Ms. Sasha Clayton is the Principal and Director of Hilldale School. She has a B.F.A. in Theatre from Drake University and a M.A. in Teaching from Concordia University. She holds her teaching credential for secondary English, Speech, and Theatre. Before coming to Hilldale in July 2007, she was the director of the Metropolis School of the Performing Arts in Arlington Heights, Illinois for four years and prior to that a Kindergarten teacher for the Bernard Weinger JCC Early Learning Center. Throughout her experiences, she has taught students of all ages. Ms. Clayton believes in challenging students in both product and process and in developing the whole child through access to both high-level academics and the arts. She believes in high expectations and in passionate teaching.

Mrs. Mandy Rizvi is our office manager and also acts as one of our teacher substitutes and as drama teacher and coach. She has a B.F.A. in Theater from the Hartt School of Performing Arts and a M.A. in Theater from San Francisco State University. She has received awards for essays, fiction, and poetry. She taught preschool for five years and has been an administrative assistant for the past four years. Mrs. Rizvi loves theater, art, poetry, writing, drawing, painting, reading, music, and traveling.

Mrs. Cristina Arenas is our Pre-Kindergarten teacher and director. She came to Hilldale in January 2006, when our Pre-K program was begun, and has also worked for and been a favorite teacher in our affiliated preschool, Early Learning Academy, since 1995. She has an AA degree from City College of San Francisco and is certified as a Child Development Site Supervisor. She brings a wealth of experience, enthusiasm, and expertise to our Kindergarten prep program.

Ms. Nadera Abuita is our Pre-Kindergarten co-teacher. She came to Hilldale in August 2008. She has 31 ECE credits from the City College of San Francisco and is working on her AA in Early Childhood Education. Ms. Abuita has taught preschool for eight years. She has a commitment to excellence and believes in an academic education for our youngest students.

Ms. Jaime Speregen teaches Kindergarten. She has a B.A. in Liberal Studies and a multiple subject teaching credential in Elementary Education with an emphasis in mathematics from San Diego State University. Not only did the program give her the tools to be a powerful teacher, it encouraged critical thinking, promoted an ethic of caring and understanding, and facilitated the acquisition of lifelong learning skills--all values which she hopes to instill in her students. She also believes that problem solving and high expectations will guide children to independence. For the past two summers, Ms. Speregen has been the Lead Kindergarten Science instructor for Camp Galileo. In her free time, Ms. Speregen enjoys reading, traveling, and eating sushi.

Mrs. Helen Yoo-Lee teaches First Grade. She has a B.A. in Education from Patten University and a Masters degree from the Alliance Theological Seminary. Mrs. Yoo-Lee had five years of teaching experience in the Alpha Beacon Christian School in San Mateo before coming to Hilldale in 2003. Besides helping her students to grow as voracious readers, she has been instrumental in encouraging them to use their emerging writing skills in various creative writing endeavors. Her students make tremendous progress over the course of the year, and truly learn to be excited about knowledge.

Ms. Nicole Dobrovolsky teaches our Second and Third Graders. She has a B.A. from University of California at Davis and a Masters in Education and Curriculum Design from San Jose State University. She has taught for two years at Sacred Heart School in San Francisco and has been an AmeriCorps volunteer in the Bridging Borders Program. Ms. Dobrovolsky is an enthusiastic, creative teacher who teaches problem solving strategies and technology skills as part of her curriculum, and who loves to get the kids excited by bringing relevancy to all study areas. She has a strong theoretical background and a passion for teaching through integrated and thematic units. Her goal as a teacher is to create a respectful, responsible, and engaging classroom environment, where children are encouraged to experiment and interact with the world around them.

Ms. Megan McClintic-Gilbert teaches our combined Fourth-Fifth Grade class. She has a B.A. from Reed College in Portland, Oregon and a multiple subjects teaching credential from Mills College in Oakland, CA. While at Reed she studied developmental psychology and motivational strategies. She has been a third grade teacher for two years at the Reach Academy in Oakland. In an effort to establish a culture of learning in her classroom, Ms. McClintic-Gilbert encourages autonomy, differentiation, academic stimulation and challenge, asking questions, and finding relationships. In her free time, Ms. McClintic-Gilbert enjoys reading, singing, knitting, and exploring San Francisco.

Mr. John Trapasso teaches our middle school Literature, Language Arts, and Social Studies classes. He has a B.A. from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York and a Masters in Education with a concentration in Social Studies from Tufts University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As part of this program, he worked as an apprentice at the Shady Hill School, gaining hands-on training in a progressive approach to education. He has taught English and Social Studies for 18 years, including 14 years at the San Francisco Day School. In addition to teaching, he worked as chairperson of a school committee researching current ideas for improving teaching and learning and worked to bring critical thinking to the top of the school's agenda for self-improvement. In 1995, Mr. Trapasso began studying with Dr. Richard Paul, the nation's leading expert on critical thinking, and started reshaping his teaching and curriculum to create a thinking-centered classroom. From 1998-2002, Mr. Trapasso joined  Dr. Paul's team of experts at the Center for Critical Thinking in Dillon Beach, California, and worked part-time as a professional development trainer for educators, leading workshops that taught educators how to infuse critical thinking skills into the classroom. With a love of both English and Social Studies, as well as a passion for infusing critical thinking skills into teaching, Mr. Trapasso brings an innovative and challenging edge to Hilldale's curriculum. He believes that excellent teaching is active, engaging, and focused on developing understanding and the core skills of learning: close reading skills, complete analysis, and proper essay writing. Mr. Trapasso is an avid outdoorsman. He also loves to travel and experience other cultures and has spent many years of study in India.

Mr. Damon True teaches our middle school Science and Math classes. He has a B.S. in Zoology from the University of California at Berkeley and a secondary education science teaching credential from California State University at Dominguez Hills. He has taught Science and Math for 21 years, including 14 years at Mid-Peninsula High School in Menlo Park, CA. He has also acted as a basketball and volleyball coach and a P.E. teacher. During college, he conducted behavioral field research in Kenya, including finding and tracking monkeys in the wild and logging their behavior. Mr. True is energetic and enthusiastic, believes in DOING science, and loves to get kids to use the scientific method every day. He encourages individual and small group work, and teaches kids to think like real scientists. He truly enjoys working with students of all ages and tries to demonstrate how to be an excellent student by being alertly attentive in the moment. Mr. True enjoys chess, scrabble, and board games which require creative insight and planning.  

Mr. Dan Cohen teaches Spanish to all of our students, grades K-8. He received a B.A. in Spanish from Kent State University in Ohio and has also studied French, Hebrew, Japanese, and Italian. Sr. Cohen first participated in a Spanish student exchange program in high school, but his love for languages has brought him to many places around the globe. Sr. Cohen loves to work with the younger students because of their enthusiasm and their ability to grasp new languages. He believes that learning Spanish should be an interactive and enjoyable experience for students of all ages. He inspires all of our students to not only learn the Spanish language but also to use it and enjoy it.

Mr. Jean-Thierry Mendiola teaches Music to grades K-8. He received a B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of California and completed graduate work in Comparative Literature at San Francisco State University, but his passion is teaching Music and Drama. He has extensive experience with classical piano, cello, guitar, bass, and drums. He has five years of experience teaching Music, English, and Drama, and has led a band, done major concerts and performances, conducted choirs, and written and directed plays. He believes it is important to teach music history, theory, and music appreciation along with teaching the children how to sing and play music.

Ms. Peri Pfenninger teaches Art to our entire student body. She has a B.F.A. from the New York Institute of Technology in New York City and a teaching certificate and credential in New York and California. She has been a professional artist and art teacher for many years in New York and California. Ms. Pfenninger enjoys teaching children effective artistic techniques and strives to bring out the artist in each child. She teaches art history along with art theory and techniques, and she enjoys connecting art with other core subjects to bring them to life.