FALL 2023 7
CLAUDIA SOL HINOJOSA joins as
Interim Spanish Teacher for Grades 5
– 8. A native of Mexico, Señora Sol joins
us after years of experience teaching
Spanish and working as a Spanish Curriculum
Developer at schools in New York City, Wisconsin,
and Oregon. Claudia also has worked as a
professional salsa dancer and has taught salsa dance
and Zumba classes throughout her career. She
received a bachelor's in Psychology from
Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León in Mexico.
AYESHA LONG joins as Chief DEI
Officer and will work alongside every
constituency group to oversee
St. Luke’s DEIJB policies and practices,
partner with educators and student services,
educate families on DEIJB principles, and support
students in their learning of these concepts. Ayesha
worked previously at City and Country as the Middle
School Director and the Director of Community Life,
Equity, and Inclusion. She has also worked at The
Dalton School, Empower Charter School, and New
York City Department of Education. Ayesha received
her undergraduate degree from Hunter College and
a graduate degree from Brooklyn College.
ELIZA MACY joins St. Luke’s as an After
School Program staff member. Eliza
comes from the Brooklyn Botanical
Garden where she taught gardening to
elementary school students. Because of this, she has
brought horticulture education activities to ASP.
Eliza attended Macalester College.
LUKE MUSCAT joins as co-lead Junior
Kindergarten teacher. A dancer and
educator, Luke is a candidate for his
doctorate in education, having earned
his master’s at Bank Street College. He worked
previously as head toddler teacher at Barrow Street
Nursery School and has also been a first grade
teacher at Hewitt and a long-time dance educator.
ALEX OWEN joins as the Grade 7 and 8
Music Teacher. Alex has taught music to
a variety of ages, and most recently
taught elementary music at Quad Prep.
In addition to teaching at St. Luke's, Alex is a busy
jazz trumpeter and vocalist and will be incorporating
his experience as a working musician into all of his
classes. Alex is a graduate of Connecticut College
and holds a Master's degree in Music Education
from Teachers College, Columbia University.
ANGEL PEÑA joins the Grade 4 team.
She worked previously as a Grade 5 and
6 teacher at Achievement First
Brownsville Middle School, a charter
school in Brooklyn. Prior to that, she taught
Grade 3 and 4 in Arizona, where she earned her
undergraduate and master’s degrees from Arizona
State University.
MAGGIE PERAULT joins the Grade 4
team but is already known to the St.
Luke’s School community, having served
as the family leave replacement for
Grade 3 last year. She has also been a Grade 2 and 4
lead teacher at Lycée Français, and prior to that, a
Grade 3 and 5 lead teacher in public school. She
holds an undergraduate degree from the College of
William & Mary and a master's degree from
Teachers College, Columbia University.
ERICA PETTIS joins St. Luke’s as the
Director of Development. In her role
she will focus on leading our Annual
Fund and Spring Benefit fundraising
efforts. She will also work to grow our alumni and
alumni parent engagement and programming. Prior
to joining St. Luke’s, Erica worked at Graham-Pelton
consulting as their Independent School Practice
Group Leader, the Allen-Stevenson School, and the
Pingry School. She's a graduate of Hamilton College.
KAELANI PRYCE joins St. Luke's as a
Human Resources and Administration
Associate. Prior to working at St. Luke’s,
Kaelani worked in the HR field at a
nursing home. She has also served as an education
paraprofessional with the NYC Department of
Education. She is a graduate of CUNY Lehman College.
DEION A. SAINVIL joins as an interim
Grade 5 and 6 History Teacher and
Grade 5 Advisor. Most recently, Deion
interned at Bloomsbury Children’s
Books and taught at Coral Springs Charter School in
Coral Springs, Florida. He holds a Bachelor’s of
Science in Social Science Education from Florida
State University and a MFA in Writing for Film and
Television from Emerson College.
SHEILA SHELDON joins as Chief
Financial & Operating Officer. In her
role, she will provide strategic
leadership, analysis, management and
oversight of all finance and operations while leading
high functioning teams in the Business Office,
Facilities, and IT Departments. Sheila worked
previously as the Director of Finance at the
Archdiocese of New York, and prior to that was a
Controller at St. John's University. She holds a degree
in accounting and finance from New York University.