Faculty & Staff

Christopher Keck-Director

Chris founded Palo Alto Prep in 1987 and has been the director of the school since its founding. His goal was to create a school where learning would be fun for kids. The philosophy is that great teachers and a positive environment hook kids on learning for life. This philosophy, combined with a focus on outdoor experiential learning has created a productive and enjoyable environment conducive to learning. There is nothing more critical than the link between student and teacher; it is the teacher's relationship with the student rather than the subject matter that gets a student to stretch out of his comfort zone and take the risk to learn new concepts, ideas and skills.  Chris taught chemistry and biology at PAP from 1986 to 1998 while developing and leading all outdoor education programs.  As a former EMT he maintains current emergency medical training certificates, research diving and advanced scuba diving certificates, ski patrols at Northstar Lake Tahoe, and holds a current pilots license.  He uses the outdoors as a classroom and believes that "Mother Nature" is truly the best teacher of all.  

Andrew Fryer-Vice Principal-Social Studies

Andrew has two important goals (1) Help students to live in the moment and (2) help students connect history to events that define who they are. He feels it is important that when a student leaves Palo Alto Prep he or she can comfortably move from their primary discourse to a secondary or college discourse. Andrew's satisfaction in teaching is derived from bringing the subject matter to life in such a way that students are excited by it. His leisure activities include bowling, guitar playing, surfing and motorcycles, but his highest priority is his family and spending time with his two daughters. Andrew received an AA degree from Foothill College and a BA degree and teaching credential from San Francisco State University.

Dylan Rich-Vice Principal-Math/Science

Dylan believes every student has the desire to be successful, and he helps students find the inner resources they need in order to master their own learning. As a graduate of Palo Alto Prep in 1999, Dylan is particularly attuned to the mindset and concerns of the students, and he embodies the spirit and pride of the school. Students identify with his youthful perspective. Dylan's hobbies are surfing, golfing, cooking, guitar and he is currently working on getting his pilot's license.

Katherine Lighty-English/Social Studies

Katherine has been working in education since 2001, and is in her third year of credentialed teaching. She has credentials in both English and Social Science, and is excited to be teaching English and U.S. History this year at P.A.P.
While growing up in Santa Cruz, Katherine did well in school until she hit high school. A traditional high school just didn't fit for her and she tried several. After a number of attempts to be the square peg in the round hole, she left school and took control of her own education. A big job for a 16-year-old.
After some time at community college, Katherine attended Antioch College, located in lovely Yellow Springs, OH. During college, she participated in a number of education-related internships both in and out of Ohio, and was able to avoid most of the snow. Katherine graduated with a BA in Education Studies (and a deep hatred of blizzards) in 2003; and hightailed it back home to Santa Cruz and its mild weather. Katherine earned her teaching credential and an MAT from UC Santa Cruz in 2006. Go Banana Slugs!
Katherine worries that her hobbies make her sound like an 85 year old. She likes to bake, (especially cupcakes) spends too much time knitting, and the rest of the time reading (duh, she is an English teacher), and creating the perfect itunes mix. 

Teodora Lillard-Spanish/P.E.

"We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough."
--Helen Keller
 
Born and raised in the Spanish speaking country of Mexico in the highlands of Jalisco (The agave  land). Theodora did her professional schooling in the neighbor state of Aguascalientes. She understands the difficult but exciting process of learning and speaking a new language. She believes that every human being has the responsibility to share the knowledge that has been given. Her passion in life is learning an teaching and Vs. she has done that since 1990 first as volunteer and later as a profession.  
She is also a happy wife and a mom to a eleventh month old.

Lisa Maureen O'Hearn-Keck-Dean of Students

As Dean of Students Lisa's goal is to assure that Palo Alto Prep supports our students and families in every way we can.  She is a part of each student's educational process from the interview and enrollment, working with families and students on course selection, transcripts, and college choices and on to graduation.  She is faculty liaison for the parent advisory board, as well as works with alumni and the community. She coordinates our international trip each year, and knows that there is no better teacher of culture and people than actually being there first hand. Lisa relishes the time spent with students and is constantly amazed at how much she learns from them each day

A graduate of Menlo Atherton High School and University of Santa Clara, Lisa held the position as Executive Director of the Muscular Dystrophy Assn/San Francisco as well as management positions in media sales, advertising and fundraising for over twenty years. In 2001 she co-founded The Windermere Group, an outdoor education and team-building company.  She is still very involved in organizing outdoor adventures and team -building for schools in the area as well as for Palo Alto Prep.

Lisa is a mother of two daughters, and treasures time with her family. However she will jump at any chance to travel. She loves to water-ski, snow ski and scuba dive and has recently become a devotee of meditation and yoga.

Laura Marcus-Bricca-Special Education

Laura is not only a teacher at Palo Alto Prep, she is also a graduate. Because of this she has a special understanding of and appreciation for the school.  After graduating Valedictorian at Palo Alto Prep in 1998, she attended Santa Clara University and graduated in 2002 with a B.A. in Spanish, while simultaneously achieving a black belt in Tae Kwon Do.  While in college she did some traveling in Mexico, Central America and South America.  Laura spent four months in Argentina, studying abroad during her senior year.  Following graduation, she was the manager of West Coast Martial Arts in Mountain View for three years before returning to Palo Alto Prep as a teacher in 2005.  Laura taught Spanish and English her first two years at Palo Alto Prep before being put in charge of the Special Education Resource Support Program.  Laura holds an Education Specialist credential in Special Education, and is pursuing a Masters in Education at San Jose State University.

Laura currently runs the Resource Support Program at Palo Alto Prep.  She teaches Study Skills to special education students and visits their general education classes to provide additional resource support.  She is the special education consultant for all the general education teachers at Palo Alto Prep.  Laura also acts as the liaison with the California Department of Education in maintaining the school's Non-Public School Certification. 

Laura has recently moved up to the Santa Cruz Mountains to enjoy more of nature and the ocean.  Her hobbies include going to the beach, attending Bikram yoga classes, training in martial arts and kickboxing, riding horses, cooking, playing the piano, singing, writing music, reading, playing with her niece and nephew, and traveling.

Lindsey Pratx-Science

Lindsey was born and raised in the small, agriculturally-based Central Valley town of Reedley, CA.  She grew up in a family consisting of her mother, younger sister, and numerous cats, dogs, and assorted pets.  From an early age, she had a love for animals, nature, and the ocean. In 2001, she left home for the first time to attend Stanford University.  During her undergrad years she spent a quarter in Australia studying coral reefs and rainforests, as well as two quarters in Monterey at Stanford's Hopkins Marine Station.  She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Human Biology in 2005, and has spent her time since helping young people develop wonder and curiosity in science classrooms.  She currently lives in Mountain View with her husband and two cats, and in her free time enjoys gardening, travel, reading, and dancing.

Jon Pabico-Math/Music

Jon Pabico is originally from Reno, Nevada. He received his BA/BS degrees in Philosophy/Chemistry at the University of Nevada, Reno (GO WOLFPACK!) in 1999.  After completing his teaching credential requirements in 2000, he began his career in education as a chemistry teacher. Along with teaching his classes, Jon got involved outside the classroom with students and school activities as an adviser for several groups including student body government, speech/debate, and national science competitions. He has also taught in Prague and Kiev as an English teacher, experiencing the unique differences and similarities between international systems of education.  He believes every person can accomplish anything one step at a time, and that a strong education allows one to take bigger steps.  Jon enjoys sleeping, NBC's Office, YouTubing, reading, exercising, and traveling.  At this time, he only has time for YouTubing.

Tara Theobald-English/Gender Studies

Originally a Chicago native, Tara moved to San Francisco with her partner in May 2008 and quickly became a part of the San Francisco Bay Area community. She graduated cum laude from the University of Illinois at Chicago with departmental honors in both of her two Bachelors degrees: Teaching of English (secondary education) and Gender and Women's Studies. Tara considers herself to be a punctuation princess, as well as a believer that every student loves to read (and just hasn't found the right book yet). (Tara frequently finds herself having to defend this position in "conversations" with her students.)

Jessica Barnett-Math

Jessica grew up in the North Bay and went to college at Caltech in Southern California. She worked for over a decade tutoring students one-on-one in all levels of high school mathematics. She got her math degree at U.C. Santa Cruz and her teaching credential at Sonoma State University. Her teaching philosophy is based on the belief that the purpose of education is the true happiness of the students. She strives to include playful exploration in the curriculum. Most of Jessica's hobbies mark her for the happy geek she is - she likes science fiction books and movies and her number one hobby is playing European strategy games! She also enjoys shopping, hiking and gardening.

Maggie Rich-Admin/Outdoor Ed

Keith Costas-Internet Technology Specialist