Welcome New Faculty and Staff

Joshua Clark joins TASIS as the Director of Student Recruitment and Admissions. He has 20 years of experience in admissions, international recruitment, and financial aid. Prior to TASIS, he served in the admission office at boarding schools in Hawai‘i, Maine, and Arizona. His roles have included overseeing Admissions, Advancement (including alumni and development), Auxiliary and Summer, and the Marketing & Communication departments, as well as an art gallery that raised funds for financial aid.

Joshua received his bachelor of arts degree in philosophy and political science from Purdue University and his Master of Education in Enrollment Management and Policy from University of Southern California. He enjoys travel, cooking, reading, and hiking.

Brenda Clark joins TASIS as an Upper School teacher of English. Brenda has been teaching for over twenty years, and most recently she spent 14 years teaching English in Hawai’i. Prior to that she also taught in Maine, Arizona, and Indiana. Brenda held many roles including English teacher, English department chair, Instructional Leader, advisor, dorm parent, and writing lab coordinator.

Brenda earned her B.A. from Purdue University, her teaching license from the state of Indiana, and her M.A. from Middlebury College. Brenda and her husband and daughter are delighted to join the TASIS community.

Rachelle Darr joins TASIS England as a Grade 4 teacher in the Lower School. Hailing from Australia, she has 13 years’ experience in elementary schools as both a class teacher and subject specialist (Mathematics and Extended Learning). Most recently, Rachelle taught in an independent school in London, as well as British and American international schools in Cairo and Bucharest. She is delighted to return to the UK after taking a sabbatical and travelling to all five continents. 

She has earned both a Bachelor of Education (Primary) and Masters in Gifted Education. Rachelle and her husband are happy to be part of the TASIS community. Outside of school you will find Rachelle exploring museums, enjoying the outdoors, or experimenting with plant-based cuisine.

Alyssa DeLaBruere joins TASIS England as a Middle and Upper School teacher of Visual Art. Alyssa spent over 20 years in the United States working as a K-12 visual art teacher in both private schools in Vermont and independently in her own teaching studio. Over the past decade, Alyssa has been affiliated with TASIS as a visual art instructor at Les Tapies, a TASIS Summer Program in France, and as a visiting artist at TASIS England in 2014 and 2018. Most recently, Alyssa spent the past school year on an artist’s sabbatical in Taos, New Mexico, focusing on her own work in painting and mixed media which culminated in a solo exhibition.

Alyssa did her undergraduate study at the University of Vermont in visual art and art history, followed by earning her Bachelor of Arts in Education from Johnson State College in conjunction with the Vermont Studio Center.  In addition to being a practicing artist, Alyssa loves to travel, spend time hiking and painting in National Parks throughout the US, and spend time with her three children who are now grown and out on their own adventures. Alyssa is delighted to join the TASIS community.

Jane Gray joins TASIS England as a Middle and Upper School teacher of Theatre and Film. Prior to TASIS, Jane was Head of Performing Arts at a secondary school in Hampshire. Before retraining as a teacher Jane worked for 15 years in marketing, including six years as head of marketing at a British examination board, account directing for global advertising agencies, and being a professional actor and singer. Jane serves as artistic director of charitable opera company Opera Loki that supports emerging artists that she founded in 2001. Jane performs regularly in her local community including recently playing Lady Macbeth and Eliza Doollittle in My Fair Lady. 

Jane earned her BMus in Music from Cardiff University, postgraduate in acting from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, and PGCE at Sussex University. She also recently completed her NPQML in middle leadership with Surrey Teaching Schools Network.

Mathew (Mat) Jones joins TASIS as Head of Physical Education. Prior to moving to TASIS, Mat spent four years in Singapore – one year teaching Primary PE and three years as Athletic Director and Single Subject Coordinator. He previously spent two years in Beijing, China as Head of Middle and Upper School PE.

Mat is an ex-pro/semi-pro rugby player and is now a referee with selections for Super Rugby, Rapid Rugby, and 3x World Sevens Series over the past few seasons.

Mat earned his BSc in Sport and Exercise Science and PgDip in Nutrition, Health and Lifestyle from London South Bank University and his iPGCE at the University of Buckingham.

Ghulshan Karagul joins TASIS England as an Upper School Chemistry teacher. She has worked as a Chemistry teacher for over 25 years and started her career working in UK schools in the north of England before moving into the international school sector in 2004.

She taught DP Chemistry in an IB school in Istanbul for seven years before moving to ACS Egham International school where she taught DP and MYP Chemistry for nine years. 

Ghulshan earned a BSc honours degree in Chemistry from Manchester Metropolitan University, a PGCE in Science at Keele University and a master’s degree in software development at the University of Huddersfield. She enjoys anything Sci-fi related, walking and spending time with her family. She became a Zumba instructor in the early part of 2020 and enjoys leading and taking part in cardio classes.

Sarah Kiely is thrilled to join the TASIS team as a teacher in the Lower School. Originally from Cape Town, South Africa, she has a great appreciation for all things nature-bound, architecture and design, and travel and she celebrates all forms of team work. Her healthy obsession with tennis finds her spending most of her free time on the court.

She has a BA in Education, which she acquired in Cape Town, and has gained a wealth of experience over the 12 years of teaching at schools both within and outside the UK. She is a firm believer that we are all capable of great things; we just need to get out there and give it our best. 

Anna Kranwinkle grew up in Sun Valley, Idaho; Seattle, Washington; Spain, and France. As the daughter of a teacher, she had many influences from a young age that inspired her to pursue a career in teaching. Before joining TASIS as a teacher in the Middle School, Anna taught fourth and fifth grade at The Hamlin School in San Francisco.

Anna earned her Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education from Northwestern University. While at Northwestern, she taught health classes at inner city schools lacking funds to provide a health curriculum and assisted in a third grade bilingual classroom. This spring, Anna earned her Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of San Francisco. In her spare time, she bakes cake, loves to read, and enjoys exploring new hiking trails.

Ellen Mangiamele joins TASIS England as an Upper School teacher of English. She has spent time in Florida, Maryland, New York, and Germany teaching various levels of Secondary English but with a concentration in AP Language and Composition.

Ellen earned her B.A. from Saint Leo University (Florida) and M.A. from Northeastern University (Massachusetts). Outside of the classroom, Ellen enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, cycling, and cooking. She joins the TASIS community with her husband of 40 years.

Julie Petrosky is joining TASIS as a science teacher in the Middle School. She has taught science for seven years ranging from fifth to eighth grade. Julie graduated from Texas Wesleyan University.

Originally from Epsom, Surrey, for the past 16 years she lived in Fort Worth, Texas, and enjoyed travelling to all the National Parks that America has to offer. Yellowstone is her absolute favorite. Her two teenagers will join her at TASIS this year. They are an outdoorsy family and are passionate about renewable energy and conservation.

Sarah Purkey joins TASIS England as an Upper School Counselor. For the last five years, she worked as a School Counselor at an independent school in Tampa, Florida. Sarah earned her B.A. from Carson Newman University and M.S. from Mercer University. She enjoys hanging out with her Goldendoodle Wells, kayaking, and exploring new places. Sarah is excited to join the TASIS community!

Natalie Smith joins the TASIS England College Counseling team. Before joining TASIS England, Natalie spent four years as Director of the World Leading Schools Association in Amsterdam where she led experiential education programs and acted as the university liaison with a focus on financial aid. Prior to her time with WLSA she spent four wonderful years teaching English and acting as the Training Coordinator for the Busan Metropolitan City Office of Education in South Korea.

Natalie earned her BA in Communication from Oakland University and completed her MS in Environment & Resource Management from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Outside of the classroom, you'll find Natalie in physical therapy and riding her sleek new stationary bike. She is an avid boxer, a yoga enthusiast, and enjoys listening to podcasts.

Michael Lishman joins TASIS England as a House Tutor. For the past four years, Michael has been teaching English-as-an-Additional Language to Spanish teens in his hometown of San Sebastian, Spain. He has also been part of the TASIS summer program for over 10 years, first as a student and later on as a member of the faculty. In his free time, he enjoys playing rugby, as well as playing around with gadgets and learning about the latest technology.

Elaine joins TASIS as a dedicated House Parent. Elaine has five years' experience in House Parenting roles in the UK. Prior to this, her career in education has seen her gain professional qualifications and experience as an EFL teacher – in the Far East, Italy, and Portugal – and as a life coach. 

As a Higher Education Adviser for a large Sixth Form college, Elaine utilized her coaching skills to help students overcome barriers to progression, as well as providing coaching sessions for teaching staff. 

Elaine has three grown-up children, all of whom attended boarding schools, giving her personal insight and experience from the perspective of a parent.

Harvey Moyne joins TASIS as a Boarding Support Worker. Two years ago, Harvey joined TASIS as a Sports Coach and he will continue to coach with the TASIS tennis program. Previously, Harvey coached in many other schools around Surrey and worked at Royal Holloway University as their Tennis Coordinator.

Harvey is now in his final year at Royal Holloway, studying for his PhD on the effects of teleworking on individuals’ well-being. He already holds a first-class Bachelor of Science degree in Management and a Master’s at merit in Applied Social Psychology from the same institution.

Rosa Simms-Preston joins TASIS as a Boarding Support Worker and House Tutor in Tudor. Rosa studied Business alongside Sport in Somerset, England where she then went on to pursue a career in boarding. After two years as Deputy House Mistress in her previous role, Rosa is excited to continue working with young people at TASIS. 

Outside of boarding Rosa loves horse riding and singing, which she looks forward to being involved with at TASIS. Rosa is also a qualified chef and loves to experiment with her cooking.

Isaac Ward joins TASIS as Deputy House Parent of Orchard House. In his previous role, Isaac spent five years teaching French and three years as Assistant Housemaster. Isaac has also taught Religious Studies and Physical Education.

Isaac graduated from the University of Liverpool with a BA (Hons) in French. As an undergraduate, he was awarded the University of Liverpool Heather Osborne Memorial Award for “…making an outstanding contribution to the study of French theatre.” Isaac studied Philosophy and Politics at the University of Burgundy for a year as a part of his studies and was also awarded government scholarships to study in both China and India. He continued his postgraduate studies at the University of Bristol in International Relations. 

Beyond his academic interests, Isaac is interested in health and fitness, but most of all enjoys discussing ideas with boarders and organizing exciting activities and trips.