Adrienne Bellis- Adrienne returns to teach Irish Dance afterschool. Adrienne Bellis is the director and founder of Belisama Irish Dance. Adrienne began Irish Dancing in California at the Claddagh School of Irish Dance and is a National Champion as part of an 8-hand ceili team. She and many of her students have performed with artists such as Trinity Irish Dance Company, Lunasa, Natalie MacMaster, Gaelic Storm and Eileen Ivers. Several of her students are National and Regional champions, and many of them are up and coming choreographers. Adrienne is also a professional singer. Her voice can be heard on various film and video soundtracks, and on several music albums. In addition to dancing, she works as a studio musician in Santa Fe and performs around town with local musicians.

Ziggie Bergman- Ziggie joins us this year as both our our Afterschool Director and substitute digital arts teacher. Ziggie has years of experience as an Afterschool Director in the UK and has worked as a teacher and artist in both the UK and America. Ziggie recently directed and mentored an afterschool film documentary workshop with the SFPS Adelante Homeless children's group and the Santa Fe Art Institute. She a BA in Fine Art and an MA in Education. Ziggie's work experience includes producing and directory celebrity, style and fashion tv programs from MTV, BBC, Disney and Sony.

Alina Boyko- Alina is our new middle school French teacher. She comes from the French-speaking part of Switzerland where she practiced business law for 10 years and taught political science as well as commercial law. Since her move to the U.S. in 1999, she has been teaching French, Italian and Latin to adults and teenagers. She is also an artist, favoring egg-tempera painting and figurative sculpture.

Melissa Briggs- Melissa will be teaching dance to all grades this year during Megan's maternity leave and hopefully more in the future. Melissa received a B.A. in Sociology/theater from Smith College and an M.F.A in Dance from NYU/Tisch School of the Arts. A New Yorker for 11 years, she taught dance and visual art to young children, and performed and presented work with her company, Melissa Briggs Dance. Here in NM, Melissa also teaches at UNM, NDI-NM, The School of Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Moving People Dance, and Little Earth School.

Christopher Brown- Christopher Brown is our new Guitar teacher coming from Dayton, Ohio. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies on the double bass, which he obtained from the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati. In addition to the bass, he has spent many years studying the guitar and has taught music at Pathway School of Discovery, where he directed two Guitar & Recorder Ensembles. He has been teaching private music lessons for nearly ten years. Christopher is also a certified yoga teacher, and has been teaching children's yoga classes for the past two years. Combining his love for music, yoga and health, he lives his life with with the purpose of bringing positive creative energy into the world to uplift and inspire others.

Matthew Burke-Newsum- This is Matt's seventh year teaching our 5-6th grade class. Matt has a BS in Environmental Biology and Resource Management from UC Davis and his teaching certification in all subjects from San Francisco State University with endorsements in Math and Science. Prior to teaching in Santa Fe, Matt student taught for two years in Mountain View, CA, coached middle school basketball and helped run the Farm and Wilderness camp programs at Hidden Villa. Matt also teaches our after school basketball program.

Martha Caron- Martha will begin her first year at SFSAS this fall as the assistant teacher in the Preschool/Kindergarten class. Over the last three years, she has worked as both the after school director and a teacher at Summit Montessori School in Massachusetts. She holds an American Montessori Society Early Childhood certification and is a candidate for a Master of Education in Early Childhood - Montessori Focus from Endicott College. Martha earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Latin American Studies with a Spanish minor from the University of Massachusetts, Boston. She is thrilled to be joining the faculty at SFSAS!

Mark Clark- Mark Clark joins our school this year as our drums and percussion teacher. Mark has been a professional musician since the age of 12. He taught drumming at the Santa Fe Indian school, the College of Santa Fe and Desert Academy and still teaches at the Hummingbird Music Camp. He was also the Jazz Pop Music Class Director for the College of Santa Fe Rock Ensemble, the R & B Funk Ensemble and the Percussion Ensemble. Mark toured with Ottmar Liebert for nine years and has also worked and recorded with Jono Manson, High Plains Drifter and Blues Traveler. Mark can be heard on the new Cat Stevens album and is currently the drummer for Hillary Smith and Manzanares. Mark has recorded or performed with James Taylor, Bo-Diddley, Kip Winger, Bob Weir, Noel Redding, Dan Fogelberg, Kenny Passerelli and many others.

Jerry Crespin- This is Jerry's fifth year at our school and he returns for his second year as the teaching assistant in the 1st and 2nd grade class. Jerry earned his degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis on Teaching English as a Second Language at the College of Santa Fe. He is licensed to teach K-8th with an endorsement in TESOL. Jerry taught at Gentle Nudge Preschool for 3 years and has directed our Unicorn Summer Camp program and afterschool program.

Brian Dineen- Brian Dineen is the Executive Director and Co-Founder of SFSAS. Brian has Masters Degrees in Education and Counseling Psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts from St. John's College, Santa Fe, NM. He also currently serves as Strategic Planner for United Way of Santa Fe County.

Rayna Dineen- Rayna Dineen is the Principal and Co-founder of SFSAS. She has been teaching for 30 years and has Masters Degrees in Education and Counseling from Teachers College, Columbia University and a BA from the University of Massachusetts. She has taught in schools in Santa Fe, Massachusetts, New York City, India and Colorado. In addition to her administrative duties, Rayna teaches Humanities and Drama and oversees our mentorship and community service programs.

Gary Fulreader- Gary returns again this year as our Middle School math teacher. Gary received his BA in Business Administration from Principia College and did his post graduate studies in Environmental Education from Antioch University. Gary has taught and tutored math for many years in Santa Fe and also has many years of experience working with children and adults with special needs. During the after-school program, Gary offers math tutoring. He is the father of Jamie in the middle school class and Betsy Fulreader, a SFSAS alumni.

Radha Garcia- Radha will be returning part time as our Administrative Assistant this year in addition to teaching marimba. Radha has also taught individual and group lessons in marimba for 5 years at SFSAS. Radha is also a graduate of our school.

Kevin Gallacher- Kevin started tap dancing at the age of 16. At 17, he began to further his education with ballet training with Park Avenue Dance Works in Colorado, Joffrey Ballet of Chicago and Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. Kevin is currently under the special guidance of Moving People Dance Santa Fe. Kevin has performed with Park Avenue Dance Works, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Moving People Too!, Moving People Dance Santa Fe, Valeria Madonia, Circus Luminous, and the Santa Fe Opera. This is his third season as a company member of Moving People Dance Santa Fe. Kevin will be returning to teach Tumbling and Tap at our school this year.

Megan Goldberg- Megan returns to teach American Sign Language, Fine Art and Digital Arts. Megan ran our after-school program in 2002 and 2003 before returning to school in Albuquerque for three years. In 2007, Megan finished her BA degree in Linguistics with a concentration in American Sign Language studies. Megan has also directed many camps in our summer program over the past 6 years.

John K. D. Graham- John will be assisting in our Moving Images classes this year and running our afterschool film program. He graduated in 2005 from the Savannah College of Art and Design where he earned a BFA in Film and Television. Many of his films, including "Folding of Wings" and "Trapper Jack" have won awards around the United States. Working as a director of photography for many shorts and low budget features in New Mexico, he has gained a strong understanding of creating content for an audience. John also works for IATSE Local 480 as a set electrician, supplying movie sets with power, setting up lighting equipment and making actors look beautiful for the camera. John has also taught moving images at summer camp where he has experience teaching kids how to create movies from the planning stages through post production.

Kim Henning- Kim joins us this year as both a lacrosse instructor and a substitute teacher. Kim began her career as a lax player in 3rd grade and eventually won a spot on the US Woman's Lacrosse Team in 1981 for 5 years. Kim has coached High School girls lacrosse at SF Prep and is presently coaching the U-13 Girl's Team for SFLAX.( Santa Fe Lacrosse Club Team) Kim has years of experience teaching in the early elementary grades and in the outdoors, as well. Kim was director of The Santa Fe Tree House Camp for 8 years, an environmentally based summer camp, and an environmental educator at The Randall Davey Audubon Center. Kim holds an MA in elementary education from the Lesley College/ Shady Hill School apprenticeship graduate school program in Cambridge Mass.

Geetha Holdsworth- Geetha returns to our school this year as the Language Arts teacher in our middle school and as an art assistant/teacher to Megan. She has spent the last two years staying at home with her two daughters and earning an M.A. in Eastern Classics from St. John's College. Geetha brings 16 years of teaching experience and has taught Pre-K through twelfth grade. Geetha earned a B.S. in Art Education from New York University and has completed graduate work in education at the College of Santa Fe. Geetha also directed our afterschool program last year.

Jocelyn Jansons- Jocelyn returns to direct and teach our Moving Images program again this year. Jocelyn holds a B.A. from Brown University with her focus in Modern Culture and Media. She is a Fulbright Scholar for which she worked in the film industry in Latvia, where she is also a citizen. She taught graduate-level film production at The New Mexico Filmmakers Intensive (NMFI) at the College of Santa Fe. Prior to making her home in New Mexico, Jocelyn worked as a film and television producer in Los Angeles and New York City. As a recipient of a New Visions/New Mexico contract award, BABY MONITOR will be Jocelyn's first narrative film as a director and screenwriter.

Kate Jewel- Kate Jewel will be teaching piano lessons afterschool this year. Kate has a doctorate in piano performance from Indiana University. She placed 4th in the International Bach competition. She was a professor for 12 years and has taught students of all ages and levels for more than 30 years. Kate is best known at our school for teaching piano to Elliot and Kiana!

Elisa Jimenez- Elisa returns to teach Fashion Design in both our afterschool and summer programs this year. Elisa is an interdisciplinary artist, who synthesizes fashion, writing, painting, sculpting, and performance art into her work. Elisa received her BFA in Fine Arts from the University of Texas at El Paso and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona. VOGUE Magazine has named Elisa 'Best Independent Designer.' In 2007 Elisa's career as a fashion designer in New York, landed her a spot as a contestant on the fashion design show Project Runway. Elisa has designed costumes for our school play and worked as a mentor to our aspiring fashion design students.

Chintan Kess- This is Chintan's 9th year at our school. Chintan is the first and second grade lead teacher in the Stargazer Room. Before coming to Santa Fe she lived overseas and traveled extensively in Europe, Asia and Australia. She began her teaching career as a preschool teacher and taught young children for ten years. She holds an A.A. in Early Childhood Multicultural Education from Santa Fe Community College and a B.A. in Early Childhood Education from New Mexico Highlands University. She is licensed to teach in New Mexico with a Level Two Professional B-3 Early Childhood License.

Nathan Moore- This is Nate's second year at SFSAS. Nate teaches Science in the middle school, assists with middle school Math and teaches Spanish in grades 1-8. Nate received a BA from Oberlin College in Environmental Studies, Hispanic Studies, and Latin American Studies. He is currently working toward his MS in science teaching at New Mexico Tech. Nate also plays the trumpet in the Santa Fe Community Band.

Chriss O'Neill- Chriss is one of the founding parents of our school and is originally from New Mexico. She has been working part-time at the school doing just about everything, including office work, accounts receivable, and payroll since 2003. She also works as a Speech-Language Pathologist at New Vistas Early Childhood Program. She is the mother of Camille (Centaur) and Ben (Middle School) Bajema.

Nick Sedillos- Nick teaches our afterschool Cartoon Book Art Club this year. Nick is a cartoonist and illustrator from Albuquerque who's been thinking hard about comics ever since he first read Calvin and Hobbes twenty years ago. He has taught comics classes for kids at UNM, the Albuquerque Library System and at this year's SFSAS summer camp.

Eddy Segura- This is Eddy's fourth year teaching at SFSAS as our Physical Education teacher and track and soccer coach. Eddy received his BA in Physical Education at the Universidad Nacional in Costa Rica. He has 13 years of experience teaching P.E. and coaching soccer in schools in Costa Rica. Eddy has also taught at The Academy for the Technology and the Classics in Santa Fe and at CS 37.

Suzanne Shakespeare- This is Suzanne's 8th year at SFSAS and she is the lead teacher for the Preschool/Kindergarten class. Suzanne is a licensed early childhood teacher in the state of New Mexico and has been teaching in Santa Fe for eight years. Suzanne has worked as an art teacher at the Art and Clay Studio, Children's Adventure Company, and Desert Montessori; and as the art teacher/after school coordinator at Monte Vista Montessori in Santa Fe. She has a BFA degree in Fine Art from Pasadena Art Center College of Design.

Liza Stanton-Hitt- Liza will be student teaching with Todd in our Centaur classroom for the 2009/2010 school year. Upon completion of her student teaching, she will graduate from the College of Santa Fe with a B.A. in Elementary Education with an emphasis on Teaching English as a Second Language. Liza discovered her love of teaching while working as a bilingual food educator with the Cooking with Kids program in Santa Fe public schools.

Todd Stiewing-This is Todd's fifth year teaching at SFSAS as the 3rd-4th grade teacher. Todd received a B.S. in Elementary Education and a Masters in Education from the University of Connecticut. He has taught 4th grade and elementary science in Maryland, in addition to leading wilderness and experiential education courses at the Santa Fe Mountain Center and the Deer Lake Wilderness School.

Kay Takagi- Kay will teach Japanese in our middle school this year. She is originally from Japan and graduated from Joshi Bijutsu Fine Art College in Tokyo and also received a BFA at University of Texas at El Paso. Kay is also a licensed Brain Gym instructor/consultant. Kay taught an afterschool Japan Club using hands on activities to teach Japanese language and culture. Kay has worked at Rio Grande School and is a Japanese translator and interpreter. She has also worked as a painter and graphic designer. Noriko retired from teaching this year and we are lucky that she has chosen Kay as her successor and has been mentoring Kay all summer!

Liang-Yeh Tania Tai- Liang-Yeh will be returning to teach Piano and Voice again this year following the birth of her baby. She received early musical training as a pianist from the Manhattan School of Music and the Hartt School of Music and has years of experience in music education and directing choral and instumental ensembles. Liang-yeh loves working with children, and guides each child to her/his inner gift. She is also a certified teacher of the Radiant Child Yoga program, which introduces children to yoga and health through movement, music and story.

Christopher Zappe- Christopher will be one of our digital arts teachers this year when Megan is on maternity leave. Chris has his AFA in Media Arts and his BFA in Art & Technology from the The School of the Art Institute in Chicago. Chris currently teaches digital arts at Desert Academy and Warehouse 21.