faculty & staff

Tom Little, Head of School
Tom was a founding teacher at Park Day School in 1976, and taught for ten years before becoming the Director in 1986. He earned his Masters Degree in Educational Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia, at the Klingenstein Leadership Academy. In 2001, Tom was awarded a Klingenstein Visiting Heads Fellowship. From 1997-2003, he served as the Private School Representative on the Mayor's Oakland Education Cabinet. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Oakland Academic Stars, an organization providing college scholarships for public school students in Oakland. Tom is also on the Board of Wingspan, a national organization sponsoring public and private school partnerships. He serves on the Board of the Progressive Education Network, a national organization of educators working to advance progressive educational practices throughout the United States. Tom has consulted on educational matters with public and private schools in the Bay Area and in Ireland. He and his wife, Elizabeth, have two grown children, both of whom are Park Day School graduates, Courtney ('93) and Matthew ('00).

Flo Hodes, Assistant Head of School & Admissions Director
Flo joined the staff of Park Day School  in 1982, when it was a school of 42 students in the Montclair District of Oakland. Originally drawn to the school for its progressive educational philosophy, staff involvement in decision-making, and outstanding focus on children and how they learn. Flo's earlier experience in education had been in Buffalo, New York, in a Summerhill-style "free school" founded by progressive university professors for their children. It was her first exposure to a constructivist model and this became imprinted for her as the model of effective teaching.

For over a dozen years, Flo has participated in the East Bay Independent Schools Association Admissions Directors group, shaping the course for common practices and policies for admissions, and building collegiality among more than 40 independent schools of the East Bay.

When not at work, Flo's time is filled with travel, friends, Cuban dance & music, knitting, and her growing brood that have the great fortune of living together on the "family compound."

Karen Colaric, Lower School Director
Karen joined Park Day in 1985 from Pacific Primary School in San Francisco, and has been an educator since 1980. During her tenure at Park, Karen has taught second through fourth grades before taking the Lower School Director  position in 2005. Park Day's progressive philosophy and political values have been a perfect match for Karen, who enjoys experimenting with and creating curriculum and grappling with issues related to school leadership and social justice. Karen migrated to California to put herself through school at SFSU, earning both her BA in liberal studies and completing post-graduate credential work. Karen has published Creating the Bedroom of Your Dreams in the California Mathematics Council Communicator in June, 2002, and was a contributing author to the Great Explorations in Math and Science guide, Math on the Menu: Real Life Problem Solving. She has presented several workshops for Oakland public school teachers and was the Keynote speaker for a seminar for California Subject Matter Projects, UCB in 2007 titled Educating for Sustainability: Principles and Projects that Build Ecological Literacy. In 2009, Karen presented Social Justice in Action:  Proof and Practice at the Progressive Educators Network conference in Washington, DC. In 2011 she presented SDA:  Support, Development and Assessment of Teachers at PEN. In 2004, Karen was awarded the Fulbright Memorial Fund and traveled to Japan with a contingent of 200 American teachers. She also had the privilege of leading a group of fifteen BHS students to Costa Rica, to take part in sustainability work through Ecology Project International. Recently, Karen attended the Project Zero Institute at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she furthered her expertise in the Teaching for Understanding model in practice at Park Day.

Karen is the mother of two Park alums, Celeste ('99) and Spenser ('02).

Ray Wilson, Middle School Director                     
Ray has been working in independent schools for the past seventeen years. He served as a humanities instructor and director of athletics at Drew School in San Francisco. Following that post, Ray was the Co-Director of Learning Bridge: A Breakthrough Collaborative site at Norfolk Academy in Virginia. In addition, Ray also taught algebra II and pre-algebra. Upon returning to the Bay Area, Ray taught 7th and 8th grade US history and world history at Redwood Day School in Oakland. Ray then went on to become the director of athletics and boys dorm parent at the Athenian School in Danville, CA. He also taught upper division seminars on topics in sociology, literature and history. Ray then transitioned into the Upper School Head position at St. Andrew’s School in Savannah, GA. In addition to managing the 7th-12th grade division, Ray also taught a course on race, class and gender. Ray then returned to the Bay Area once again to become the director of college counseling at Sonoma Academy in Santa Rosa. While at Sonoma Academy, Ray taught courses on modern Japan and Race in the US. Most recently, Ray was the founding head of the envisioned high school at Redwood Day School. He was responsible for developing a high school program that was grounded in the latest research on adolescents, integrated curriculum design, financial literacy and service learning. Ray has served on the board of the Bay Area People of Color in Independent Schools in the capacity of Outreach Chair. He has also been a workshop presenter on topics such as Environmental Racism, Identifying Pathways to Leadership, College Planning, and Youth Sports. Ray has also served on a visiting accreditation team for CAIS. In addition to his academic roles, Ray has coached basketball for over 15 years and has won several league championships. He was a standout varsity basketball player at UC Santa Cruz and holds several scoring records. Ray received his undergraduate degree at UC Santa Cruz, and completed his M.Ed. in Organizational Leadership at Holy Names University in Oakland. In 2004, he completed an NAIS/E.E. Ford Fellowship for Aspiring School Heads. While away from Park Day School, Ray spends most of his time with his wife Keisha, three sons, Carter, Ellis and Perry, two cats, a goldfish and friends.

Nora ChaiRae Himpler, Director of Finance

John Orbon, Director of Development and Communications

Financial Office
Donna Swanson, Accounts Payable
Corrie Ng, Accounts Receivable

Custodial
All Ways Janitorial Service