ms. Parker was born and raised in Minnesota and is an avid outdoor adventure seeker. In her free time, you can find her hiking, camping, kayaking and exploring all the nature that San Diego offers. She also enjoys frequenting farmers markets, picklin’ and making pottery.
Pamela Patterson

Educator, US Math

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Bio

“I challenge students to think for themselves, to look for patterns, and to examine relationships with the goal of understanding why and how mathematical principles work. I encourage students to see mathematics as a creative and collaborative endeavor. I strive to inspire greatness for a better world through the universal language of mathematics, which provides students with a powerful lens through which to make sound decisions and interpret the world around them.”

Pam Patterson believes in the school’s mission of educating the whole student and equipping them with skills to pursue a lifetime of intellectual exploration, personal growth and social responsibility. She is particularly interested in using technology to explore mathematical relationships to deepen understanding. She helps students develop the vocabulary and confidence to articulate mathematical ideas and processes. She believes that the supportive La Jolla Country Day School community provides students and faculty the opportunity to develop relationships that continually challenge them to grow and improve.

Ms. Patterson’s grandfather inspired her to become a math teacher, and she began working with high school students as a math tutor and volleyball coach at New Hartford High School while attending Hamilton College. Upon graduation, she started teaching and coaching at Dunn School in Los Olivos, Calif. She and her husband moved to San Diego in 1995, when she took a position at LJCDS. She currently serves as math department chair in the Upper School, teaches Algebra II with Trigonometry and Honors Precalculus, and is the proud parent of two LJCDS students. Along with cooking and knitting, Ms. Patterson enjoys spending her free time hiking and backpacking in the San Diego backcountry.
Tara Peace

Program and Outreach Librarian

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Bio

“I inspire greatness for a better world by encouraging and teaching students to be lifelong learners and highlighting how the library can create a community. The library is a place where we can come to learn, to grow and to connect.”

Tara Peace joined LJCDS in 2021 to help build and strengthen an engaging library community. Hailing originally from Virginia, Mrs. Peace traveled to California over a decade ago, earning a master’s degree in history at California State University, East Bay. She holds a Master of Library Science from the University of Alabama. With her educational and people-focused background, she hopes to engage with students and faculty to create a dynamic and collaborative library experience.

Mrs. Peace is an avid reader—her favorite book is The Overstory by Richard Powers. In her free time, she loves to cook and travel—and particularly enjoys camping. All of this is done with her husband, Kevin, and their daughter Cheyenne '35, who became a Torrey in 2022.
Hannah Peeters

Coach - Volleyball, Soccer
Nancy Pegels

Educator, US Math

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Bio

“I strive to inspire greatness for a better world by leading with dignity and encouraging my students to ask questions, participate in exploring answers, and to listen to the input of their peers. In this way, they are actively engaged in learning and discovering, while appreciating and challenging each other. I promote a friendly, comfortable classroom environment in which each student feels accepted for who they are and can recognize who they can become.”

The process of learning mathematics develops the skills necessary to tackle difficult problems and formulate viable solutions. Nancy Pegels believes that a solid understanding of mathematics forms a foundation for many careers and paths of exploration. She believes that students may not know where their talents will be most useful, but she appreciates the opportunity to inspire her students to forge ahead and use their creativity to find their purpose in the world around them.

Ms. Pegels attended the University of Cincinnati, where she earned bachelor’s degrees in Mathematics and Education. She began her career at Lutheran West High School while earning her master’s degree in Mathematics at Cleveland State University. In 2002, she moved from Ohio to California where she taught math at The Bentley School in Lafayette and The College Preparatory School in Oakland. Ms. Pegels joined the faculty at LJCDS in 2018 as a long-term substitute teacher, taking over courses in Algebra II and Geometry.

She has three children, two of whom will be away at college this year studying engineering, while the third enjoys her sophomore year of high school. She and her husband enjoy attending concerts, games and performances and exploring the hiking trails and interesting neighborhoods in the San Diego area.
Natalie Pena

Associate Educator, Grade 4

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Bio

“I inspire greatness for a better world by creating an equitable learning environment where students feel safe to learn, embrace their mistakes, and see those mistakes as a form of growth. In leading by example, I aspire to motivate our youngest innovative thinkers to feel empowered to collaborate with their community, reflect on their ideas, and persevere to achieve their goals.”

Natalie Peña became the Lower School assistant educator in the fall of 2023 after filling in as a kindergarten associate educator earlier in the year. She is thrilled to use her K–3 teaching experience to support all learners.

Ms. Peña earned her bachelor’s degree in liberal studies with an emphasis in creative arts from San Francisco State University. After working in the Bay Area as an after-school head teacher and lead art and science instructor at Galileo Learning, she returned to San Diego and obtained her Multiple Subject Teaching credential and Bilingual, Cross-Cultural, Language and Academic Development (BCLAD) authorization from California State University, San Marcos. Ms. Peña has been an educator since 2011 and taught at Oceanside Unified for seven years. She is currently working towards completing the Art and Creative Process certificate at UCSD.

When Ms. Peña is not at LJCDS, you can find her drawing, hiking, reading, or doing yoga. She enjoys spending time outdoors, traveling and visiting National Parks with her boyfriend Andrew.
Juan Carlos Perez

Janitorial Supervisor

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Gary Peritz

Educator, US English

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Bio

“I inspire greatness for a better world by using literature as a tool for human understanding, with its ability to inspire compassion leading to action and positive social change.”

Gary Peritz believes that literature creates psychological awareness that carries over into the world, of complicated individuals whose inner lives are usually hard to fathom. Literary characters disrupt reader expectations, undermining prejudices and stereotypes, and teaching us the importance of understanding those who are different from ourselves. His role as a teacher is to create lifetime readers who will continue to see that reading is a valuable socializing influence.

Mr. Peritz began his teaching career with an honorarium from the University of California, Santa Barbara, College of Creative Studies. As a graduate student at the University of California, San Diego, he had teaching assignments in various departments: Third College Writing Program, Communications and Latin American studies.

In the summer of 1997, Mr. Peritz joined La Jolla Country Day School’s English department. He is a parent of two lifers who attended LJCDS from nursery school to graduation, classes of 2015 and 2017.
Lauren Petree

Long Term Substitute: Assistant Educator, ECC Jr. Kindergarten
Michael Peveich

Educator, MS and US Technical Theater

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Bio

“I Inspire greatness for a better world by empowering the well-educated minds of our children to be collaborators in the creative process. Technical theater requires innovative solutions to unknown problems, and the easiest way to innovate and solve problems is to fall back on experience and knowledge. I expect my students to be contributors, innovators and problem solvers because these traits will serve them well beyond the theater and their years at LJCDS.”

Mike Peveich believes that theater and its design present people at their most vulnerable and allow the most authentic self to be laid bare before an audience. In the shop, it’s critical that the designers and technicians feel capable of safely expressing their authentic selves in their designs to best serve the production, the author and the audience.

Mr. Peveich began his technical theater career in college at Belmont Abbey, where he served as the assistant technical director. Following his graduation, Mr. Peveich served as technical director and designer at Northwest School of the Arts in Charlotte before returning home to Ohio to work as the technical director and designer at Western Reserve Academy in Hudson. Since arriving at LJCDS, Mr. Peveich has helped numerous students find their passion for theater and gain acceptance into prestigious theater schools such as The University of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, USC and more.

In his free time, Mr. Peveich enjoys golfing, cooking, and spending time with his wife, Megan, son Benedict ’34, a husky dog, Brutus, and a cat named Jawa.
Leigh Pierce

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Bio

“I inspire greatness for a better world by using my enthusiasm and scientific skills to illuminate the possibilities that science has to offer. My goal is to challenge and stimulate discovery of new skills and knowledge and immerse students in an educational environment that energizes them.”

After 25 years working in the biotech industry, founding and running her contract development and manufacturing company, and being a global leader in single-use technology for the production of biologic medicines, Leigh Pierce sold her business. After the sale, she realized she had a unique opportunity to make science come alive for students.

By creating a new course that offers a hands-on educational experience with the same techniques used in industry to make medicines, students will be able to take the theoretical and make it practical by utilizing different fields of science to make a biological medicine from live cells. Her goal is to challenge and inspire students by teaching them how to make a medicine and create that “A-HA” moment when a connection is made between a student and a new idea.

Ms. Pierce is a native San Diegan and graduated from San Diego State University with a Bachelor of Science in biology. Her career has included gene discovery, cancer and infectious disease research, process and technology development, biologics manufacturing for human clinical trials and the founding of two companies. Ms. Pierce has two daughters at LJCDS and enjoys photography and tennis.
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Marsha Poh

Assistant Head of Lower School

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Bio

“I believe our Lower School is a special place where students are encouraged to explore, play, and make deep connections between the material they study and their own lives. Each day I hope to inspire our students to work toward their goals and get involved in new experiences. I am fortunate to work with an amazing group of educators who are always pushing to make life at Country Day memorable for our students and families.”

Marsha Poh was always on the move throughout her childhood. By the time she graduated from high school, she had lived in eight different homes. While growing up, she was known to set up a classroom in her home and “teach” her sister whatever she was learning in school. Mrs. Poh started playing softball as a child and played competitively until she graduated from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. (where she also played Division I softball—Go Crusaders!). There she majored in psychology with a biological psychology concentration. Throughout her four years at Holy Cross, she found herself drawn to teaching.

After graduating in 2006, Mrs. Poh knew she wanted to learn more about education. Her curiosity took her to Cambridge, Mass., to pursue a master’s in education in middle school math and science from Lesley University. After finishing the collaborative master’s program, she married her college sweetheart.

In her free time, Mrs. Poh loves to spend time with her family, exercise, volunteer with Pegasus Rising and the San Diego Food Bank, and take her rescued boxer, Mia, on walks around the neighborhood.
Joey Portugal

Coach - Baseball

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Eva Power

Educator, US World Language

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Bio

“Through the study of languages and cultures, students embark on a journey of self-discovery. They develop an understanding of diverse perspectives and become better equipped to explore on their own. By challenging my students to think differently, to wonder, and to celebrate the universality of thought, I aim to inspire greatness, curiosity, reflection and empathy for a better world.”

Eva Power has been teaching at La Jolla Country Day School since 2000. She is the Upper School World Language chair and teaches Spanish. Born and raised in Spain, Ms. Power speaks Spanish, French, German and English. In addition to her linguistic background, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in international business from Regents College in New York, and in Spain, she earned the degree of Técnico de Empresas y Actividades Turísticas from La Escuela Oficial de Turismo and studied Máster en Gerencia Hotelera from El Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas. What Ms. Power loves most about LJCDS is the close relationships with her students and her wonderful colleagues. Not a day goes by that she doesn’t feel privileged to be part of this community.

Ms. Power is a lifelong learner who loves discovering new fields of study. Her Kindle is a cacophony of genres, themes and languages. She is an avid reader who also loves hiking, surfing, skiing, dancing, cooking, and spending time with her husband, Ronnie, and two sons, LJCDS lifers Málik ’17 and Kían ’21.
Ronnie Power

Learning Specialist

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Riley Pratt

Educator, MS Math Grade 7

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Bio

“I inspire greatness for a better world by preparing the next generation of problem solvers. I encourage students to view themselves as mathematicians, developing creative solutions and deeply analyzing problems while utilizing multiple strategies. Students in my classes practice critical thinking skills that can be applied to any future education and career pathway.”

Riley Pratt has always appreciated the beauty in mathematics, and her role is to inspire students to see the many applications of math around us. She believes that all students can succeed and works to develop students’ growth mindsets. Her classes center on inquiry as students explore and discover the mathematical methods necessary to solve new problems.

Mrs. Pratt is from Portland, Oregon. She graduated from the University of San Diego with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics and her teaching credential. Later, she earned her Master of Science in education from Johns Hopkins University. Before joining LJCDS, she taught high school mathematics for four years ranging from Algebra 1 to International Baccalaureate Calculus.

Outside of teaching and math, Mrs. Pratt enjoys hiking with her dog and playing board games.
Corbin Prychun

Educator, US Humanities and Social Science; Coach - Soccer

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Bio

“I inspire greatness for a better world by using the humanities as a conduit to push the students to explore their intrinsic and extrinsic surroundings, including outside of the LJCDS campus. Through the study of history, my students will desire to expand their boundaries and learn first-hand about cultures from around the world. In their psychology classes, they will examine the reasons behind their decision-making processes and expand their social and cognitive awareness. While in English class, these future leaders will find the confidence and ability to feel good about using their voice, gleaning lessons and techniques from great writers to help shape their thinking and communication.”

At LJCDS, Corbin Prychun will serve as a humanities generalist, teaching a variety of courses in the Upper School. Currently teaching AP Psychology and English II, while also coaching the women’s soccer team, he is excited to be a part of such a dynamic staff.

As a San Diego native, Mr. Prychun graduated from nearby La Jolla High School before moving on to the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in education. After four years of teaching at a small independent school near Lake Tahoe, he recently returned home to work as a writer for a museum-based education company. After only one year, his desire to return to the classroom has lead him to take a position on the faculty at LJCDS.
Chad Przymus

Educator, US Band and MS Music Elective Grades 78

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Bio

“I inspire greatness for a better world by bringing my passion for music education and performance to each classroom and ensemble. Quality music education provides experiential learning that cross-sections cultures and countries. I strive to blend that broad musical scope in a collaborative and cooperative environment.”

Chad Przymus believes that music is one of the rare disciplines that integrates creativity, communication, critical assessment and commitment within an expressive art form. These attributes can be found in many subject areas; however, music does not make them optional but a fundamental necessity from the first note performed. His comprehensive band program strives for this excellence each day.

Prior to joining La Jolla Country Day School in 2013, Mr. Przymus was a band director and percussion instructor in the Upper Midwest for 25 years. He directed concert, jazz and marching bands of all ages and sizes, and developed award-winning programs in Iowa and Minnesota.

Mr. Przymus enjoys running and almost every kind of drumming, especially taiko drumming. After being awarded an artist grant to study in Japan, he continues to instruct, compose and perform taiko drumming in the San Diego community.