Welcome. I'm Cecee Penney, Head of The Academy — and a former teacher here, so I know these classrooms from the inside.
The people below make this school what it is. They're brilliant and endlessly curious, and they bring their own talents and obsessions into the building every day. I'm proud to introduce them.
Aom Brodsley
B.Ed., Teaching English as a Foreign Language, Chiang Mai University · Early Literacy Certification, Institute for Multi-Sensory Education
Rattanawali "Aom" Brodsley has been part of the Academy community since 2021, first as a parent of two alumni, and joined the faculty in 2023. She taught middle school in Thailand before moving to Japan and then the United States, and came to The Academy after serving as a lead second-grade teacher at an Oakland public charter school. She's also worked as a paraeducator supporting students with autism, and for more than a decade co-directed a small Montessori preschool — where she learned to nurture the whole child, emotionally, socially, and academically.
Assistant Teacher
Phoebe Buguey
B.A., Biology, Colorado College · M.L.I.S., San José State University · Clear Credential, Biology & Chemistry
Phoebe is entering her fourth year at The Academy, where she teaches all lower-school science and the advanced science seminar for upper-school scholars. As Science Director, she looks after the coherence, relevance, and challenge of the science program as a whole. Confident investigation and argumentation are the cornerstone of her teaching, and her philosophy balances academic rigor with the joy of exploration — priorities that sit naturally inside a classical education, which cultivates the curiosity and critical reasoning that real problem-solving demands.
Outside the classroom, Phoebe champions rescue-dog adoption, potters about in her bonsai garden, cherishes her family, celebrates life as a devoted pug enthusiast, and will happily debate the merits of any book or TV show you bring her.
Lower-School Science Teacher / Science Director
5th Grade TeacherKelly Cochran
B.A., History, Sonoma State University · Multiple Subject Teaching Credential
Kelly has taught fifth grade at The Academy since 2006, following three years at Bransford Elementary in Fairfield. That makes him one of the school's longest-tenured teachers — nearly two decades with Academy fifth-graders.
Mr. Cochran has dedicated lots of time exploring history, and lean’s on Howard Zinn’s People History of the United States to empower his students to appricate the fullest picture of US history.
SpanishErick Chong
Profe 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 before earning his master's in teaching at Portland State. He comes to us from Portland Public Schools, where he taught dual language immersion for four years, delivering social studies and Spanish language arts to classes of twenty-five and more. Alongside teaching he designs curriculum, including immersion frameworks and a full Spanish-as-a-world-language sequence aligned to state standards, and he coaches other teachers in literacy instruction. He arrives to build our Spanish program from the ground up, kindergarten through eighth grade.
4th Grade TeacherIlene Drobny
B.A., Psychology, Gonzaga University · Teaching credentials, California & Washington
Ilene taught across a range of schools and grade levels during her credentialing program and found her greatest joy in upper elementary. She joined The Academy as an assistant teacher in 2020 and found her niche in fourth grade. Her students show their learning through thoughtful projects — research, writing, and presentations that connect their ideas to history and community. Believing school extends past the classroom, she launched The Academy's pen pal program linking 4th–8th graders with students in Adaklu, Ghana.
Dedicated to service, she volunteers regularly and encourages her students to be active, engaged citizens. Outside teaching, Ilene sings, bakes, reads, and dotes on her cat, Moose. She also loves teaching alongside her aunt, The Academy's long-serving art teacher, Ms. Drobny.
3rd GradeJeremiah Cruz
B.A., History & French Literature, California State University East Bay · Minor, Italian · M.A. in progress, French Literature
Jeremiah comes to third grade from a decade of teaching across nearly every kind of classroom: elementary students in Oakland Unified, adults at City College of San Francisco, native speakers at the Lycée Français de San Francisco, and community learners at the Alliance Française.
That range shows up in how he reads a room. He knows what a lesson looks like when it lands and what to do when it doesn't. At OUSD he coached a fourth grader to first place in the MLK Oratorical Festival, spending weeks with a nine-year-old until she could stand in front of an audience and hold it. Third grade is the year the work gets harder in visible ways, and he is unhurried about it.
Scott Emerson
B.A., English Language & Literature, Tougaloo College · M.A., English, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
A native of St. Louis with deep Mississippi roots and a proud HBCU legacy, Scott brings more than ten years as an educator across summer and after-school program development, collegiate instruction, and professional development in AI, DEI, and job readiness. He's a certified DEI Trainer through the Center for Equity and Inclusion and is working toward Executive Coach certification from the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute.
In his work with young people, Scott leads with joy, self-determination, critical imagination, and global citizenship. Outside school you'll find him hiking, playing soccer, African and house dancing, barbecuing, gardening, or chasing new cultures through travel.
Associate TeacherVictoria Elias
B.A., Religion & Italian Studies, Vassar College · M.Ed., Childhood Education, Bank Street College
Victoria comes to The Academy with ten years of teaching across a range of schools, most recently in second and third grade in Baltimore and Maryland. Her graduate work at Bank Street shaped a practice built on progressive principles: socioemotional growth as central to learning, play as part of how children think, and each child as an agent in their own education. She's known for building trusting partnerships with students and families and for designing hands-on, conceptual lessons that reach many different kinds of learners.
1st Grade Teacher
Admission Associate /Latin TeacherDr. Layla Forest-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.
Lisa Fox-Mullen
B.A., Tufts University · M.P.P., UCLA
Lisa has been strengthening mission-driven organizations since 2000, and joined The Academy in 2023 after leadership roles at a consulting firm, a free-speech law firm, and a B Corp real estate agency. Early in her career she was a Legislative Advocate for the New York Civil Liberties Union, where she led a statewide partnership for LGBTQ rights, including marriage equality and transgender protections. That work grounded a belief she still holds: impactful work needs a solid operational foundation underneath it.
She's drawn to the classical idea of shared accountability — building a workplace where people value each other as individuals and grow as a community, one centered on students and families as much as faculty. Lisa came to The Academy as a parent first; her two children are perpetually baffled by her love of fresh air and open windows ("What is it with you and cross-ventilation?"). If you can't find her, try the hammock on the roof deck. She fell for the East Bay during a year of AmeriCorps VISTA service in Richmond, having never set foot in California before, and it's been home ever since.
Head of Operations
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 creative writing to just about every age, from eighth-graders in Brooklyn to graduate students in the Bay. She's also a practicing poet with two published books, and co-founder and co-editor of a small press.
Middle school is a famously hard stretch — anyone who lived through it remembers. It's also when students start to recognize themselves in new ways. Jane sees it as a gift to hand them literature they can feel recognized in, and to walk alongside them as they build knowledge together and grow the critical thinking and communication skills that will serve them wherever they go.
Upper School English & Literature
French TeacherDr. 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 served as instructor of record for upper-division French. His work treats French not as a single European language but as a global one shaped by the African Diaspora, Louisiana's Cajun and Creole cultures, and other histories — a view he brings into the classroom through cultural events, language games, and conversation. His teaching leans on comprehensible-input methods that help young learners build confidence in their own speaking and writing before they're asked to perform.
3rd Grade TeacherMegan Littlefield
B.A., Art Education, San Francisco State University · M.A., Curriculum Design & Instruction, University of the Pacific
Megan joined The Academy in 2018 and teaches third grade alongside her role as Lower School Dean. She came with three years at Cathedral School for Boys in San Francisco and a range of public-school classrooms from her credentialing years, plus a wide background working with children as a nanny, camp director, art teacher, dance teacher, and tutor. Her strength is connection — meeting students where they are and drawing out their full potential — and she builds a classroom around critical thinking, creativity, and the resilience to keep going at hard things.
In her free time Megan bikes, takes ballet classes, reads, and explores the outdoors with her husband and son. She's often found reading tarot or falling down a floriography rabbit hole, and she's a live-music fan and a passionate cook always after something new to learn.
Kim Rankin
B.A., Music, Duke University · M.A., Music, UC Berkeley
Kim has taught music at The Academy for eight years and has conducted Bay Area choirs for more than three decades. A classically trained pianist and multi-instrumentalist, she's a veteran of local musical theater pits and opera orchestras. Her teaching is grounded in musicianship, literacy, and performance, blending the Kodály and Orff traditions with other methods — the aim being a high degree of music literacy alongside real technical proficiency, and an understanding that every player carries responsibility for the whole ensemble's success. She takes her north star from Kodály: a good musician needs a well-trained ear, mind, hand, and heart, all developing together in constant equilibrium.
Beyond The Academy, Kim directs the music program at Montclair Presbyterian Church and sings with Ensemble Cherubim, a professional choir performing traditional Ukrainian choral music. She's a recent graduate of Bobby McFerrin's CircleSong School, and spends as much time as she can hiking and biking the California outdoors with her family.
Music Teacher
Front Office AssociateIan Salter
B.A., Business Administration, Dominican University of California
A Bay Area native, Ian joined The Academy in 2022. Before that he played basketball at the University of Toledo and in England — experiences that deepened a love of teamwork and perseverance he now brings to the front desk and to his work as a 7th grade advisor. He values The Academy's close-knit community and enjoys building strong relationships with students across the school.
Outside of work, Ian plays basketball, camps in California's redwoods, travels, and gardens at home.
Mathematics TeacherShivani Savdharia
B.A., Economics, UC Berkeley · M.A., Education, UC Berkeley · California Teaching Credential
Shivani has spent twenty years building learning communities grounded in inquiry, discourse, and connection. She began as a bilingual Peace Corps educator in Nicaragua and has since taught mathematics at independent schools across the Bay Area, including The Nueva School, Julia Morgan School for Girls, and The Athenian School, and served most recently as Assistant Principal at Yu Ming Charter School. Drawing on the classical trivium — foundational knowledge to reasoning to articulation — she pushes students to think critically, communicate clearly, and learn from one another. A former Learning & Development Lead at the design firm IDEO, she also brings design-thinking into how she teaches.
Outside school, Shivani loves farmers' markets, hikes in the redwoods, and gardening with her husband, plus arts and crafts with her two kids, bold colors, and global textiles. She dreams of minimalism but embraces a colorful, maximalist spirit — forever trying to bring a little more order into the mix.
Aftercare DirectorCatherine Sampietro
Catherine "Mama" Sampietro has been at The Academy since 1986! She has held many roles over her 30+ years at The Academy including being a P.E. Teacher.
Catherine now runs the after-school program.
Veronica Simms
B.A. & M.A., Clinical Social Work (Child Development), Indiana University of Pennsylvania · Teaching Credential, Saint Vincent College
Veronica has taught elementary grades for over twenty years, nearly all of them at The Academy. She came to teaching by an unusual route: after earning her degrees in clinical social work with an emphasis in child development and working two years as a children's therapist, she taught English in Gallarate, Italy, which cemented her love of the classroom. She earned her credential at Saint Vincent College and taught in the DC public schools before finding her way here. She believes every student can succeed, and uses The Academy's small classes to read each child's developmental and confidence level closely — supporting and challenging each one according to exactly what they need.
In her classroom, students learn to take responsibility for their own learning and actions, and to become independent, self-assured thinkers who respect each other and the world around them. Outside it, Veronica loves the outdoors — backpacking, biking, hiking — and time with friends and her spoiled dog, Little Bell, often on the trails at Tilden.
2nd Grade Teacher
Griffin Stevens
B.A., Philosophy, Haverford College · M.A., Sociology of Education, San Francisco State University
Griffin has been at The Academy since 2020, and came to it with teaching experience from St. Ann's School, 826 Valencia, the Contemporary Jewish Museum, and Presidio Knolls School. In his classroom, students work through primary and secondary sources to engage the enduring questions that have shaped human societies, building real skill in writing, research, debate, and critical thinking along the way. He's especially committed to building relationships with students and lighting up their interest in history through Socratic dialogue — his philosophy background and his grounding in how schools serve communities help him push students toward deeper questions about the texts they read and the world around them.
Outside class, Griffin reads historical fiction, fantasy, and philosophy, plays tennis, and listens to jazz, which he loves sharing with his students.
History Teacher
P.E. TeacherScott Thompson
B.A., Political Science, University of Florida · M.A., Cello Performance, San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Scott is in his tenth year teaching PE, with experience at public and independent schools across Oakland, and he specializes in making physical activity genuinely engaging for elementary and middle-school students. A former competitive swimmer, he finished his career as an Olympic Trials qualifier and captain of the University of Florida swim team, and he's the founding director of Oaklantis, a swim school and team in East Oakland. He brings a real love of fitness, teamwork, and conflict resolution to his work with kids.
Scott is also a conservatory-trained cellist. Alongside teaching and performing, he plays cello bedside for people at the end of their lives — offering families a moment of quiet, presence, and beauty during a profound time. He sees the two crafts as kin: athletics and cello both ask for integrity and the patient development of specific movements in the body.
Upper-School Science Teacher / Makers TeacherJoshua Tsang
B.A., Business Administration (Marketing), UC Riverside · California Teaching Credential, CSU Long Beach
Joshua brings classroom experience across grades K–8, most recently as a lead teacher at the YMCA and a program leader with ThinkTogether, where he built daily routines, ran engaging lesson plans, and helped students through the return to in-person learning. He's fluent in Mandarin, comfortable weaving technology into the classroom, and has a long volunteer history — including a month teaching English in under-resourced schools in Taiwan. His steadiness with students, especially around the harder emotional moments of a school day, runs through everything he's done.
Outside school, Joshua climbs, throws pottery, plays Dungeons & Dragons, and competes in video games — where he actually places.
Peter Wallis
B.F.A., Maine College of Art · M.F.A., Goddard College
Peter joins The Academy in 2026 to lead the Art and Makers programs, after two decades teaching studio art and running maker spaces at schools across the country — including the Academy of Thought and Industry, Turning Point School, and the Putney School in Vermont, with a year of Montessori training along the way. He's a practicing, exhibiting artist whose work has shown at the de Young, the Getty, and galleries from Portland to Hollywood. His teaching is studio-first and project-based: students meet the work where they are, find their own voice and choice in what they make, and build real skill across printmaking, design, and digital media. As he puts it, his teaching drives his own work in the studio, and the reverse is just as true.
Art Teacher / Makers Teacher