McCallie's five new full-time faculty and classroom-dedicated staff. They are, from left, Tripp Smith '90, Bailey Adams '96, LaShandra Rivers, Brad Droke and David Cook.
While much of the new faculty and staff members at McCallie for 2015-16 are in administrative and support roles, there are five new full-time teaching faculty members.
The new full-time faculty members for 2015-16 are:
Bailey Adams '96: Mr. Adams returns to the Ridge after most-recently teaching sixth-grade science at First Presbyterian Day School in Jackson, Miss., for the past six years. He will teach eighth-grade science in the Middle School this fall. In addition to his teaching duties, Mr. Adams and his wife, Rachel, will living and advising in Founders Dorm. Mr. and Mrs. Adams have three children: Garner (10), Brooke (8) and Prater (5).
David Cook: Mr. Cook comes to McCallie to teach ninth-grade English after working as a daily columnist at the Chattanooga Times Free Press for the past several years. Prior to his work at the Times Free Press, Mr. Cook taught English at GPS for eight years along with his wife, Weesie, who also teaching freshman English at McCallie. Mr. and Mrs. Cook have a 10-year-old son Jackson and a daughter Mabry (8).
Brad Droke: Mr. Droke comes to McCallie as the school’s new director of Educational Technology, where he will help ensure that McCallie students and faculty are using the "best technology to keep McCallie up to date in a changing world while still using that technology to maintain a strong educational instruction." Mr. Droke and his wife, Caroline, come to Chattanooga from New York City, where Mr. Droke was employed as Upper School Technology Specialist at The Browning School.
LaShandra Rivers: Mrs. Rivers comes to McCallie after teaching eighth-grade math at Baylor, and she will be teaching seventh-grade math and eighth-grade pre-algebra at McCallie. She also will work with the basketball and track programs. Mrs. Rivers is the mother of McCallie senior JaVaughn Craig, seventh-grader Eric Rivers Jr. and a daughter Kayla Rivers. She is married to Eric Rivers Sr.
Tripp Smith '90: Mr. Smith will be teaching United States History in the Upper School this fall and coaching Middle School soccer. He comes to the Ridge from the Academy of Coastal Carolina, where he was a teacher while coaching soccer at West Brunswick High School. Mr. Smith and his wife, Ashley, have three children, Jackson (12), Hayden (11) and Graham (7).
Also joining the teaching faculty are adjunct math teacher Andrea Odle and drama assistant Amanda Wills, who will serve as costume supervisor.
A number of staffing changes and additions have also been made since the beginning of the 2014-15 school year, including several new hires over the summer:
In the Athletics Department new golf coach Rob Riddle is already at work with the season under way; Matthew Smith will be keeping all Blue Tornado athletes in the proper gear as the new equipment manager; and Megan McCourt will be working as an adjunct crew coach this year.
On the administrative side: Marcus Rafiee '80 has been on campus since the start of the summer in his role as associate headmaster for Business Administration, Strategy & Operations; Adam Webb comes to McCallie from St. Nicholas School as the new director of Day Admission, taking over from Will Newberry ‘86, who has taken on new responsibilities in the development office.
Polly Henry is McCallie’s new director of Student Health, and she will be assisted by Ted Headlee as infirmary office manager and new nurses Rosenda Afman, Wendy Bailey and Barbie Potts.
In the Development Office: Craig Ingvalson '77 returns to McCallie as director of Strategic Funding after working for several years in the banking industry; Amy Cloud joins the team as development officer focused on the Annual Sustaining Fund and connections with young alumni; and Heather Osteen will server as development coordinator, working on various projects in the Development Office to raise money.
In the Communications Office: Brandan Roberts began as McCallie’s videographer last fall, and his work documenting life on the Ridge has already garnered more than 10,000 views in less than a year; and Jim Tanner '86 returned to McCallie last spring, writing updates for the school website, helping with media relations and producing the school alumni magazine.