Dear Sage Hill Community,

It is with mixed emotions that I announce the departure of several of Sage Hill’s beloved faculty members at the end of the school year for new professional and personal opportunities. While I am sorry to say goodbye to faculty and administrators of this caliber, these changes also create opportunities for transformation on campus and I hope you will join me in congratulating our talented faculty and staff members who will be moving into new positions.

History Department / Administration:

Ninth Grade Dean, Director of Service Learning and history teacher Steve Barrett has accepted an offer to become a lead administrator at the Wildwood School in West Lost Angeles. While I am disappointed that Sage Hill School will lose an incredible educator, I am happy that Steve is pursuing his passions and moving on to a position that is a step up in his administrative pursuits. Steve and his family are excited to return to friends and opportunities in Los Angeles.

Steve’s departure has led to the appointment of two new positions on campus. Art teacher Brian McMahon will take on the role of Ninth Grade Dean. This job is a perfect fit for Brian’s expertise in working with incoming freshmen as a ninth grade advisor and through the school’s outdoor program. He is excited about getting to know the freshmen outside of the classroom setting, and celebrating the diverse talents they bring to our campus.

Director of Counseling and Advising Jason Gregory will be moving into the position of Director of Community Life and Public Purpose. While Jason will continue to provide support and counseling for students and lead our advisory program, Jason’s expanded role will help Sage Hill to synthesize and more fully realize its public purpose mission. Jason looks forward to the evolution of the service learning program and to creating additional opportunities for public purpose to permeate all facets of life on campus.

Director of Academic Research and Resources and history teacher Hermie Chaney has accepted an offer to teach at Punahou School in Hawaii next year. I am obviously saddened that we will be losing an outstanding educator who has done so much for Sage Hill School over the years, but this was an opportunity for Hermie to teach at a top independent school where her husband, Aaron, attended and where his family still resides. Hermie and Aaron look forward to enrolling their daughter as a fourth generation student at the Punahou School in a few years!

We are pleased to announce that Nikki Imai, Sage Hill’s current Academic Support Librarian and Website Coordinator will be finishing her Masters in Library and Information Science in December, and will become the Director of Library Resources and Website Coordinator this summer. Nikki brings a wealth of knowledge about current electronic resources to the library and is looking forward to creating dynamic information literacy lessons for Sage Hill students. Khara Covington, Sage Hill’s Head Track & Field coach, will take on the full-time role of Library Assistant starting this summer. At the same time, we are conducting a national search to find a new history teacher and plan to announce a new hire shortly.

Another change in the history department is that Ingrid Gustavson will be stepping down as department chair to focus on teaching and spending more time with her two young sons, and Nathan Hayden will be take over the leadership role. During her time as department chair, Ingrid has been part of numerous conversations and initiatives that helped to improve and articulate important aspects of Sage Hill, ranging from the history curriculum to the school’s mission. Nathan brings to his new leadership role a passion for incorporating research through the entire history curriculum and his dedication to making curriculum connections to the Service Learning program.

Mathematics Department:

Founding faculty member and math department chair Noureddine El Alam will depart Sage Hill in June to move to the Murrieta/Temecula area of San Diego, where he has accepted a position at Pacific Ridge School. Noureddine is leaving to move to an area with more affordable housing costs so that he and his wife can purchase a home where they can live with his wife’s parents and support them as they grow older. In his ten years at Sage Hill, Noureddine had tremendous vision in getting the math department to where it is today. We will forever be indebted to him for leaving behind an outstanding program. In addition to his work in the area of mathematics, Noureddine has run a strong soccer program, been a beloved advisor, and has led the charge on many service learning projects that he tied to his curriculum.

We are pleased to announce that Derek Carlson will be the new math department chair. Derek will be working closely with Noureddine over the next few weeks as he transitions into the leadership position. Derek brings a unique perspective to the position with a sincere dedication to working with his colleagues in the mathematics department. Math teacher Dr. Drew Ishii, who has been teaching at Sage Hill on a part-time basis, will expand his teaching duties to a full time position. In addition, in the coming weeks we expect to share the results of our national search for a new math teacher to add to the department.

Science Department:

In the science department, teacher Owen Kiely will be departing Sage Hill to live in Alicante, Spain, where he looks forward to working with kids, paddle-boarding in the Mediterranean and learning Spanish. We welcome science teacher Tyler Zarubin as an exciting addition to our department. Tyler, a Southern California native, comes to Sage Hill from Taipei, Taiwan, where he has spent the past three years teaching high school science. Tyler is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego, spent three years conducting molecular biology research at the Scripps Research Institute and has a Masters degree from Colorado State University.

Additionally, Chris Irwin will step down from his position as department chair to spend more time in the classroom and Dr. Todd Haney will be moving into that role. During Chris’ time as department chair he was instrumental in enriching the science department curriculum, including introducing Scientific Inquiry and Forensic Science courses, leading research trips in Belize, Panama and Australia and guiding his department in increasing opportunities for independent scientific research. Todd looks forward to working with his colleagues in the department to further develop the science curriculum. He is particularly excited about examining avenues for authentic student research on campus and in the local scientific community as well as work on the development of facilities that will permit Sage Hill to offer extraordinary experiences in science education.

As you can see, Sage Hill School continues to provide outstanding educators in key positions throughout the school. While some good people are moving on, we are fortunate to have strong people stepping up. I hope that current Sage Hill families will take advantage of these last few weeks of school to say their goodbyes to our departing faculty and administrators. Alumni will have an opportunity to say goodbye at the June 12 All Alumni Reunion.

Sincerely,

Gordon McNeill

Head of School