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Welcome. I'm Cecee Penney, Head of The Academy School and a former Academy School teacher.

The people below make this school what it is. They're brilliant and endlessly curious. I'm proud to introduce them.

‘There is no teaching without learning.’
—Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of Freedom

The heart of an education is the relation between a teacher and a student. Our teachers are scholars of their subjects and close observers of children. Eighty-one percent hold advanced degrees, and all of them are still learning. They chose teaching as a calling. They hold to demanding standards because they respect what children can do, and they stay beside each child until the child can do it. Good teaching is founded on love: of a subject, of the craft, and of the students in the room.

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Aom Brodsley

B.Ed., Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Chiang Mai University · Early Literacy Certification, Institute for Multi-Sensory Education

Aom taught middle school in Thailand before her path took her through Japan to the Bay Area, where she led a second-grade classroom at an Oakland charter school and co-directed a small Montessori preschool for a decade. She came to The Academy as a parent in 2021 and joined the faculty in 2023; both of her children are alumni. She also worked as a paraeducator supporting students with autism.

Assistant Teacher

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Phoebe Buguey

B.A., Biology, Colorado College · M.L.I.S., San José State University · Clear Credential, Biology & Chemistry

Phoebe studied biology at Colorado College and joined The Academy in 2023. She teaches science to every Lower School grade, runs the advanced science seminar for Upper School students, and as Science Director keeps the whole program coherent and challenging.

Outside school she champions rescue-dog adoption, tends a bonsai garden, dotes on her pugs, and will happily debate any book or TV show you bring her.

Lower School Science Teacher and Science Director

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Fifth Grade Teacher

Kelly Cochran

B.A., History, Sonoma State University · Multiple Subject Teaching Credential

Kelly studied history at Sonoma State and has taught fifth grade at The Academy since 2006, after three years at Bransford Elementary in Fairfield, which makes him one of the school’s longest-tenured teachers. History is his first love, and he wants his students to see the fullest picture of the American story—and he leans on Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States to get them there.

Spanish Teacher

Erick Chong

B.A., Spanish Language and Literature, San José State University · M.A.T., Secondary Education, Portland State University

Erick studied Spanish language and literature at San José State, earned his master’s in teaching at Portland State, and spent four years teaching dual-language immersion in Portland Public Schools. He also designs curriculum, including immersion frameworks and a full Spanish-as-a-world-language sequence aligned to state standards, and coaches other teachers in literacy instruction. He came to The Academy in 2026 to build the Spanish program from the ground up, kindergarten through eighth grade, and his students call him Profe Chong.

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Fourth Grade Teacher

Ilene Drobny

B.A., Psychology, Gonzaga University · Teaching credentials, California & Washington

Ilene studied psychology at Gonzaga and found her calling in upper elementary. She joined The Academy as an assistant teacher in 2020, settled into fourth grade, and started the pen pal program that links our fourth through eighth graders with students in Adaklu, Ghana.

Outside school she sings, bakes, reads, volunteers, and dotes on her cat, Moose.

Third Grade Teacher

Jeremiah Cruz

B.A., History & French Literature, California State University East Bay · Minor, Italian · M.A. in progress, French Literature

Jeremiah studied history and French literature at Cal State East Bay and has taught for a decade in nearly every kind of classroom: elementary students in Oakland Unified, adults at City College of San Francisco, native speakers at the Lycée Français, and community learners at the Alliance Française. He teaches third grade, the year the work gets harder in visible ways, and he is unhurried about it.

At OUSD he coached a group of nine-year-old to first place in the MLK Oratorical Festival.

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Scott Emerson

B.A., English Language & Literature, Tougaloo College · M.A., English, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Scott grew up in St. Louis with deep Mississippi roots, studied English at Tougaloo College, and earned his master's at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. He brings more than ten years as an educator, from college classrooms to summer and after-school programs, and he leads with joy. He is a certified DEI trainer and is working toward executive-coaching certification.

Outside school you’ll find him hiking, playing soccer, dancing, barbecuing, gardening, or exploring a new country.

Associate Teacher

Victoria Elias

B.A., Religion & Italian Studies, Vassar College · M.Ed., Childhood Education, Bank Street College

Victoria studied religion and Italian at Vassar and trained as a teacher at Bank Street, where she learned to treat play as part of how children think and each child as the agent of their own learning. She came to The Academy after ten years of teaching, most recently second and third grade in Baltimore.

Outside school she enjoys reading, cooking, exploring new places, and spending time with family and friends.

First Grade Teacher

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Admissions Associate and Latin Teacher

Dr. Layla Forrest-White

B.A., Classics, Reed College · Ph.D., Comparative Literature, UC Berkeley

Layla grew up in San Francisco reading Greek myths, and the Latin she fell for early carried her through a Classics degree at Reed and a doctorate at Berkeley. Alongside teaching Latin, she's a writer, editor, and researcher.

In her free time she picks up other languages, reads, plays basketball, swims, and travels.

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Lisa Fox-Mullen

B.A., Tufts University · M.P.P., UCLA

Lisa has spent her career keeping mission-driven organizations running well, from a consulting firm and a law firm to a B Corp real estate agency, and she came to The Academy as a parent before joining the staff in 2023. Earlier in her career, she served as a Legislative Advocate for the New York Civil Liberties Union, working on LGBTQ rights. She fell for the East Bay during a year of AmeriCorps service in Richmond and never left.

If you can’t find her, try the hammock on the roof deck. Her two children remain baffled by her love of open windows.

Head of Operations

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Dr. Jane Gregory

B.A., English, Vassar College · M.F.A., Creative Writing, Iowa Writers' Workshop · Ph.D., English Literature, UC Berkeley

Jane grew up in Tucson and has taught literature and writing to nearly every age, from eighth graders in Brooklyn to graduate students at Berkeley, where she earned her doctorate. She is a poet with two published books and co-editor of a small press, and she thinks middle school is exactly the moment to hand a student a book they can find themselves in.

Upper School English Teacher

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French Teacher

Dr. Ian Lancaster

B.A., French Language & Literature, Oakland University · M.A., Francophone Studies, University of Louisiana at Lafayette · Ph.D., French & Francophone Studies, UC Davis

Ian comes to The Academy from UC Davis, where he earned his doctorate in French and Francophone studies and taught upper-division French. He teaches French as a global language, shaped as much by Louisiana and West Africa as by Paris, and he gets young learners talking through games, conversation, and cultural events before anyone has to perform.

In his free time he reads, cooks, listens to live music, and explores the Bay Area with friends and family.

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Kindergarten Teacher and Lower School Dean

Megan Littlefield

B.A., Art Education, San Francisco State University · M.A., Curriculum Design & Instruction, University of the Pacific

Megan studied art education at San Francisco State and came to The Academy in 2018 after three years at Cathedral School for Boys, with a résumé that also includes camp director, dance teacher, and nanny. She teaches third grade and serves as Lower School Dean, and her gift is meeting a child exactly where they are.

In her free time she bikes, takes ballet, cooks, reads tarot, and heads outdoors with her husband and son.

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Kim Rankin

B.A., Music, Duke University · M.A., Music, UC Berkeley

Kim studied music at Duke and Berkeley, has conducted Bay Area choirs for more than three decades, and has taught at The Academy since 2018. A classically trained pianist with years in theater pits and opera orchestras, she builds her program on the Kodály and Orff traditions: a well-trained ear, mind, hand, and heart, growing together.

Beyond school she directs music at Montclair Presbyterian Church, sings Ukrainian choral music with Ensemble Cherubim, and hikes and bikes with her family. She is also a graduate of Bobby McFerrin’s CircleSong School.

Music Teacher

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Front Office Associate

Ian Salter

B.A., Business Administration, Dominican University of California

Ian is a Bay Area native who played basketball at the University of Toledo and in England before joining The Academy in 2022. He runs the front desk and advises seventh graders, and he brings the same teamwork to both.

Outside work he plays basketball, camps in the redwoods, travels, and gardens.

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Mathematics Teacher

Shivani Savdharia

B.A., Economics, UC Berkeley · M.A., Education, UC Berkeley · California Teaching Credential

Shivani studied economics and then education at Berkeley, began teaching as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua, and has since taught math at Nueva, Julia Morgan, and Athenian and served as an assistant principal at Yu Ming. A former learning lead at the design firm IDEO, she teaches math by asking questions and building things.

Outside school she loves farmers' markets, redwood hikes, gardening with her husband, crafts with her two kids, and anything in a bold color.

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Aftercare Director

Catherine Sampietro

Catherine, known to generations of students as Mama, has been at The Academy since 1986 and has held nearly every role in the building, including P.E. teacher.

She now runs the after-school program, and for many students she is the last familiar face of the school day.

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Veronica Simms

B.A. & M.A., Clinical Social Work (Child Development), Indiana University of Pennsylvania · Teaching Credential, Saint Vincent College

Veronica trained as a clinical social worker and worked two years as a children's therapist before a stint teaching English in Gallarate, Italy, convinced her the classroom was home. After earning her credential and teaching in the DC public schools she came to The Academy, where she has spent most of her twenty-plus years in elementary classrooms.

Outside school she backpacks, bikes, and hikes, often on the Tilden trails with her spoiled dog, Little Bell.

Second Grade Teacher

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Griffin Stevens

B.A., Philosophy, Haverford College · M.A., Sociology of Education, San Francisco State University

Griffin studied philosophy at Haverford and the sociology of education at San Francisco State, and taught at St. Ann's, 826 Valencia, and Presidio Knolls before joining The Academy in 2020. His students read primary sources and argue about them, and his philosophy training shows in the questions he asks.

Outside class he reads historical fiction, fantasy, and philosophy, plays tennis, and listens to jazz, which he loves sharing with his students.

Upper School Dean and History Teacher

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P.E. Teacher

Scott Thompson

B.A., Political Science, University of Florida · M.A., Cello Performance, San Francisco Conservatory of Music

Scott captained the swim team at the University of Florida and qualified for the Olympic Trials, and he is the founding director of Oaklantis, a swim school and team in East Oakland. He has taught P.E. in Oakland schools since 2017, and he has a gift for making movement something students look forward to.

He is also a conservatory-trained cellist who plays bedside for people at the end of their lives; he sees the two crafts as kin.

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Upper School Science and Makers Teacher

Joshua Tsang

B.A., Business Administration (Marketing), UC Riverside · California Teaching Credential, CSU Long Beach

Joshua earned his credential at Cal State Long Beach and has taught across grades K–8, most recently as a lead teacher at the YMCA and a program leader with Think Together. He is fluent in Mandarin, once spent a month teaching English in under-resourced schools in Taiwan, and is the steady presence students want in the harder moments of a school day.

Outside school he climbs, throws pottery, plays Dungeons & Dragons, and competes in video games, where he actually places.

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Peter Wallis

B.F.A., Maine College of Art · M.F.A., Goddard College

Peter joined The Academy in 2026 after two decades teaching studio art and running maker spaces at schools across the country, including the Putney School in Vermont. He is a working artist whose pieces have shown at the de Young and the Getty, and his classroom runs like a studio: students find their own voice and build real skill in printmaking, design, and digital media.

As he puts it, his teaching drives his own work, and the reverse is just as true.

Art and Makers Teacher

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