2024-2025 Faculty Cohort
Jason Chang joined the history department at College Prep in 2021, and teaches ninth grade Asian Worlds and a senior seminar on the History of Capitalism. Before arriving at CPS, he taught for ten years at Bentley, where he covered topics that ranged from ninth grade world history to seminars on the prison industrial complex, the Cold War in a global context, the global revolutions of 1968, race in American legal history, the history of capitalism and slavery, and many others.
Originally from Berkeley, Jason obtained his BA in American Studies with a concentration in Ethnic Studies from UC Santa Cruz, and earned his PhD from the University of Michigan in American Studies, where his broad area of research focused on the intersecting histories of racial formation, capitalism, and empire. He is a passionate classroom teacher who believes deeply that having a strong historical understanding of the ways that race, gender, sex, class, ability, and other markers of difference and identity have shaped our present is a prerequisite for radically reimagining how we want our shared future to look. Whenever he has some down time, Jason loves nothing more than to read, eat delicious food, and cook.
Charlotte has been the Digital Literacy Specialist/Librarian at Branson since 2021. Previously she served as Director of Library Services at the Northwest School in Seattle, and has over a decade of experience in both public, academic and school libraries. Before becoming a librarian, she taught and developed arts & humanities programs for various non-profits. She’s passionate about cultivating learner-centered spaces that address equity gaps, incorporate information literacy standards, and encourage a love of reading. One of her favorite things to do at Branson is collaborate with faculty and students on a variety of research projects, especially those that uncover the magic of primary sources. She has a degree in women and gender studies with a concentration in art history from DePaul University, and a master’s in library and information sciences from San Jose State University.
She’s presented numerous times on equity issues including a briefing presented to the California State Library in 2018 as part of the California Library Leadership Institute. She also presented on teaching and promoting anti-racism for the 2017 California Library Association conference.
Tony has been teaching computer science at The Branson School since August 2016. He currently teaches classes in web design, Java, Arduino, Python and iOS mobile application development. He holds a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Psychology and Computing from the University of Plymouth and a Master of Arts in Education from the University of Bath. Tony previously worked for a leading cell phone company in England as a software developer and team leader from 1998 to 2005, prior to becoming a computer science teacher. He was chair of computer science at Priory Community School in North Somerset, England from 2006 to 2015. Tony lives in San Francisco with his wife and young son. He enjoys cycling, golf and snowboarding in his spare time.
Evan has been teaching at San Francisco University High School since 2022 and has been teaching Latin, Ancient Greek, and Classics courses generally since 2014. Evan earned a BA in Classics from Xavier University and a MA in Classics from Vanderbilt University. Evan also did PhD work in both Classics (Cornell) and Applied Linguistics (Ball State University). Evan’s graduate school work focused in Classics on ancient philosophy and medicine and on LGBTQ+/Queer language use in Applied Linguistics. As a teacher of Classical languages Evan is aligned with a student-centered, humanistic, multimodal approach to learning which incorporates insights from linguistics and language-acquisition research. Outside of the classroom Evan is an accomplished bluegrass musician (banjo, guitar) and singer, performing regularly at venues in the Bay Area and beyond. Evan identifies as gay/queer, uses they/he pronouns, and lives at home with Andres, a 12 year-old Yorkie.
Mx. Chang (they/them) is an artist, educator, and creative technologist. They teach creative code and electronics at Lick Wilmerding High School, focusing on accessible curriculum and critical engagement. In their artistic work, Leia explores creative fabrication, materiality, and poetic tech.
Byron Philhour is the Dean of Teaching and Learning at San Francisco University High School. Over the last two and a half decades, he has taught astronomy, cosmology, physics, chemistry, computer science, and computational modeling. He earned his undergraduate degree in physics from U.C. Berkeley with a focus on gamma-ray astrophysics and his Ph.D. in physics from the California Institute of Technology with a focus on observational cosmology. As an educator, Byron aligns with the constructivist and humanist movements, understanding that human beings are capable of explosive, self-directed, experiential learning once obstacles to their well-being are removed.
Byron lives in San Francisco with his wife, three children (one in high school, one in middle school, one in elementary school), three dogs, and two cats. Byron wishes he had a bird, too, but thinks that would be unwise because of the cats.
Alex Quinn joined College Prep’s science department in 2023 and teaches physics and chemistry. Prior to working at College Prep, Alex taught middle school science in Richmond, CA. They graduated from College Prep in 2015 and then studied biology and engineering at Harvey Mudd College. After college, Alex got their MA in Education from Claremont Graduate University and began their teaching career.
In their free time, Alex loves reading science fiction, fiction, and fantasy. On a week night, you’re likely to find them at the gym lifting weights, running, or working on their handstands. On the weekend, Alex races sailboats, bakes bread, and walks their roommate’s poodle.
Kevin Wray has been teaching mathematics for the past six years at The College Preparatory School, and prior to that for four years at the University of California at the University of California, Berkeley. Currently Kevin is teaching single variable calculus and multivariable calculus at CPS. He has also taught courses in linear algebra, abstract algebra, analysis, several seminars at Cal, as well as courses in classical mechanics, quantum physics, and relativity.
After finishing his undergrad, Kevin moved to Holland for a year as a member of the Mathematical Research Institute in Utrecht. He followed this by moving to Amsterdam, where he was a grad student in theoretical physics at the Universiteit van Amsterdam. After completing his degree at the UvA, Kevin moved to Berkeley for work as a graduate student in mathematics. Upon completion at Cal, Kevin started work at The College Preparatory School.
Kevin enjoys taking hikes, bike rides, surfing, really pretty much anything outdoors, basketball, olympic-style weightlifting, and, of course, reading math and physics papers and books.
The Golden Gate: Bay Area Literature, History & Activism
James has been an English and Humanities teacher at Marin Academy for the past six years, where he has also served as the Director of Community Action and a co-teacher in the Transdisciplinary Leadership Program. A fifth-generation Californian, James is passionate about Bay Area and California history, and sees community engagement and experiential learning as essential components of his teaching. He completed his BA degree in English from the University of San Diego and MA degrees in both English and Education from Stanford University. He is also a published writer and musician and brings together his various interests and experitise in the design of The Golden Gate course.
Avery is currently a math teacher at Lick-Wilmerding, and the way he teaches math ≠the way he was taught math. In the past 2+ decades Avery has taught math and science to students from second grade to graduate school, usually not at the same time. Avery believes that everyone can do math, that math is a creative endeavor, and that math can and should be a tool for social change. He also believes that spiders are cool, but is open to other opinions on this last point.
Cinematic Storytelling: Fundamentals of Filmmaking
Peter started out as a playwright and earned his MA at Boston University and his MFA from UCLA. His plays have been produced at a wide range of theaters and venues including Boston Playwrights Theater, Francis Ford Coppola’s One Act Festival, Kennedy Center Festival, Oakland’s Black Box Theater, and Stanford University. He has been published in MONOLOGUES FOR ACTORS OF COLOR (Roberta Uno, editor).
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He also is a screenwriter and his last screenplay, LINK, has made it onto Coverfly’s Red List and it was listed in the top 6 percent out of over 11,000 short film screenplays. LINK has received accolades and awards from the following festivals: Hollyshorts, Austin Film Festival, Outstanding Screenplays, Los Angeles International Screenplay Awards, WeScreenplay Shorts, New York International Screenplay Awards, Top Shorts Film Festival, and many more.
In addition to screenwriting, Peter has been a drama and film teacher for twenty years and has worked with youth from the inner city to the suburbs. He currently teaches filmmaking at The Athenian School. He is also the founder of the film production company, Storytelling for the Screen LLC. Visit his latest project at www.questionfilm.com.
