Mrs. Culley-Love is new to the Upper School, but not to Woodward Academy. She taught at the Lower School as a 4th grade teacher last year, but, when this study strategies position opened up, she jumped at the opportunity because this position combined everything she’s done and loved over her career.Mrs. Culley-Love first came to Woodward because she has two children in the Upper School. She thought that, as a parent, she felt supported and heard and wanted to be a part of the learning experience herself.
“I love that I get to work with a lot of different students with a ton of different interests and perspectives,” Mrs. Culley-Love said, “This is a new age range for me, but I’ve had a lot of fun just getting to know them and learning more about my craft and seeing how things I’ve learned has impacted students.”
Her favorite assignment to teach is “Strategic Joy.” This is her favorite because it’s something she’s practiced over her career. “We look at the space our minds can create for joy when we are better organized and all of our ‘gears’ are working together,” Mrs. Culley-Love said.
Her goals for the rest of the school year are to create strong relationships with those students. She hopes to help them build strong study and organizational skills so that they feel comfortable studying throughout the Upper School. Mrs. Colley-Love is also very excited to meet more staff and build those teacher relationships.
“The Upper School teachers are incredible,” Mrs. Culley-Love said. “They are smart and funny and versed in their interests and every room I’ve walked into I’ve felt welcome. Not only has it been great to meet new people, but it’s been really fun to connect with teachers I met last year at new teacher orientation that I didn’t get to spend much time with because they were in Upper School and I was in Lower School, but I’ve had a wonderful introduction from new and old faculty.”
(GIF credit Daniela Palatchi)
The Social Studies Department welcomed Mr. Jason Santana at the start of the 2025-2026 school year to teach Modern World History and Government and Economics. Originally from New York, Mr. Santana has taught for 23 years in both New York and Georgia. Aside from World History and Gov/Econ, Mr. Santana has taught AP Government, US History and Civics classes.
For the last 10 years, he taught at Notre Dame Academy in Gwinnett County. The move to Woodward arose very organically, as Mr. Santana was looking for change while his oldest son, Lucas Santana ‘29, was looking for a high school to attend. Seeing that Woodward was at the top of both their lists and there was a teaching job available, the move seemed like a match made in heaven. Mr. Santana’s youngest son, Andrew Santana ‘30, also made the move to Woodward.
“The students have been very welcoming,” Mr. Santana said. “ I’ve had students randomly come up, ‘Hi, enjoy your first new day here.’”
Mr Santana’s goals for the year are to fit in seamlessly and acclimate himself to the community, which has already made that very easy for him. He is looking into sponsoring clubs, like Model UN or a Georgia civics group, like he has in the past. And if any team is in need of a basketball or football coach, Mr. Santana has experience coaching middle school and high school teams.
One thing you must know if you are in Mr. Santana’s class is that he is a big fan of his home, New York. He is a full fledged Yankees fan, and there may be dire consequences if you aren’t. You didn’t hear it here, but he’s definitely not a Jets fan. Do what you will with that information. Aside from baseball, football is also a hot topic if you want a leg up in becoming Mr. Santana’s MVS (Most Valuable Student), then just learn his favorite football team.
Mrs. Jessica Schuffenecker and her husband moved to Atlanta, Georgia from Houston, Texas, about a year ago for her husband’s job as a pilot at Delta. During that year, Mrs. Schuffenecker taught 9th-12th grade English at Westminster. Mrs. Schuffenecker heard about Woodward from their realtor’s daughter who attended Woodward, and when she saw the job posting, she applied. She started her career in 2013 at Imagineprep teaching English for three years before she relocated to Houston, where she taught at Strake Jesuit. So far, Mrs. Schuffenecker is enjoying Woodward to the fullest, engaging with both other faculty members and students! “I don’t really have a department, so I get to visit everybody,” Mrs. Schuffenecker said. “I get to go into different classes and see all the levels of students… so I really love that I am able to be immersed in the school and meet really amazing people.”
Although being a Teaching and Learning Specialist is not a new career for Mrs. Schuffenecker, she is still very enthusiastic and ready to be pushed professionally. Her goal for this school year is to get settled in and really shape this role into something that’s her own. She continues to build relationships with staff and students alike while problem solving when new challenges arise.
“Thats the one thing I tell people when they ask me about my new job is how welcoming the community is,” Mrs. Schuffenecker said. “Everyone has been so gracious and warm. It’s so great when students smile and say ‘goodmorning’ to me in the hall. Everyone has been so generous with their time and super friendly.”
The World Language Department received one new teacher this year, Mr. Jacob Snyder, or should we say, Señor Snyder. Señor Snyder worked as a Spanish teacher in the Lower School for two years until, on the very last day of the 2024-2025 school year, he got an offer to teach in the Upper School and he accepted the offer. Prior to his career at Woodward, Señor Snyder taught ESL in Mexico. Señor Snyder is originally from Albany, Georgia, and he graduated from Lee County High School. He has two undergraduate degrees from Georgia State University, one in Applied Linguistics and the other in Spanish for International Business. His Masters degree is from Georgia State in Applied Linguistics. Señor Snyder has always been a language nerd. In fact, in middle school, he started teaching himself Italian.
“I started getting involved with a lot of languages, and Spanish stuck out to me as one that I could use more often…,” Señor Snyder said.
Now that Señor Snyder is teaching in the Upper School, he is excited to get to know his students and nurture them all four years of high school. However, if you’re not in his class, do not fret! Señor Snyder would like to be known as Woodward’s next “Gardener Teacher,” and to earn this title, he will often work in the WA Grows Garden. So, you can still get your dose of Snyder by being a pulgar verde alongside him.
Señor Snyder tries to speak in Spanish as much as possible in class, and he believes the best way for his students to thoroughly learn Spanish is through repetition. If you are in Señor Snyder’s class, you can expect him to repeat phrases, display images and presentations on the board and play games to solidify your understanding. Here’s how to get on his good side:
“I really like it when students participate in class, and they’re involved and they’re trying their best to understand,” Señor Snyder said. “Because I know it’s a lot when someone just throws a lot of language at you, you might not necessarily know what’s happening, but as long as you’re trying, and I can see it, that’s a really easy way to get on my good side.”
Before teaching at Woodward, Coach Derrick Washington coached at The Mount Vernon School for three years. Coach Washington came here to coach the men’s Varsity wrestling team and the 7th-grade football team. Students describe Coach Washington as a friendly face in the lounge.
“The culture brought me to Woodward,” Coach Washington said. “From an academic standpoint and from a wrestling standpoint as well, it just seemed like it was a good fit.”
During the school day, Coach Washington works in the Dean’s Office with Dean Anthony Thomas. You can also find him around the Tyler Brown Student Center, also known as the Lounge, patrolling on the stage with Coach Tim Grooms. Coach Washington’s goals for the year are to “be a big helper, whether it’s athletically or just to be there for the students.” It’s no wonder the transition’s been so smooth.
“It feels like a family already, and I feel like I’ve been here longer than it’s actually been,” Coach Washington said.
That family feeling can help Coach Washington relate to students–they know they are in a safe space when around him. Coach Washington is super excited to start his journey with Woodward.
“I am looking forward to helping grow the community over the next 125 years,” Coach Washington said.
Mr. Tre Wimby is another fresh addition to the Upper School Social Studies Department. While he may be new to the Upper School, he is definitely not fresh to Woodward Academy. Mr. Wimby is a proud Woodward Alum; he attended Woodward in 7th grade and graduated in the class of 2011. After college, he was sure he wanted to coach kids and give back to his community. Naturally, in 2017, he took a job at the Primary School teaching PE. During this time, he coached Middle School basketball and volleyball as well as Varsity girls ultimate frisbee. In 2021, to be closer to his trainees, he moved to the Middle School where he taught 8th grade United States History. And today, in 2025, Mr. Wimby is working solely in Upper School. This year, he will be coaching Varsity boys basketball. Given his record, Mr. Wimby knows Woodward sports.
“I understand Woodward, for the most part, as a whole,” Mr. Wimby said. “[I understand] athletics, and I’m still trying to learn the Upper School with academics. I’m challenging myself to learn more about the content areas because I did not…major in them in college. So I’m trying to take this time to make sure I truly learn, not only about the content areas that I’m in, but just learn more about the opportunities that are in the Upper School.”
If you’re in Mr. Wimby’s class, don’t be nervous if he scouts you out for the basketball team. He may even encourage you to attend some pre-season conditioning workouts. Plus, it’s very easy to be on Mr. Wimby’s good side. Regardless of your basketball status, regardless of if you are in his class or not, heed this warning; he absolutely despises the phrase “shut up.” Don’t say it. If you say it by accident, apologize immediately and change your language to something more polite. Overall, Mr. Wimby is looking forward to a good first year of teaching in the Upper School and getting comfortable in his new role. His fellow teachers have been extremely supportive of him, especially the ones he’s known since he wore the uniform, such as Ms. Alexis Horder, Mrs. Ronda Zents, Mrs. Linda Wyatt, Mrs. Jane Graham and Coach Anthony (to us, he’s Dean) Thomas.
“I’m very glad to be able to teach with some of the same faculty that taught me here,” Mr. Wimby said. “It happened [when I taught] in the Middle School and it was a little weird there, but now that I made it to the Upper School, I feel more accustomed to it.”
