Faculty & Staff

Born and raised in San Francisco, Jen discovered her interest in education while volunteering in her children’s classrooms. She loves being around kids and shares their enthusiasm for learning. Prior to KLS, she worked as an administrative assistant for 10 years at a Bay Area school district, where she helped facilitate the daily operations of a school site. In her spare time, she loves hanging out with her husband and two daughters, traveling, trying new restaurants, and taking long walks with her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.

French-born Marie-Helene Bauguil is a visual artist and educator with 13+ years of experience teaching fine arts to children and adults. She believes that deep inside each person, there lives an artist. She strives to create learning environments in which students allow their inner artist-self to grow and flourish. In addition to teaching studio art techniques and media, she has designed and implemented arts programs in a variety of settings, and has mentored teachers and volunteers in how to teach art. She holds a Master in Architecture and recently completed an Ed.D in Educational Leadership. When she is not working or passionately advocating for the arts and arts education, Marie-Helene enjoys meeting with friends, hiking, and gardening.

Melissa is delighted to begin her fifth year at Khan Lab School. As STEM Coordinator, Melissa partners with school leaders and teachers to develop, support, and share Khan Lab School’s vision for teaching and learning. Melissa has over ten years experience teaching 2nd-7th grade math in public and private schools across the country. As Khan Lab School’s first Lower School Math Specialist, she had the unique privilege to help design the Lower School Math Program to support self-directed, personalized, mastery. Melissa is truly passionate about student-centered learning and continues to be inspired by the innovative work teachers and students are doing at Khan Lab School.

Melissa holds a M.Ed. in Elementary Education with specialization in educational technology from the University of Florida. She enjoys reading, singing, playing board games, and making her students (and colleagues) laugh.

Lara has worked in education teaching Spanish for three years, and has spent one year as a bilingual school social worker/community interpreter in her home state of Michigan. Her linguistic studies have brought her to lexically diverse countries such as Peru, the Dominican Republic, México, and Spain.

Upon returning from her most recent study abroad in Madrid (2019), she finished her master's degree in Spanish Linguistics at Middlebury College in Vermont. From there, she called Northern Massachusetts home where she taught high school Spanish, ran an Art Club, taught students how to ferment their own vegetables, and occasionally took students backpacking through the Green Mountains of Vermont. 

Fall 2021 is Lara's first year with KLS, and she looks forward to nurturing student's natural curiosity for language as well as watching them grow in the language she loves.      

After dedicating a year of service to AmeriCorps in Washington, D.C. writing curriculum for an after-school program in Title I schools, Julia joined KLS as an Associate Teacher with Independence Level 1. Julia spent her first year at KLS honing her teaching craft under the guidance of mentors. She began teaching first-grade math content, going on to become an advisor and math specialist. Julia strongly believes in empowering student voice and prides herself in being dependable and trustworthy for her students. Julia's teaching style involves discussion-based lessons and game and project-based investigations. She finds most excitement in teaching when she is collaborating with students and fellow staff members.

When not at school or commuting to and from San Francisco, Julia is an avid cyclist and a Bananagrams champion.

Hannah McDonald was born and raised in the Bay Area. She joined Khan Lab School in the fall of 2020 as an IL1 Teacher and she is thrilled to be part of the team. Hannah graduated from San Jose State University with a BA in Behavioral Sciences. This year she completed her student teaching requirement for a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and Masters of Education. She is especially interested in progressing her knowledge in the teaching of reading and writing among English Language Learners.

Hannah has a background in teaching therapeutic horseback riding lessons, working with occupational therapists, as a teacher's aide, and most recently taught music at a community center for many years. In her free time, Hannah loves to spend time on the trails with her horse, Lily, exercise, and write.

Since 2008, Jessica has dedicated her career to expanding her knowledge of the student body. Teaching everything from after-school programs to summer school, from pre-K through fifth grade, she thoroughly enjoys being in the classroom and seeing life through curious children’s eyes. Jessica earned her bachelor’s degree from California State University, East Bay in Human Development with concentration in Childhood Development. Throughout her education and experience, she discovered the importance in catering to each child’s individual learning style. Keeping this in mind, her lessons are tailored to ensure that all these needs have been met. Jessica’s goal as a teacher is to inspire children and foster a positive learning community. She is dedicated to creating a nurturing classroom setting with high expectations of both academic and social skills in students. Jessica has mentored a group of teachers in a pilot writing program, as well as new teachers in various grade levels as a veteran teacher. During the pandemic, she was a pioneer teacher in an online academy subset school for families that chose to opt in, which gave her plenty of experience with online educational tools. This helped students branch out from solely pencil and paper and become creative with their learning approach.

Outside of the classroom, Jessica enjoys spending time with her husband, being a boy mom of 2, going to her father’s horse ranch for some fresh country air, and creating fun projects of all kinds with her Cricut machine. 

Born and raised in the heart of San Francisco, Leo is excited to lead the Middle School Integrated Science program. Having taught overseas for the past decade, his educational experience includes leading hands-on inquiry programs in collaboration with GEMS at the Lawrence Hall of Science and the MAD Science Program. He combines his passion for Molecular & Cell Biology as an undergrad at UC Berkeley with his research through Neuroscience whenever possible while in the classroom. After receiving his Masters in Urban Education at the University of Southern California he quickly transitioned to leading flip-learning, AP, IB, and STE(A)M initiatives at various International Schools throughout Taiwan. He has served as a K-12 classroom teacher, student advisor, technology coordinator, Google Educator, and Department Head. His favorite lessons are those where students’ exhaust their imagination and driven by their curiosity. If not in the classroom, one can often find Leo cycling or running through trailheads in the Bay Area or dabbling in gastronomy.

Mikki taught 9-12 grade English for 24 years at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino. Her classes included Speech and Debate, English Language Learners, and Advanced Placement English. At Monta Vista she founded programs such as the New Student Support Program, Art and Literature Course, and the Life Skills Summer Camp for graduating seniors. She joined Khan Lab School for two years as Level 4 and Level 5 Advisor and as Upper School Administrative Assistant. For the next two years she ventured to Oxford Day Academy in East Palo Alto as their Founding High School English Instructor and Staff Coordinator. She is grateful to return to Khan Lab School to continue to challenge and widen her practice, and to support the growth of the school community. Her work history demonstrates consistent passion for education, innovative creativity, and giving the underdog a voice. She currently plays several roles at KLS, including Humanities Coordinator, Teacher Development Specialist, and English Teacher.

In addition to working for students, Mikki enjoys reading, hiking, laughing with friends, and hanging out with her three children who continually grow love and wisdom in her life.

Arden is thrilled to join KLS’s student-centered learning environment. Arden is originally from Philadelphia and graduated from Davidson College in North Carolina. Her professional experience centers on experiential education. She has spent extended periods of time in India; and led Field Studies programs in Tanzania, Cambodia, Vietnam, France, and the US. She also worked for the School For Field Studies in Cambodia, where she facilitated environmental science research, managed student life, and led experiential learning opportunities. Next, Arden also enjoyed her role as the Lead Teacher and Program Coordinator at The Traveling School, a nomadic U.S. school that travels throughout Southern Africa: where students learn from the world around them, camp every night, and become change-makers. There, Arden taught Global Studies and History. Most recently, Arden was an Associate Teacher at Greene Street Friends School in Philadelphia, a school grounded in social justice and Quaker values.

Arden enjoys traveling, hiking, camping, and just about anything outdoors! She also loves ramen and making dumplings.

Justin is an educator recently relocated from Cincinnati, OH. He studied secondary education at Indiana University and has been teaching and leading programs at multiple diverse schools since 2014. He will be the Humanities teacher for the 6th grade. Justin is extremely excited to be implementing project based lessons he has experimented with at previous schools and can’t wait to incorporate them into his Humanities curriculum. He is especially looking forward to working with a diverse group of learners in a new environment and about his recent move to the Bay Area.

In his personal life Justin enjoys backpacking, climbing, summiting mountains and being on the move. He has taken up running more diligently in the recent year and is excited to be bringing that perspective as the new Cross-Country coach of the Middle and Upper Schools.

Ruby Bustos Vinayak grew up in the Bay Area and was raised by immigrant parents. She was the first in her family to attend college and complete her undergraduate studies at UCLA, where she minored in Education. After graduating in 2014, Ruby discovered her passion for working with children and has been a teacher for eight years. She understands the impact a great education can have on a person's life and is one of the reasons she's so passionate about educating youth. Ruby most recently obtained her Masters of Arts in Education from SJSU with emphasis on Curriculum and Instructions in 2021.

During her free time, Ruby loves being outdoors, working out, traveling, and spending time with her husband and loved ones.

Geraint grew up in Cornwall in the United Kingdom. As a first-generation student, he studied Physics at Whitman College, where he also achieved minors in Mathematics and Race and Ethnic Studies. Geraint’s thesis in college focused on computationally modeling quantum mechanical systems, and he loves to learn about new ways to model the physical world. He is excited to teach physics and math this year and is looking forward to helping students find new ways to understand and discover STEM. He is always looking for new ways to incorporate real-world applications into the classroom. 

When Geraint is outside the classroom, he enjoys hiking, playing sports, and traveling. He is also a huge fan of competitive cornhole.

David Weiner is a proven educational leader who takes a consensus building approach in implementing new initiatives and works collaboratively with all members of a community. He has over thirteen years experience working in independent schools in a variety of administrative roles, including Interim Head of Middle & Upper School, Dean of Studies, Director of College Counseling, and Registrar. He has also taught history and psychology, coached tennis and basketball, and served as an advisor at all of the schools at which he has worked. At his most recent school, Barrie, David oversaw a five year project-based learning initiative that transformed teaching and learning to become more innovative. He is also passionate about mastery-based education and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Just this past spring, he defended his dissertation on how two independent schools in the DC area responded to their schools' #BlackAt Instagram pages. He believes deeply in creating educational environments where all students feel like they belong.

He holds a BA in History and Psychology from the University of Rochester, a MS in Education with a Certificate in Leadership for Independent Schools from Johns Hopkins University, and an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. He currently lives in Cupertino, California with his wife, Vanessa, and two sons, Ethan and Alex. When not at school, he enjoys travel and keeping up on world events by reading publications like The Economist.