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Employee Directory

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  • Photo of Matthew Sahlin
    Matthew Sahlin
    Director of Advancement
    Bio
     
    Matt Sahlin joined Sage Hill in 2022 as the Director of Advancement and a member of the School’s Administrative Leadership team. He previously worked as the Director of Advancement at Burgundy Farm Country Day School and as Director of Development for Alexandria Country Day School, both in Alexandria, Virginia. He has experience launching multimillion-dollar capital campaigns and has set school records for annual fundraising. He has also worked as a middle school teacher for history and drama. He is on the board of Halau O 'Aulani, a Hawaiian cultural school and nonprofit. He holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Trinity College and a master’s in education from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education.
  • Mike Salmon
    Assistant Coach, Football
  • Photo of Stephen Schumacher
    Stephen Schumacher
    History and Social Studies Teacher
    Bio
     
    Mr. Schumacher joined Sage Hill as a History & Social Studies teacher in 2012. Previously, Mr. Schumacher taught at Santa Margarita Catholic High School and in Beijing and Sichuan, PR China. Additionally, he has taught all levels of World History at Cal Poly Pomona and American and World History at Orange Coast College. From 2017 to 2022, Mr. Schumacher was Chair of the History Department, and in 2021, he received Sage Hill's Excellence in Teaching Award. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history from Cal Poly Pomona.

  • Photo of Jennifer Scott
    Jennifer Scott
    English Teacher
    Bio
     
    Jennifer Scott joined Sage Hill as an English teacher in 2019. She also serves as adviser to the Storm Yearbook. Scott previously spent 18 years as an English teacher at the Tatnall School in Wilmington, Delaware. In addition to teaching multiple levels of English, she also was the Drama Club director, led student exchange trips to Italy and Denmark, and developed the school’s Independent Scholars Program. Scott holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of New Hampshire and a master’s degree in English Literature/Writing from Simmons College. She also completed an advanced writing seminar at Charles University in Prague in 2010.
  • Photo of Derek Shapiro
    Derek Shapiro
    Science Teacher
    Bio
     
    Derek Shapiro joined Sage Hill in January 2019 as a biology teacher. He was previously a science teacher at Wildwood School. He is an ecologist with a strong background in teaching and research. He holds a bachelor’s degree in integrative biology from UC Berkeley and a Master of Research in Tropical Forest Ecology from Imperial College London.
  • Photo of Ricky Sharpe
    Ricky Sharpe
    Assistant Athletic Director, Strength and Conditioning Coach, Assistant Coach Football
    Bio
     
    After six seasons as part of the Lightning football staff, Mr. Sharpe was named Sage Hill’s strength and conditioning coach in 2014. Mr. Sharpe launched the school’s off-season conditioning program, giving our athletes the option to perform sport-specific workouts on campus year-round, while continuing to work with the football team. Prior to coming to Sage Hill, Mr. Sharpe played professional football for the Cleveland Browns and Miami Dolphins. He attended San Diego State University on a football scholarship and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in public administration. He also earned a master's degree in coaching and athletics administration from Concordia University. Outside of Sage Hill, Mr. Sharpe works as an independent fitness and lifestyle coach.
  • Photo of Anjali Sheth
    Anjali Sheth
    School Counselor, Middle School Learning Specialist
    Bio
     
    Anjali Sheth joined Sage Hill as a part-time School Counselor in July 2024. She previously worked as a school counselor for Hewes Middle School in the Tustin Unified School District. She holds a bachelor’s degree in earth science from California State University, Fullerton and a master’s degree in counseling from Chapman University.
  • Kayla Shikina
  • Photo of Sanan Shirinian
    Sanan Shirinian
    Sage Center Director
    Bio
     
    Sanan Shirinian joined Sage Hill in 2021 as the Sage Center Director. Ms. Shirinian spent the last five years as the principal at Ari Guiragos Minassian School in Santa Ana. While there, she planned and led professional and curriculum development. She also updated the school’s learning outcomes to include connecting with the global community and appreciating cultural diversity. Before her time as principal, she was a high school teacher at Rose & Alex Pilibos Armenian School in Los Angeles. She developed and taught an original interdisciplinary curriculum for students grades 9-12 that raised consciousness and increased student DEI competencies through human rights theory, gender and racial inequity, and social justice content. She received a bachelor’s degree in gender studies from UCLA and a master’s degree in human rights from Columbia University. Ms. Shirinian has a passion for service. She worked in refugee camps in Jordan to serve 200 Syrian refugee children and instill in them hope and a positive self-image. She has also worked with the United Human Rights Council to lead campaigns to end violence against women and youth imprisonment and foster dialogue among minority and student groups. 
  • Photo of Taleen Shrikian
    Taleen Shrikian
    Dance Teacher
    Bio
     
    Taleen Shrikian joined Sage Hill School in 2022 as a dance teacher. She is also an alumna from the Class of 2011. She is an Armenian-American performer, teacher, and choreographer who was born and raised in Southern California. After years of competitive dance training and participating in Sage Hill’s theatre, dance and choral programs, she attended Boston College where she was a member of the BC Dance Ensemble and earned her bachelor's degree in Theatre Arts and Minor in Education. After graduation, Ms. Shrikian returned to Southern California and has worked consistently as an LA-based performer, represented by Bloc talent agency, in the Theatre/TV/Film industry. Some of her favorite professional performing credits include the National Tour of Evita and regional productions of Kinky Boots, Mamma Mia, Kiss Me Kate, West Side Story, Legally Blonde, Cabaret, In the Heights, Hairspray, A Christmas Carol ('15-19), an episode of Nickelodeon's The Thundermans, and many more. As a teaching artist, Ms. Shrikian has been a dance and theatre instructor at schools, dance studios, theatre companies, and arts enrichment programs across LA and Orange counties. Since choreographing Urinetown (the first musical ever produced in the Studio at Sage Hill) as a student in 2010, Taleen has enjoyed the opportunity of choreographing many more musicals such as A Funny Thing...Forum, Footloose, Once Upon a Mattress, Something Rotten and Sage Hill’s recent productions of Legally Blonde, Mamma Mia, and High School Musical.
  • Photo of Issac Sierra
    Issac Sierra
    Admission Associate & Co-Director of Summer at Sage
    Bio
     
    Issac Sierra joined Sage Hill in 2022 as the Admission Associate. He is also currently a girls’ soccer coach and substitute teacher on campus.
  • Photo of Frank Smith
    Frank Smith
    Director of College Counseling
    Bio
     
    Mr. Smith joined the Sage Hill College Counseling team in 2012. A long-time resident of Texas, Mr. Smith previously worked at Trinity Valley School in Fort Worth, where he served as Director of College Counseling since 2000. Prior to his work in an independent school, he was an Associate Director of Admissions and the Coordinator of Student Volunteer Programs at Texas Christian University, and Assistant Director of Admissions at Texas A&M University. Mr. Smith earned both his master’s degree in educational psychology and college student personnel, and his bachelor’s degree in psychology, from Texas A&M.
  • Photo of Sydney Smith
    Sydney Smith
    Dance Teacher, Coordinator of Community Engagement
    Bio
     
    Sydney Smith joined Sage Hill in 2019 as a dance instructor. In 2018, she worked as a professional choreographer for Sage Hill’s Synergy dance ensemble. Prior to that, she worked as a choreographer for Mater Dei and as a dance instructor for Endeavor School of the Arts. She has experience teaching various styles of dance, including ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, lyrical and more. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona.
  • Photo of Aaron Soffa
    Aaron Soffa
    Science Teacher
    Bio
     
    Aaron Soffa originally joined Sage Hill in 2018 and later left full-time teaching to pursue his Ph.D. in particle physics from UC Irvine. He officially returned to Sage Hill in 2023. Soffa started as a teaching assistant for the UC Irvine Department of Physics & Astronomy in 2013. While at UC Irvine, he has also been a physics lecturer and a graduate student researcher for the ATLAS and FASER experiments at the European Center for Nuclear Research. For a year, he was a private tutor for AP Physics C: Mechanics. He also works for the Ardent Academy for Gifted Youth as a teaching assistant and physics instructor. Soffa received his bachelor’s degree in Physics, Astronomy-Physics, and Mathematics with Honors from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2012. He also holds a master’s degree in physics and is currently working on his Ph.D. in Particle Physics at UC Irvine. At Sage Hill, Soffa also works with Beril Tekin as an advisor for the Robotics Team.
  • Photo of Lynne Stroner
    Lynne Stroner
    Director of Alumni & Parent Engagement
    Bio
     
    Lynne Stroner joined Sage Hill in 2022 as the Director of Alumni & Parent Engagement. She comes to Sage Hill from the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, where she was the head coach for the Career Development Center. In her 14 years at FIDM, she provided employment assistance for students and alumni, directed alumni relations, managed the alumni database and more. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from California State University, Fullerton.
  • Photo of Lynette Swanson
    Lynette Swanson
    Registrar, Director of Auxiliary Programs, Head Coach Girls' JV Soccer
    Bio
     
    Ms. Swanson joined Sage Hill in 2014 as the JV Girls’ Assistant Soccer Coach. In 2016, she took on the position of Registrar and Summer at Sage Coordinator. Most recently, Ms. Swanson was Strategic Marketing Manager for Perry’s and also worked in sales management and administration for DecisionPoint Systems for 10 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree at California State University, Fullerton.
Sage Hill School complies with Federal Transparency in Coverage regulations by providing a link to machine readable files related to the health plans offered to our employees. The machine-readable files are formatted to allow researchers, regulators, and application developers to more easily access and analyze data including negotiated service rates, and out-of-network allowed amounts between health plans and healthcare providers. Click here for the Blue Shield of California - Health Plan Transparency in Coverage.

Sage Hill School

20402 Newport Coast Drive, Newport Coast, CA 92657
Phone: 949.219.0100  |  Fax: 949.219.1399
Sage Hill School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. The School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national and ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, and athletic and other School administered programs.