News

Santa Catalina School welcomed several new faculty and staff members for the 2022-23 school year.

Diana Lara greets students and families in the front office as the Upper School administrative assistant. She spent the previous 10 years with Monterey Peninsula Unified School District, where she was a bilingual community liaison and school office supervisor. Read more about Ms. Lara.

Dr. Raegan Russell teaches English and art history. She holds a B.A. in medieval studies and English from the University of Chicago, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in medieval studies from Cornell University. She previously taught at boarding and day schools in Indiana and New York and served as a resident faculty member—experience she will transfer to her role at Catalina. Read more about Dr. Russell.

Kendra Klein is Santa Catalina’s new athletic director. She holds an A.A. in general education from Santa Rosa Junior College and a B.A. in political science from CSU Northridge, where she was a Division I athlete in water polo. She has spent much of her 17-year career coaching water polo and swimming at the college level, and will help lead the Cougar water polo team this fall. Read more about Coach Klein.

Stori Zinkhann and Madison Jones joined the admissions department over the summer. Ms. Zinkhann studied at West Virginia University, earning a B.A. in German and English and an M.A. in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). She has worked at independent schools in academics and admissions, and is fluent in German and Japanese. Ms. Jones is a recent graduate of Coastal Carolina University, where she earned a B.A. in intelligence and national security studies. She will bring her experience as a boarding school graduate to her role as a member of the resident faculty.

Erica George joined the resident faculty team toward the end of the 2021-22 school year. She is the assistant director of Summer at Santa Catalina and the director of the Lower and Middle School’s after-school program. She holds a B.A. in English language and literature and adolescent education from SUNY Geneseo and an M.A. in international education from New York University. Read more about Ms. George.

Other new faces around campus include Maria Chavez in human resources, Annie Harmon in communications, and Brian Saxton in maintenance.