Lisa VanDamme
Head of School

Miss VanDamme obtained her BA in philosophy from the University of Texas (Austin) in 1995. She then took classes at Penn State University, with the intention of earning a masters in education and teaching literature to high school students. She abandoned this pursuit when she was offered an exciting opportunity to move to California and develop a curriculum for a gifted child who was not being challenged in traditional schools. She found that the program she developed worked equally well for students of all levels of ability, and ran a successful homeschool for six years. Convinced that the principles behind her homeschool could be successfully translated into a school environment, she founded VanDamme Academy—where they have been.

Email: missvandamme@vandammeacademy.com

Andrew Lewis
Assistant Director

Mr. Lewis obtained his Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Melbourne, Australia, and has pursued graduate studies in philosophy in Australia and America, completing Graduate and Post-Graduate Diplomas. He has 20 years teaching and tutoring experience across a wide variety of subjects, from 4th grade to the college level. He has a special responsibility for developing the school's history curriculum.

Email: mrlewis@vandammeacademy.com

David O'Brien
Director of Administration

Mr. O'Brien earned his B.A. in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin (Eau Claire) and his J.D. from Chapman University School of Law. He first became acquainted with VanDamme Academy when his wife, Elizabeth, was a teacher at the school. After spending the last two years enjoying Minnesota winters, he has happily moved back to southern California to join the VanDamme Academy staff. He is responsible for overseeing the non-academic operations of the school.

Email:
mrobrien@vandammeacademy.com

Peggy Battaglia

Mrs. Battaglia obtained her B.S. and teacher certification from Eastern Michigan University. She has been teaching elementary students for the past 13 years. In addition, Mrs. Battaglia and her husband have raised three children. Upon learning about VanDamme Academy, Mrs. Battaglia became quite interested in its philosophy and curriculum, which she believes identifies and conveys the true fundamentals of education. She teaches elementary grammar and writing.

Email: mrsbattaglia@vandammeacademy.com

Lori Beach

Mrs. Beach obtained her BS in Early Childhood Education from the University of Missouri (St. Louis) and is certified in Primary Montessori by the American Montessori Society. She taught a Montessori Primary classroom for five years before joining the staff at VanDamme Academy six years ago. She and her husband Kelly have two daughters, Bianca (11) and Talia (8), who currently attend VanDamme Academy. Mrs. Beach is in charge of the Montessori Primary curriculum.

Email: mrsbeach@vandammeacademy.com

Mike Black

Mr. Black obtained his BA in Mathematics from Texas A & M in 1996. He then took time off and traveled around Central and South America surfing. After starting a graduate degree in Artificial Intelligence at the Colorado School of Mines he moved to Santa Barbara where he obtained his Master of Arts Degree in Pure Mathematics from the University of California Santa Barbara.

UCSB provided Mr. Black with his initial teaching opportunity. He was a teacher's assistant charged with Calculus sections. Upon graduation in 2000 he moved to Huntington Beach where he was employed by Long Beach Unified School District and Golden West Community College. He taught Gifted and Talented education Algebra, Geometry, and Trigonometry classes at LBUSD and Statistics and Algebra at Golden West. Mr. Black is a Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth SDB fellow. Mr. Black is in charge of the mathematics curriculum at VanDamme Academy and teaches grades 5 through 8.

Email:
mrblack@vandammeacademy.com

Marianne Epstein

Miss Epstein graduated from Dartmouth College in 2009 with a BA in psychology. Having spent a wonderful gap year working at VanDamme Academy during the 2006-2007 school year, she is delighted to be returning this year to teach Writing and Math to elementary students.

Jeffrey Feland

Mr. Feland earned his B.A. from UC Davis with majors in Classics and
English. He has a Post-Baccalaureate certificate in Classics from UCLA and
is currently working on his Ph.D. in Classics at UC Irvine with a
dissertation on Roman satire. Mr. Feland knows Latin, Greek, Spanish,
French, and German. He has taught and tutored courses in Latin, Greek,
Spanish, Etymology, and Greek and Roman Mythology. This is his first year
at VanDamme Academy; he is teaching Latin and writing to the junior high
students.

Cindy Greengold

Mrs. Greengold is a credentialed teacher (UC San Diego, Concordia University), Registered Nurse, and former City Council Member and Mayor of Laguna Hills. She was trained in Saddleback Valley Unified School District (SVUSD) schools, and taught primary grade levels there and at another private school in Orange County for many years. As a Registered Nurse, she has worked in a variety of acute care settings at UCLA Medical Center, and currently manages her husband’s medical practice in Laguna Hills. Mrs. Greengold is also the proud mother of four adult children, two wonderful son-in-laws and a grandmother to baby Julia.

Email: mrsgreengold@vandammeacademy.com

John Krieger

Dr. Krieger obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, both from the University of Iowa. He spent several years teaching and tutoring physics, mathematics, and engineering, during which time he decided that an overhaul of the traditional math and science curricula was necessary to give students a fuller, more meaningful, and more personal grasp of the world around them. He is now devoted to developing a systematic new elementary and junior high science curriculum.

Email: mrkrieger@vandammeacademy.com

Edwin Mizrahi

Mr. Mizrahi obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in History at the University of Albany in New York. He loves teaching, and was a certified water safety and swim instructor for children and teenagers for 10 years at Hofstra University in New York. Mr. Mizrahi is the head of the vocabulary curriculum at VanDamme Academy and teaches vocabulary and geography to all grades.

Email:
mrmizrahi@vandammeacademy.com

Luc Travers

Mr. Travers earned his B.A. in Art History at the University of Memphis. He also pursued graduate studies in Classical Art. He has had a passion for teaching since he worked as a substitute in elementary and junior high schools while still a teenager. For the past five years, he has given tours at art museums, and this fall will be publishing a book on art appreciation, Touching The Art. Every summer he leads a group of students on a school trip, with such destinations as Paris, Boston, and Rome. Mr. Travers is the creator of VanDamme Academy's innovative art appreciation curriculum. He teaches literature and art appreciation.

Email: mrtravers@vandammeacademy.com

Kyle Steele

Mr. Steele earned his B.A. in Political Theory and Constitutional Democracy at Michigan State University. Shortly after graduating, he was given the opportunity to work as a receptionist at the school he had long admired: VanDamme Academy. In short time, he worked his way up to the position of director of administration. As director of administration, he earned such nicknames as “the human post-it note” and “the one-man-bureaucracy.” This year, he is excited to pass along this role to Mr. O’Brien and begin his career as a full-time homeroom teacher, a goal he has pursued since beginning at VanDamme Academy. His primary professional interests are in math and history as well as child psychology and development.

Email: mrsteele@vandammeacademy.com

Gracie Lizzie Scarlett VanDamme
Mascot

Gracie Lizzie Scarlett VanDamme is the mascot and heir-apparent of VanDamme Academy. She is a two-year-old black and gold phantom teacup poodle that weighs in at 3 lbs 12 oz and boasts a full set of certified shots and vaccinations.  Her primary functions at VanDamme Academy are: greeting and receiving guests, consoling ill children, and shepherding children to and from recess.  In her free time, she enjoys running in circles, waiting at the door for Miss VanDamme to return and leeching heat from any willing person’s lap.  Her coat is 100% hypoallergenic.