Freshman Faculty
August 24, 2017
Lisa Spengler | Admission
Lisa Spengler has been an educator for nearly thirty years, working in both public and independent schools. After completing her bachelor’s degree at the University of Wyoming and student-teaching and coaching in Cody for a time, Lisa headed back to Illinois, where she was born and raised, and spent the next ten years teaching high school history. For the past ten years of her career, Lisa served as the High School Counselor and Assistant Director of Upper School for Student Life and Leadership at Katherine Delmar Burke School in San Francisco. It was in this capacity that her relationship with Cate School began, and she was sold on life on the Mesa after her first visit in the spring of 2007. Ten years later, Lisa is thrilled to be leading our admissions team and living with her wife Alanna in Cook House East.
Before moving to Cate, Lisa and Alanna spent a year traveling throughout the western United States in their Winnebago motor home, which they now consider their vacation home on wheels! In addition to traveling and camping in the Minnie, Lisa enjoys hiking and most any other outdoor activity. She also loves Alanna’s cooking, as well as exploring farmer’s markets and restaurants. An avid reader of both fiction and non-fiction, Lisa quickly found the McBean Library and is quite happy that it’s located on the walk between CHE and ’85 House.
Tracey Calhoun | English
Growing up in southern California, Tracey developed an appreciation for the outdoors from an early age, spending summers and weekends hiking in the Santa Monica Mountains and camping in the Angeles National Forest. At fourteen, she made her first trip to Yosemite National Park, backpacking the Red Peak Pass. She has returned to Yosemite nearly every year since, both on solo outings and leading students on wilderness expeditions.
Tracey studied English and anthropology at Ithaca College, and spent a year abroad at the University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. In 2001, Tracey returned to her native Los Angeles to serve as an AmeriCorps volunteer working with the LA Gay & Lesbian Center on anti-violence programs in local schools. Her time in classrooms inspired Tracey to pursue a career in education. After earning an M.Ed. at UCLA, she taught high school for twelve years in East Los Angeles and La Cañada. At Cate, Tracey is a member of the English department faculty and coaches Ultimate Frisbee. She lives in Carpinteria with her wife and daughter.
Cassia Sonderleiter | Science
Cassia comes to Cate with fifteen years of experience in secondary education in both independent and public schools. Following completion of her BA in chemistry at Occidental College, Cassia taught a wide variety of courses in science, math, and engineering to students in grades 6-12 at Camino Nuevo Charter Academy and The Archer School for Girls. She earned an MA in Secondary Education from California State University, Northridge and completed the coursework for her doctorate in Educational Leadership at UCLA.
A strong believer in a constructivist, student-centered approach to education, Cassia developed an innovative 21st-century STEM program while serving as the Science Department Chair and STEM Coordinator at Archer. Cassia later took on the role of Director of Science Instruction for Alliance College-Ready Public Schools where she developed the science curriculum and trained teachers for Alliance’s 26 middle and high schools. Most recently, Cassia worked as the Founding Principal for the middle school program at Citizens of the World Charter Schools in Los Angeles. In her spare time, Cassia loves cooking, gardening, and spending time outdoors with her husband, Aaron, newborn son, Milo, and golden retriever, Masa.
Natalie Jackel | Health Services
Natalie is a graduate of the University of Colorado. After receiving her BS in nursing, she began her career at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara as a certified pediatric nurse, caring for children in the pediatric ward, floating as needed to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. After ten years, she decided to expand her skill set to include school nursing at Cate. She began as a staff RN and is now Director of Health Services.
Natalie is a Certified Pediatric Nurse accredited by the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board. Natalie is certified in basic life support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support. In 2014, she received the Nursing Excellence Award, given annually to the top nurses in the Santa Barbara community, awarded by the Bialis Foundation. She lives in Carpinteria with her husband, Ingo, and their two children, Ingo and Quinn.
Don Barry | Mathematics
Don Barry has a BA in philosophy from Carleton College, an M.Div from Yale Divinity School, and a math major and certification from Southern Connecticut University. He taught mathematics for seven years in Turkey, first at Tarsus Amerikan Lisesi and then at Robert College (a high school), followed by 34 years at Phillips Andover. At Andover he coached JV2 boys basketball, boys and girls cross country, and golf. He taught in the SYA program in Rennes, France in 85-86. He retired to Northfield, MN in 2014.
Throughout his career, he has been a major writer of problems for school, state, regional, and national math contests. He was the head author of the American Regions Math League contest (ARML) from 1995 to 2008 and he is still concocting problems for a variety of contests. He delights in providing students with the opportunity to discover their own creativity in mathematics. He is also vitally interested in the history of mathematics. Don is at Cate for one year to free up time for Cate’s math teachers to enhance the inquiry portions of the curriculum. He and his wife, Roxy, have three children, one of whom teaches history at Cate.
Kyle Jones | Athletics
Kyle was born and raised in Franklinville, NJ where he first developed his passion for athletic training due to a host of sports injuries he had suffered throughout high school. Kyle went on to pursue a degree in athletic training while participating in collegiate football at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ. While completing his degree at Rowan, he spent time at multiple high schools, the women’s basketball and track teams at Rowan, and the Philadelphia Flyers.
In August 2017 Kyle received his graduate degree in Sports Pedagogy at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, NC. Kyle served primarily as the graduate assistant athletic trainer for the Runnin’ Bulldogs Division I football team, but cared for a majority of the athletic programs including women’s soccer, softball, men’s and women’s tennis, cheerleading, and many more. Kyle lives on the Mesa in Lido.
Troy Shapiro | Science
Troy is a graduate of Brown University where he studied organizational sociology and economics. As an undergrad, Troy coached wrestling and lacrosse for the Moses Brown School where he recognized his passion for working with teenagers. He joined the faculty at the Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts upon graduation where he taught physics, chemistry, and engineering. Troy continued to coach wrestling and lacrosse, lived in the dorm, and came to love boarding school life.
Troy comes to Cate after three years at the Jay Pritzker Academy in Siem Reap Cambodia, a small independent school serving rural Cambodian families seeking a western style education. There Troy was the Science Curriculum Coordinator and continued to teach physics and chemistry.
An avid outdoorsman, Troy is eager to join the Outdoor Program at Cate and will be coaching rock climbing in the fall and winter seasons in addition to lacrosse in the spring. He lives in Parsonage house with his dog, Tabasco.
Li-Jung Tsai | Chinese
Li-Jung was born and raised in Taiwan. After graduating from Chihlee University of Technology in Taiwan. She moved to Carpinteria and lives with her family. She has been teaching Mandarin Chinese since 2013. She also volunteers at Canalino Elementary School for community service learning.
She graduated from Antioch University in Child Development and Education, and she plans to pursue her teaching credential at Antioch University.
Li-Jung is honored to be part of the Cate community. She enjoys learning and working with students from different cultural backgrounds.