Faculty & Staff Updates for the 2022-23 School Year

 

As we define the path to success for the current school year, we have made two important shifts to the leadership team here at TMS. 

 

First, Michael Orman will now be serving as our Interim Advancement Director. Michael joined The Meadows School two years ago as the Director of Arts, providing vision and leadership through the pandemic which enabled students to showcase their passion for the arts. Prior to The Meadows, he spent eleven years in Dallas at Greenhill School, where he supported the school's largest development project. This $52.5 million campaign included a new performing arts center, two athletic fields, an outdoor pavilion, and growing the endowment fund by $10 million. Michael's varied background in mathematics, the arts, and school leadership will be an asset to the Advancement Office and the community.

 

Second, with Michael's transition away from the arts, Denitza Larsen will now serve as the Arts Department Chair. Denitza joined The Meadows on 2004 as an afterschool violin instructor and has most recently served as our orchestra and strings instructor. She has also been performing for 25 years with her credits including the Alicia Keys Tour, Andrea Bocelli Tour, Elton John Las Vegas Agassi Foundation Concert, Whitney Houston Lifetime Achievement Performance for the BET Awards, Rod Stewart at Caesars Palace performance, David Foster and Friends DVD, Las Vegas Philharmonic, Phantom the Las Vegas Production, Finnegan’s Wake Celtic Rock Band, and many others. In her free time, she enjoys running, hiking, yoga, and spending time with her husband and two sons, who are also Meadows students. We look forward to her taking on a larger roller in our art department this year.

 

 

During the first week of August, our newest Meadows employees spent three days learning about the school and preparing to start the new year. With so much growth happening around campus, we have a large and excited group of new hires joining us, and we look forward to you getting to know them, both from the brief bios below as well as in person.

Lower School

Bryan Astudillo will be teaching Lower and Middle School P.E. He is in his fourth year of teaching. Bryan was at Amplus Academy in Nevada last year. He is also currently the head cross country coach at The College of Southern Nevada. He was born in Brooklyn, NY, and raised in Miami, FL.

Nick DiPasquale is joining our Athletic Department as a P.E. instructor. He comes from California where he was a P.E. teacher for the last 17 years. He has coached various levels of basketball and volleyball throughout his career as well. Nick's hobbies are hiking and weightlifting.

Jan Kaanoi is joining the Lower school office at The Meadows School. Jan has lived in Las Vegas for 27 years. She previously worked at the Alexander Dawson School for twenty years with 17 of those years being the Assistant Librarian and three years working in the front office. During her free time, Jan enjoys working out and doing spin as well as traveling. Jan has twin daughters that graduated from The Meadows School in 2013.

Ellie Snow is a third grade teacher in the Lower School. She comes to us from Cambridge, England. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Roehampton in South West London. She then qualified as a teacher in 2014 through The Institute of Education in London. Since then, Ellie has taught in both England and Kuwait. Living in the Middle East and Europe allowed her to indulge in her passion for travel, visiting 47 countries so far. She hopes to continue this by exploring more of the US.

Middle School

Matthew Albert will be teaching 6th grade English. He was last at Doral Red Rock Charter School for six years and is entering his 15th year of teaching. He is from Illinois and has been in Las Vegas since 2013. He is a fan of the Chicago White Sox. He has a 90's sitcom addiction and trivia game shows are his jam. He is actively involved in coaching Middle School students in the Vegas area Quiz Bowl, which he helped spearhead and develop here. Fun fact, he has marched in the Rose Bowl Parade twice.

 

Taylor Bogan is the new Music/Drama teacher at The Meadows. She has been teaching for over 10 years and this is her first time at a day school. She brings a diversity of experience having taught at the university level as a grad assistant, and in auxiliary programs in after-school arts programs. Her most recent teaching post was at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, Oahu.

Ian Devlin will be teaching 6th grade Science. He is from Michigan and has been teaching for 18 years, with two years in North Carolina and 16 years in Las Vegas. Prior to joining TMS, he taught high school science at Bishop Gorman for 16 years. As a National Geographic Grosvenor Fellow, Mr. Devlin is passionate about getting students excited about the natural world and their place in it.

Elizabeth Harutyunyan comes to The Meadows with nine years of experience teaching in the Las Vegas Valley. Most recently, she taught high school chemistry and biology at Cristo Rey St. Viator High School. This year, she will be teaching 7th grade Life Science. Elizabeth loves teaching middle and high school because the students are fun, goofy, and unequivocally themselves. When not teaching, Elizabeth loves to spend time with her fraternal twins and expand her language skills by learning Armenian and Russian. Barev!

Steve Scholl is our new Academic Coach for the Middle School. Steve was born and raised in a suburb of Chicago, and moved to Las Vegas a mere three weeks ago. He taught Special Education for 23 years at Park Ridge Maine South (in the subject area of General Science). He also coached basketball and golf there.

 

Kelley Smith will be teaching 6th grade Ancient Civilizations. Most recently, she worked at the Salvation Army, specifically with homeless veterans. Prior to that, she taught for eight years in the Clark County School District and at Somerset Academy. A Vegas resident for 23 years, Kelley has two grown daughters (a chef and a fourth-degree martial artist) and two puppies spoiled beyond belief. An avid reader and crafter, Kelley is proud of her Tervis cup addiction, which has resulted in a collection of almost 200 of the finest cups.

Brian Woodson will be a Middle School History teacher. Born and raised in Las Vegas, he is an alumnus of Cashman Middle School and Bishop Gorman High School. He received his bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a master's degree in secondary education from Sierra Nevada College. Mr. Woodson has over 15 years of teaching experience, and he taught several English and social studies-related subjects in South Korea for over 11 years. In his free time, Mr. Woodson enjoys rock climbing, golfing, and K-POP!

Upper School

Shawn Atencio will be starting his 20th year of teaching here at TMS. He will be our new Chemistry teacher and last taught this subject at The Marin School in San Rafael, CA. Shawn is no stranger to teaching in Las Vegas, as he formerly taught at The Adelson Educational Campus.

 

Grayson Bell has been in education for the last four years and is joining The Meadows in his first role as an Academic Coach for the Upper School. He most recently taught at Excelsior Charter School in Victorville, CA. Grayson remembers being that student who didn't enjoy school, he is an enthusiastic advocate for helping all students find their place. In his free time, he writes speculative and historical fiction.

Kaden Conrad is the new Upper School/Middle School librarian. Kaden brings over 15 years of experience positioning reading, technology, and research assets in the lower, middle, and upper divisions at the Trinity School in New York.

Christine Kelley will spend her 24th year in the classroom as part of our Upper School Math department. Prior to The Meadows, she spent seventeen years teaching upper division math and six in Middle School. She is originally from Miami, FL.

Courtney Stern has joined the English department in the Upper School. She is going into her 14th year as a classroom teacher. She most recently taught at Adelson Educational Campus here in Las Vegas. Her teaching experience spans 6th-12th grade including honors and AP courses. She is also a National Board Certified teacher who facilitates cohorts for teachers across the Las Vegas Valley. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and their three dogs. Although she is a California native, Las Vegas has been her home for the last 10 years.

Ashley McKannon has taught Social Studies in grades 6-12 for the past 8 years. As she begins her 9th year, she will be teaching Upper School Honors European History, Honors U.S. History, and Economics & Personal Finance. Her most recent position was the Social Studies Department Chair at The Adelson Educational Campus. She holds a Master’s in Middle Eastern, S. Asian, and African Studies from Columbia. She also loves baking, cooking, gardening, and knitting.

Eva Wang will be teaching Mandarin Chinese in the Upper School. Hailing from mainland China, Eva brings 10 years of experience having taught in Rutgers, New Jersey, and most recently, at Coronado High School. A resident of Las Vegas since 2017, Eva has two sons; an 11-month infant and a 4-year-old who will be attending our Beginning School.

All-School

Kiana Carter is the Assistant to the Athletic Director here at TMS. She is a Las Vegas native and graduated from Legacy High School in 2018. Kiana recently graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in December of 2021 with a B.S. in Kinesiology. This is her 4th year as a coach with the Human Performance team here at The Meadows School. She is passionate about helping students achieve their goals.

Monica Gehrig is the Manager of Auxiliary Programs. She has been in education for 11 years. Her most recent position was at Green Our Planet working with STEM education. Her educational career has been mainly in non-profit work working within schools to build curricula. She was the curriculum and professional development manager for two years in a former role.

Shane Holland has been a welcoming face since The Corral opened and now has taken his talents to the Business Office to support our team there. Shane will be working with shipping and receiving and his impact is already being felt in one of the busiest offices on campus.

Tim Lay is the new Content Manager for The Meadows School. He brings years of experience in branding and social media content creation to this role. Tim is no stranger to working in schools, having most recently worked as an Art Teacher at Katz Elementary School. He has also been part of The Meadows family for years as the parent of an incoming 7th grader.

Jaime Orman is our new Special Events Coordinator and comes to us with over 20 years of experience with events and project management in both corporate and educational institutions. In addition to supporting some of our beloved community events, Jaime will also be our TMSPA liaison and will work on growing our alumni network.