GPS Welcomes New Faculty & Staff for 2026–27 School Year

As we head into the 2026–27 school year, we are excited to welcome a new group of faculty and staff to GPS. These new (and some returning!) faces will be a wonderful addition to our program, and we're eager for our students to get to know them.

Lindsay Anderson returns to us from The Foxcroft School, an all-girls institution in Middleburg, Virginia, where she served as STEM Department Chair and Co-Director of STEAM Education, while teaching various math and science courses. Lindsay served as STEM Department Chair and Chemistry teacher at GPS during the 2023-24 school year, before relocating back to Virginia due to her husband’s career. Prior to her first tenure at GPS, Lindsay taught biology and chemistry at St. Agnes, an all-girls school in Houston, Texas, as well as AP Biology and integrated physical science while living in California. Lindsay holds a BS in marine science and biology from the University of Tampa, and both an MS and a PhD in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island. Lindsay is passionate about mastery-based learning and assessment and shared that her goal is always to make chemistry and learning fun and engaging for all students. 

Emily Bray joins the development team as our Advancement Services Coordinator, where she will be responsible for supporting the development team’s front-line fundraising efforts with behind-the-scenes database management, prospect segmentation, gift acknowledgments, and reporting. Emily comes to us from Pinewoods Montessori School in North Carolina, where she most recently served as Director of Admission and Enrollment Management. She also spent two years at Carolina Friends School as an administrative assistant in the middle school. Her bachelor’s degree is in Anthropology from UNC-Charlotte. Emily’s son, Parker, will be in 7th grade at McCallie this year.
 

Ellie Byrd joins the GPS community as a Middle/Upper School Art Teacher. Previously, she served as a Visual Art Teacher at Ocoee Middle School, where she began working in 2022. Prior to Ocoee, Ellie completed her student teaching in the spring of 2022 at Oconee County High School and Bethlehem Christian Academy, both of which are located just outside Athens, GA. Ellie graduated Summa Cum Laude from University of Georgia with a BFA in Art Education. 

Emilia Cubelos joins GPS as an English teacher, relocating from Moab, Utah. She previously served as the Lead Humanities Instructor as well as Dean of Students at Heron School in Utah. She also supported the local public school, Grand County High School, as the Speech and Debate Coach. Prior to her time at Heron School, she worked at Logic Bird Global Education as a curriculum developer for accelerated students from China and the U.S. seeking advanced synchronous online education to supplement their school-based education. Emilia has a BA in international studies from Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and recently earned her MA in teaching of English at Teachers College, Columbia University in New York. Her recently completed thesis was titled “Living Under the Bell Jar: Understanding Teenage Girls Transactions with Literary Mental Health Narratives.” Emilia was specifically seeking an opportunity to work at an independent school for girls, and we are thrilled she found GPS.

Adèle Douglin, PhD joins GPS for the 2026–27 school year as a Spanish teacher. After spending the last twenty years teaching Spanish at the college level, she is thrilled to return to a secondary school classroom. At the start of her career, she served as a mathematics teacher at Lakeland High School in Florida, where she taught high school mathematics through the precalculus level. Shortly thereafter, she entered a MA program in Spanish Linguistics at University of Texas at Austin, continuing on to a PhD in Foreign Language Education, also from UT-Austin. While at UT-Austin, she also served as an Assistant Instructor of Spanish for the School of Nursing for nine years. She then spent the next five years as a Post-Doc Fellow at Georgia Institute of Technology, where she taught 1st and 2nd year Spanish, designed & taught a medical Spanish course, and developed a Public Health Study Abroad program in Ecuador for undergraduates at Georgia Tech. Adele comes to us most recently from Jacksonville University in Florida where she served as an Assistant Professor of Spanish and taught 1st and 2nd year Spanish. She also developed and led several study abroad programs and served as the faculty advisor for the Hispanic and Latino Student Association. 

Ann Franklin joins GPS as a member of our Housekeeping team. Ann comes to GPS through a recommendation from our SAGE Dining and Housekeeping team member, Enrique Matute, who is also Ann’s friend and neighbor. Most recently, Ann worked in sanitation for the new Lookouts stadium. Prior to that, Ann spent 10.5 years as a boilermaker with ALSTOM Combustion Engineering. Ann is a mother of four, two daughters and two sons, and a proud grandmother.
 

Ivana Frisa joins GPS as a Spanish teacher. Ivana recently completed her PhD in Spanish Literature at the University of Florida, where she also served as a graduate teaching assistant and the instructor of record for several lower division Spanish language and literature courses. Prior to her tenure at UF, she served as a graduate teaching assistant at Florida Atlantic University, where she earned a master’s degree in Languages, Linguistics, and Comparative Literature with a concentration in Spanish. Prior to her graduate studies, Ivana spent five years as a secondary school ESL teacher at Instituto Yapeyu in her native Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

Heather Hammond returns to GPS this fall as a maternity leave long-term substitute for Lindsey King. Heather is a familiar face in our community and has served in several roles at GPS over the years, including directing both our middle school theater productions and musical, and teaching multiple sections of English in both the middle and upper school. We are grateful to welcome Heather back to campus for several months. She knows our girls well, understands the rhythm of life at GPS, and brings both warmth and experience to the classroom. 

Mary Ellen Mazo joins our development and admissions teams as the Advancement Operations Assistant, where she works to ensure flow across operations in both the development and admissions offices. Prior to GPS, Mary Ellen worked as a Data Entry Specialist at McCallie School and also served as Treasurer of the McCallie Parent Council. Earlier in her career, Mary Ellen worked for Sanofi in Regulatory Data Management. Mary Ellen is McCallie parent (‘26 & ‘28) and her daughter, Alden, attended GPS several years ago before leaving for a specific academic program at a boarding school in Hawaii. Mary Ellen graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BA in Communication from North Carolina State University.

Laurie Nafe joins GPS as our inaugural full-time Director of Athletic Training. Before GPS, Laurie served as the Athletic Trainer at The Brook Hill School in Bullard, Texas, where she was contracted by the Texas Spine and Joint Hospital. Prior to Brook Hill, Laurie was an Assistant Athletic Trainer at Lindale High School in Texas. While in graduate school earning her MS in kinesiology at the University of Texas at Tyler, Laurie completed her graduate assistant work at Tyler Legacy High School and Three Lakes Middle School. Laurie also has a BA in Athletic Training and Health & Physical Education (with a concentration in Strength & Conditioning) from Tabor College in Kansas.
 

Steve Nicola has joined GPS as our new Head Varsity Volleyball Coach. Steve brings more than 30 years of experience as a coach, player, and program leader across indoor, beach, sand, and grass volleyball. Since 2014, he has served as Director and Head Coach of XSV Beach Volleyball, where he has led athlete development, training, and competitive programming. His coaching experience also includes serving as head coach of national teams at Vortex Volleyball Club, along with leadership and board governance roles with both Vortex Volleyball and A5 Chattanooga. Steve’s depth of experience, commitment to player development, and proven ability to build competitive programs make him a strong addition to GPS Volleyball. Steve and his wife, Paula, are proud parents of two GPS alumnae, Claire ’22 and Chloe ’22, and current senior Catie ’27.

Justin Nunley joined our Housekeeping team in May. Justin is a native of Whitwell, Tennessee, where he formed lasting friendships with current GPS Facilities team members Adam and Cody. He joins our team after a distinguished 23-year tenure with M&M Industries, bringing extensive experience and a strong work ethic. Justin is a proud father of two sons and enjoys spending his free time supporting them at their baseball games and sharing a passion for hunting. He also shares his home with the family’s miniature dachshund, Gizmo.

Tom Schreiner joins GPS as our new Head Varsity Golf Coach. Coach Schreiner brings extensive collegiate coaching, competitive playing, and golf-industry experience to GPS. He previously served as the Head Women’s Golf Coach at Covenant College from 2006–2010, in addition to serving as the college’s Head Men’s Golf Coach during two tenures. An accomplished competitive golfer, his playing career includes championships at the Bear Trace Invitational, Chattanooga Metro Championship, Chattanooga TPC Championship, Brainerd Invitational, and CDGA Four-Ball Championship, as well as competing in the 2019 U.S. Senior Amateur. He also served as the inaugural General Manager of McLemore Resort on Lookout Mountain, where he oversaw golf operations and other areas of the 800-acre resort during a significant period of growth and development. 
 

Paul Vest, DMA joins our Fine and Performing Arts department as a strings and orchestra instructor. A professional cellist, Paul performs with the Chattanooga Symphony, Huntsville Symphony, and Tuscaloosa Symphony, and brings a deep commitment to both performance and teaching. Most recently, he spent three years at Hixson Middle School, where he taught 6th–8th grade string orchestra and general music, including beginning guitar, music appreciation, and introductory music theory. Paul holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Memphis, where he earned the Outstanding Dissertation Award for his work on Samuel Barber’s Sonata for Cello and Piano, as well as a Master of Music from Memphis and a Bachelor of Music in Performance from Samford University. His broad teaching experience includes work with youth symphonies in Chattanooga and Huntsville, Suzuki instruction, and international teaching in Indonesia, alongside collegiate and community music programs. In addition to his work in music, Paul brings meaningful leadership experience, having served as director of a large preschool program in Huntsville and as a leader within the Huntsville Symphony’s orchestra committee. 
 

Taylor Lee Vinson ‘04 joins us as the Director of Constituent Engagement. She will lead a comprehensive alumnae and parent engagement strategy that deepens connection to GPS and builds understanding of the vital role philanthropy plays in advancing the school’s mission. After graduating from GPS, Taylor attended Auburn University where she earned her bachelor's degree in Business Administration. While in Auburn, Taylor landed an internship in the Athletics Department as a Development Intern which sparked her lifelong passion for fundraising. Shortly thereafter, Taylor began a 15 year tenure in the transportation industry at Lee-Smith Inc. and Idealease of Chattanooga. Her progressive roles included General Manager, Vice President, and Marketing Coordinator. Beyond the private sector, Taylor is deeply invested in her community. She currently serves on the board at the Creative Discovery Museum and co-chaired the Ronald McDonald House of Chattanooga Wine, Women & Shoes event for 2024 and 2025. Her commitment to the Chattanooga area is further evidenced by her graduation from Leadership Chattanooga and her participation in the Community Foundation’s WE Project.