Teaching at La Jolla Country Day School

Faculty/Staff Directory

Department

Grade

Last Name

Jonathan Shulman

Educator, US History; Director of the Center for Excellence in Citizenship

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Bio

“I inspire greatness by educating our students on the importance of civic engagement. In a free society, we have the constitutional right to say what is on our minds. As such, we can make the choice to speak truth or falsehoods, to speak laudably or reprehensibly. It is our obligation to seek out the facts and to respond in a way that recognizes our own as well as others’ sense of dignity.”

As the history department chair, Jonathan Shulman is passionate about promoting civic engagement. He develops partnerships with civic organizations, including the City Club of San Diego and the San Diego Historical Center, and coordinates off-campus and travel opportunities for students. Mr. Shulman is head teacher–coach of the Torrey Mock Trial Team, a program that is recognized as one of the best in San Diego County.

Mr. Shulman graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Tufts University and a master’s in war studies from King’s College London. He was the first K–12 educator to be elected president of the California World History Association, he is an active partner with EUROCLIO—the European Association of History Educators, and he has served as an AP World History exam reader for the College Board since 2010.

Before joining LJCDS in 2003, Mr. Shulman taught at the American School of Milan, in Italy; the Beijing Film Academy, in China; and the Greenhill School, in Dallas, Texas. He previously worked as chief of staff to the Appropriations Sub-Committee Chair in the Maryland House of Delegates.

A fan of the movies, Mr. Shulman was the co-producer and director of Minyan in Kaifeng, a documentary about the modern-day descendants of an ancient Chinese Jewish community. The film, narrated by Leonard Nimoy, played at several international Jewish film festivals to great acclaim.
Patrick Casey

Educator, US Humanities

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Bio

“I inspire greatness for a better world by teaching my students about how history can empower people to think deeply and critically, make connections across time, and form evidence-based arguments. As a coach, I inspire greatness on the court and beyond by building a culture of trust, commitment and care into everything we do.”

Patrick Casey, MAT, believes that a solid education can open up many opportunities. He came to LJCDS because of its long legacy of having a vibrant community of faculty, staff and students that consistently excels. Mr. Casey first got into teaching because he believes that education can be a powerful tool to break barriers of inequity and can be a means to empower students. He has a heart for service and advocacy. Being a teacher and coach allows him to help students of all backgrounds pursue a meaningful future and encourage them to positively impact the world around them.

Mr. Casey played college basketball while earning a Bachelor of Arts in history and religious studies from Davidson College in North Carolina. He earned a Master of Arts in teaching from St. Louis University while also completing the two-year Teach for America program. Mr. Casey worked at an inner-city school focused on advocating for educational equity across the region and country.

In his free time, Mr. Casey enjoys spending time with his wife, hiking and trying to find the best coffee shops in each city that he and his wife visit.
Colin Dalton

Educator, US Humanities

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Bio

I inspire greatness for a better world by creating an environment in my classroom for all students to be seen and heard. Our classroom is a safe space where everyone can try out new ideas or reflect thoughtfully without fear of judgment. Students recognize that being wrong is not final, but instead is a wonderful opportunity to grow and understand.”

Colin Dalton joined LJCDS in the middle of the 2019–2020 school year as an Upper School humanities educator. He teaches Justice and Injustice and AP Psychology.

Mr. Dalton earned a Master of Arts in Education from the University of San Diego and his bachelor’s degree in American History from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Before joining LJCDS, he taught AP U.S. History and AP Government at Summit Shasta Public High School in Daly City, CA. He helped develop a project-based curriculum and served as a mentor/advisor to a group of 25 students while there.

Mr. Dalton lives in La Mesa, loves rugby and is a huge Warriors fan. His main focuses in class are creating engaged citizens who understand the intricacies of American government and helping students explore the complexities of the human psyche.
Fiona Halloran Ph.D.

Educator, US Humanities

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Bio

“I inspire greatness for a better world by helping students explore the origins and meanings of American identity. One of the most challenging elements of changing the world is knowing where to begin. A deeper sense of national and personal identity can drive students toward a clearer vision of the change they want to achieve and can, as a result, help them to improve all of our lives.”

Fiona Halloran, Ph.D., teaches Upper School humanities courses, including American Studies, AP European History, AP U.S. History, and Food and Culture. She also helps to guide the Model United Nations program. Dr. Halloran earned a Ph.D. in American history from the University of California, Los Angeles, and holds a Bachelor of Arts in American history from American University in Washington, D.C. She is the author of Thomas Nast: The Father of Modern Political Cartoons. She has been supported in her research on American political cartooning and 19th-century history by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Huntington Library, the Gilder-Lehrman Institute, and the University of Oxford.

Before coming to LJCDS in 2019, Dr. Halloran taught for four years at Eastern Kentucky University and for nine years at Rowland Hall-St. Mark’s School in Salt Lake City, Utah. She is the parent of a member of the class of 2026 and is excited to see where an LJCDS education will lead him.
Samuel Kullens

Educator, US Humanities

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Bio

“I inspire greatness for a better world by helping students understand the importance of the ways events and ideas from the past continue to shape our world in order to better understand who we are, both as individuals and as a society. I strive to make history both intellectually challenging and personally meaningful, while teaching students how the lessons of the past have a direct bearing upon their life experiences.”

Samuel “Sam” Kullens came to La Jolla Country Day School in 2020 after a long and distinguished teaching career in Los Angeles. He spent 17 years teaching at Benjamin Franklin High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District, a predominantly Title I institution. During his time there, Mr. Kullens’s classroom became known for producing thoughtful, prepared and enthusiastic students who scored in the top 1% of state assessments and significantly outperformed national averages in AP testing. Their hard work and success earned Mr. Kullens the award of “LAUSD Teacher of Year,” as well as recognition from the Mayor’s Office, the LA City Council, the LA County Board of Supervisors and the LAUSD School Board.

In his spare time, Mr. Kullens enjoys live music, travel, horology and rooting for Chicago sports teams. He also enjoys hiking and going to the beach with his family, including daughter Adela ’33.
Jessica Novak Ph.D.

Educator, US Humanities

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Bio

“I inspire greatness by providing my students with the classroom culture and the academic resources necessary for them to engage with new perspectives on enduring world conflicts. If students come away from my class capable of first inquiring how an individual’s worldview may be influenced by broad and nuanced contexts instead of simply judging the person as ‘right’ or ‘wrong,’ then they are on their way to becoming both empathetic and empirical global scholars.”

Jessica Novak earned her Ph.D. in anthropology at UC San Diego. Her dissertation fieldwork in Cartagena, Colombia focused on how different cultural communities practice emotional resilience in the face of ongoing political violence, an experience that inspired her to also pursue a master’s degree in psychiatric social work in 2016. Prior to working as an instructor and biomedical researcher in Global Health and Medicine at UC San Diego, Dr. Novak was a Spanish and Latin American Studies teacher at an independent school in Lake Placid, New York.

Dr. Novak loves learning from her students as they practice perspective—taking on questions that have no single answer. She is dedicated to modeling the importance of analytical inquiry over the memorization of facts as well as mitigating the anxiety over academic writing through workshops and low-stakes draft assignments.

Dr. Novak is thrilled to bring her love of teaching and her passion for world cultures and well-being to LJCDS. When she is not ruminating about new discussion questions for her class, Dr. Novak spends almost every free moment in Balboa Park and at the San Diego Zoo with her two toddlers and her husband, Ali.
Corbin Prychun

Educator, US Humanities and Social Science; Coach - Soccer

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Bio

“I inspire greatness for a better world by using the humanities as a conduit to push the students to explore their intrinsic and extrinsic surroundings, including outside of the LJCDS campus. Through the study of history, my students will desire to expand their boundaries and learn first-hand about cultures from around the world. In their psychology classes, they will examine the reasons behind their decision-making processes and expand their social and cognitive awareness. While in English class, these future leaders will find the confidence and ability to feel good about using their voice, gleaning lessons and techniques from great writers to help shape their thinking and communication.”

At LJCDS, Corbin Prychun will serve as a humanities generalist, teaching a variety of courses in the Upper School. Currently teaching AP Psychology and English II, while also coaching the women’s soccer team, he is excited to be a part of such a dynamic staff.

As a San Diego native, Mr. Prychun graduated from nearby La Jolla High School before moving on to the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in education. After four years of teaching at a small independent school near Lake Tahoe, he recently returned home to work as a writer for a museum-based education company. After only one year, his desire to return to the classroom has lead him to take a position on the faculty at LJCDS.
Deborah Shaul

Educator, US Humanities; Student Publications Coordinator

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Bio

“As a teacher of literature, I have the opportunity to talk with students about how texts connect to their lives. I help them find their own voices through writing, presentations and discussion. The conversations of the class—the ones that connect to the students’ lives, their dreams, and hopefully through which they find inspiration—serve as the key way in which I can inspire greatness for a better world, starting with the small world of an English classroom at La Jolla Country Day School.”

Deborah Shaul has been teaching at LJCDS since 1997. She taught in private high schools and in several colleges in the Washington, D.C. area before moving to San Diego. She has a Bachelor of Arts in English and communications, with a French minor from the University of Michigan, and a master’s in American literature from the American University in Washington, D.C. She is ABD (all but dissertation) in American studies, working toward a Ph.D. at the University of Maryland. American studies makes connections between literature and the historical context in which it was written, and Ms. Shaul regularly makes those connections in her classroom.

Ms. Shaul created the American studies program in 2009.
Nathaniel West

Educator, US Humanities

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Bio

“I inspire greatness for a better world by sharing the world with my students and giving them the tools to change it. By exposing students to stories and viewpoints often overlooked in education, I strive to transform my students from consumers of history to critical readers of history. Thus, they can question the world around them, and ultimately, work to make it better.”

Nate West believes that teaching in a participatory democracy means giving students the necessary tools to shape the world around them and enact social change. Mr. West works to provide students with the academic and social skills necessary to enact that change, while also honoring each student’s individual identity pursuant with LJCDS’s emphasis on dignity. Everyone is welcome in Mr. West’s classroom, and everyone has something to contribute.

Mr. West’s career in education began in Shanghai, China, where he spent time as an English language teacher after graduating from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. He returned to Oregon to pursue a master’s degree in education at the University of Oregon and spent time teaching in the Eugene area before joining LJCDS in 2018. A native of Philadelphia, Nate is an avid Philadelphia 76ers basketball fan and cheesesteak enthusiast. When he’s not at school, Nate can be found cooking Chinese food with his wife, Cassie, or playing with his cat, Dumpling.