Department: Admin/Staff

Athletic Director. Phil earned a B.A. in English and Filmmaking from Colorado College, followed by an M.A. in Environmental Education from the University of New Mexico. It was during graduate school that he discovered his passion for working with young people, launching a career in experiential and outdoor education with organizations like Two Wheel View and the North Carolina Outward Bound School.

Over the years, Phil has brought his leadership to a variety of educational settings. He served as a health and wellness specialist for Santa Fe Public Schools for eight years before stepping into administrative roles as Athletic Director and Dean of Students at both public and private schools around Santa Fe.  Alongside his work in school leadership, Phil has coached both soccer and mountain biking, helping student-athletes grow through challenge, teamwork, and perseverance.

Known for his authentic leadership and student-centered approach, Phil is a committed advocate for inclusive, values-based athletics and whole-child development. His work is rooted in a lifelong dedication to youth empowerment, community engagement, and environmental stewardship.

Phil returned to Santa Fe in 2015 with his wife, Liz, their two children, Xavier and Zoe, and their dog, Billy. When he’s not on campus, you’ll likely find him outdoors with his family or exploring local trails on his mountain bike.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff
• Physical Education

Nurse/Health Coordinator. Elizabeth holds a BA in History from Oberlin College and an AAS in Nursing from CNM.  She has a background in community health and women’s health and is looking forward to making a difference in the Prep community.  A native New Mexican, she returned after a stint in Ohio and Florida and is happy to be back in the dry heat!  In her free time, she enjoys camping and traveling with her family.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

Registrar. Bhupendra Mishra is an astronomer and physicist with experience in academia, national laboratories, and government research.He has worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and with the Department of Atomic Energy in India.
Born and raised in India, he completed his higher education and research training across Europe. He has held faculty positions and led projects in high-performance computing and simulation science. Outside of work, he enjoys mountain climbing, weightlifting, photography, and oil painting.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

Director of Advancement. Rebecca Starr joins Prep this year as our incoming Director of Advancement leading all fundraising efforts. Rebecca has a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and a master’s degree in counseling with a specialization in deafness, both from San Francisco State University.  She has dedicated her professional career to a variety of non-profit efforts. For the previous 18 years, Rebecca served as the Director of Advancement at The Emery/Weiner School (EWS) as part of the senior leadership team. Born in Arizona she has lived in California and Texas and is now calling Santa Fe home. Her most cherished time is spent on adventures with her two adult children.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

Director of Experiential Education. Anders holds a B.A. in Economics from Brown University and a M.A. in International Education from the School for International Training (SIT). In his role at prep, Anders oversees the Outdoor Education program, TAP, and SIP.  He has over 20 years in the field of experiential education and has worked for numerous independent schools in New Mexico and California.  He is also an Instructor for NOLS in their Wilderness Medicine department.  Outside of work, Anders enjoys distance running, cooking, skiing, being a dad, and when the stars align, surfing.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

Co-Director of College Counseling. A Southern girl through and through, Carolyn grew up in Auburn, AL and chose to follow her father’s footsteps to attend Rhodes College in Memphis, TN where she studied English and Africana Studies. After graduation, she moved to Portland, ME to work at Bates College where she focused on supporting historically excluded, first-generation-to-college, and/or low-income students through the admissions process. After two years, she joined Pomona College’s Office of Admissions where she became a member of the Access Team, ran the College’s diversity fly-in programs, and learned to be justice oriented in her approach to educational equity. Carolyn comes to Prep from Oakwood School in North Hollywood, CA where she served as an associate director of college counseling. In her free time, Carolyn enjoys indulging in local cuisine (she’s on the hunt for the perfect bean and cheese burrito) and watching Bravo with her husband and her dog, Ms. Pecan Pie.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

Front Office Manager, Anna Roberts began her career in education with a ‘gap year’ in
the Australian outback in 1989. There she taught two boys on a remote cattle station in
Queensland through Mt Isa School of the Air. Four years later, Anna attained her
Bachelor of Education from the University of Tasmania. After teaching at St. Michael’s
Collegiate School in Hobart, she traveled and joined a team of international teachers to
develop a progressive, bilingual preschool in Istanbul, Turkey. Teaching at Açı Okulları
was the highlight of Anna’s teaching years. Upon returning to Australia in 2003, Anna
married and moved to Alaska, then California. She is now enjoying the delights of
Santa Fe, and the Prep community, with her husband, daughter, and son. Anna loves
the outdoors and learning about other cultures.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

Executive Assistant to Head of School. Anna holds a BA in Art History. She has three children who are Prep Alum and one child currently attending Prep. In her free time, Anna loves gardening, hiking,  and reads voraciously.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

Lunch Program Staff. John has worked at Santa Fe Prep since 1988. After 33 years in the maintenance department, John retired at the end of the 2022 school year. Since then, John returned to the Prep community as a part-time kitchen staff member.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

Lunch Program Pastry Sous Chef. Originally from Mexico City, Marta has extensive experience as a line cook , sous chef, and pastry chef. Marta immigrated to the United States in 2000, where she worked at Ocotillo Golf Resort in Phoenix, Arizona, for ten years. In 2012, she moved to Santa Fe, where she worked at Body Cafe and the original Second Street for five years. More recently, and prior to joining Prep in 2023, Marta worked at Geronimo Restaurant and Tesuque Village Market.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

School Counselor. For over 20 years, Juli has offered counseling services in community organizations and schools in Santa Fe. With a masters in Counseling Psychology: Expressive Art Therapy from Prescott College, she discovered a love of working with adolescents and their families. She spent the past 15 years at a charter school and found the work to be dynamic, meaningful, and never boring. Her worldview and perspective arise from her experiences as a child in Papua New Guinea and six years living in the Navajo Nation. She is grateful for trees, pools, books, friends, her large extended family, and, in particular, her three children and their partners.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

Co-Director of College Counseling. After graduating from Bryn Mawr as a sociology major, Hayley stayed on to pursue her Master of Social Work degree from Bryn Mawr’s Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research. While at Bryn Mawr, Hayley was surrounded by extraordinary women who pushed her to become a strong advocate against social inequity and injustice. Working towards this goal, she co-founded a reading and writing group for local incarcerated women. She recommitted to this mission of making higher ed more accessible by serving as an Admission Counselor at Pitzer College in Claremont, California for five years. Hayley loves to travel, and spends much of her time subtly sending plane ticket deals from Scott’s Cheap Flights to her friends. Her dream destinations include Greece, Montana, Spain, Chile and Mexico City. Outside of work, Hayley is an avid beach-goer and fearlessly experimental baker.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

Business Manager. Raised in San Francisco, Ca., Ashley moved to Las Vegas, New Mexico, in 1996 and never looked back. She has worked in the financial industry since 1998 in many capacities at banking institutions across New Mexico. Ashley has a degree in Culinary Arts and loves cooking and finding new condiments to add to recipes. When not balancing a checkbook, she can be found camping around the beautiful state of New Mexico with her husband and dogs.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

Director of Learning Services. Kaitlyn attended Northern Arizona University as an undergraduate student before moving on to the University of Oregon (Go Ducks!) to complete her graduate studies. Kaitlyn holds a BS in Psychological Sciences (Disability Studies minor), an MS in Special Education, and a PhD in School Psychology. Kaitlyn previously worked as a school psychologist in Durango, CO, where she assisted school teams in identifying children with disabilities and determining their eligibility for special education services and/or accommodations. Originally from Albuquerque, Kaitlyn was eager to return to New Mexico, where there is an abundance of sunshine and fresh chile. Kaitlyn is passionate about equity in education and is excited to provide support to students, families, and faculty/staff within the SF Prep community.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

Director of Studies, History Department Chair. As the Director of Studies, Kendel oversees curriculum and educational policy in the middle and upper schools and coordinates faculty professional development. Before arriving at Prep, she taught in Massachusetts at Lexington High School and Northfield Mount Hermon School, and before becoming the Director of Studies, she was a teacher in the History Department at Prep. Kendel attended Phillips Exeter Academy, Dartmouth College (B.A.), and Harvard Divinity School (M.T.S.). While at Harvard, she completed educational coursework and teaching licensure through the Program in Religion and Secondary Education, a collaborative program between the Harvard Divinity School and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In 2001–2002, she was awarded a prestigious Klingenstein Fellowship to study curriculum and education policy at The Klingenstein Center, Teachers College Columbia University. She has two children: AJ, Prep class of 2021, and Emery, Prep class of 2024.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

Assistant Head of School/Head of Upper School. With the intention of never taking another mathematics class, Ashley completed AP Calculus in high school and declared journalism as her major in college. She now holds a Bachelor’s Degree in pure mathematics and a Master’s Degree from Teachers College, Columbia University, in the epistemology and pedagogy of the subject. Throughout the past two decades, she has designed explorations for her students to see mathematics as a language, art, and powerful system of reasoning, all while simultaneously serving in leadership roles to promote whole-being development, wellness, citizenry, and community responsibility in independent schools in California, Utah, and Wyoming. Outside of school, Ashley can be found supporting individuals as a certified optimization coach, adventuring outdoors with her family on both groomed and un-groomed trails, attending the theater, or simply reading a book.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

Head of Middle School. Heather holds a master’s degree from Columbia University Teachers College in Private School Leadership and a master’s degree in Gifted Education from the University of South Florida. She has been either a teacher, administrator, or coach in independent schools for over twenty years. Heather also served as an Academic Coordinator for the Duke University Talent Identification Program (TIP) for three summers. Most recently, she moved to Santa Fe from Austin, TX, where she taught middle school science, coached, and was the science department chair. Prior to that, she lived in Florida, Beijing, China, and New York. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling or spending time outdoors doing just about anything with her dog, Bonni.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

CFO, Co-Director of Tuition Assistance. Bruce holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from American University in Washington, DC, and an MBA from the University of Connecticut. He has been in accounting and finance for over thirty years with many companies.

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff

Head of School. A product of Seattle public schools, Aaron has spent the last 27 years as an educator and administrator at four independent Schools (two in his adopted state of New Mexico). Aaron is currently in his sixth year as head of school at Santa Fe Prep and formerly served The Colorado Springs School as head of school for six years.

Aaron holds a BA from Colorado College, an MA from  St. John’s College, and an M.Ed  from Teachers College, Columbia University. His wife Anna is also an educator, and she and Aaron are raising two boys (their older son Ben is a graduate of Santa Fe Prep and their younger son Henry is 16 and has Autism and Down syndrome). In his free time, Aaron enjoys chasing wild trout in the rugged canyons of northern NM

Department(s)

• Admin/Staff
• History