Meet Our Faculty and Staff

Name: Julia Ripperton
Preferred Pronouns: She/her
Title: 1st Grade Teacher
What year did you start working at Marin Horizon? 2019
What school(s) did you attend? University of San Francisco, B.A. Psychology, Multiple Subject Teaching Credential; Masters in Teaching
Why did you want to become a teacher? I love helping children develop a love for learning. I think it is so important to be a lifelong learner and any part I can play in helping my students find what they love is special to me. 
What continues to inspire and drive you to teach? The joy on kids' faces when they have an "ah-ha" moment inspires me to be the best teacher I can be. 
What’s your favorite thing about being a teacher? I love to teach children how to read. It is such a magical process to witness. I say it is my superpower!

Name: Kathy Piscioneri
Preferred Pronouns: She, her, hers
Title: Art Teacher
Grade(s) Taught: K-8
What year did you start working at Marin Horizon? 2018
What school(s) did you attend? CUNY Queens College, BA Fine Art. Parsons School of Design, Paris, Independent Study, Painting. CUNY Queens College MSEd. Elementary Education, Specialty: Children’s Literature
Why did you want to become a teacher? I was surrounded by teachers and I loved all the stories they told about their students—I wanted to have my own stories like that!

Name: Olivia Thomas
Preferred Pronouns: She/Her
Title: Preschool Teacher associate, Horizon Community School
Grade(s) Taught: Preschool 
Where did you grow up? All over but mostly in Marin.
Where do you live now? Marin
What school(s) did you attend? Whitman College 
Who do you live with? Partner, progeny, pet, plants? Pets and plants.
Why did you want to become a teacher? My dad was a teacher and he was my role model. 
What continues to inspire and drive you to teach? I love the children that I work with every day. 

Name: Katelyn Wellnitz
Preferred Pronouns: She/her
Title: Middle School Math Teacher
Where did you grow up? Philadelphia area
Where do you live now? San Francisco—Inner Sunset
What school(s) did you attend? Arcadia University
Who do you live with? Partner, progeny, pet, plants? Partner, Alex, and my dog Koopa (and several unhappy plants who aren't getting enough attention) 
Why did you want to become a teacher? I realized how much I enjoy working with kids during my years working at a summer camp in college. It was an incredibly rewarding experience. 
What continues to inspire and drive you to teach? I enjoy the fact that the job changes every day, that I can help students become critical thinkers and engaged citizens, and that I can help students build confidence in their math work. 
What’s your favorite thing about being a teacher/working at a school? My favorite thing about being a teacher is building relationships with my students. 
Do you have any hobbies? I enjoy playing soccer, running, hiking, rock climbing, and reading. 
Why Marin Horizon? I enjoy the small size and the community feel. 
What has been your experience at Marin Horizon so far? It has been great—I feel like teacher voices are heard, teams support each other, and students are enthusiastic and friendly.  
Which of our Pillars resonates with you the most and why? (We are insatiably curious, We are complex thinkers, We embrace challenge, We are active community members, We have a voice) We are complex thinkers—it is a complex world right now and teaching students to look at things from multiple perspectives is important.

Congrats to Middle School Humanities teacher and Marin Horizon alum Jesse Pearson, whose piece "Seeking a Pandemic Alternative to Tough Love" was just published by the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Independent Ideas blog. As Jesse writes, "How am I—or any of us—supposed to know how to get through this?" 

Click here to check it out.

Name: Evan Duffy-Ledbetter
Preferred Pronouns: He/Him
Title: Assistant 3rd Grade Teacher
Where did you grow up? University Park, Maryland
Where do you live now? Petaluma, CA
What school(s) did you attend? James Madison University, University of the Pacific
Who do you live with? Partner, progeny, pet, plants? Solo w/ plants
Why did you want to become a teacher? Because I wanted to do something good with my life.
What continues to inspire and drive you to teach? Seeing students grow and develop.

Congrats to Middle School Humanities teacher and Marin Horizon alum Jesse Pearson, whose piece "Holden Caulfield, Superspreader" was just published by McSweeney's Internet Tendency. As Jesse said, could there be anything more middle school English teacher-ish than a Catcher in the Rye parody? 

Click here to check it out.

Name: Cara Huttinger
Preferred Pronouns: She/Her
Title: Teacher
Grade(s) taught currently at Marin Horizon/HCS: 2nd grade
Where did you grow up? Yountville, California
What school(s) did you attend? San Francisco State University (undergrad), Touro University (graduate) 
Why did you want to become a teacher? To support all children in learning. I struggled in school as a child and wanted to help children succeed. I love learning and the engagement with kids!

Hi! My name is Carol Goldman, your new Development Associate. I'm excited to join you, where we share a passion for the mission at Marin Horizon. You can say I'm a life-long learner and genuinely enjoy being a part of a community where we nurture the same in our students and families. In the past, I've held countless volunteer roles at other independent schools ranging from an envelope stuffer to Board Chair...enjoying the challenges and rewards of each and every job. Really! I hope you have fun learning more about me through these fun tidbits about me:  

Danny Scuderi, Director of Primary and Lower Elementary, will be performing spoken-word poetry at Mill Valley's Sweetwater on Tuesday, May 14 as part of "ScreenSense Does Sweetwater." Co-hosted by our very own PA President, Tarja Settles (!) this event will feature songs and poetry from an all-star line-up, all in the spirit of unplugging for a few moments of our technology-laden lives.

You can buy tickets here.