Leadership

Principal

John "Jay" Laughlin is honored to have the opportunity to serve as the principal of Castellanos and Eisner. Since 2009, Jay has worked in public schools as a teacher and school leader with a focus on ensuring every student is empowered with access to opportunity through an excellent education. Most recently, Jay served as the principal of The Chicago Academy Elementary School, a public preK-8 school on Chicago’s northwest side. At The Chicago Academy, Jay led efforts to implement vertically aligned standards-based curriculum, build school-wide capacity for educators to leverage student-centered teaching practices, and launch culturally responsive approaches to instruction that equitably serve all students. Jay engages in this work with an understanding that the success of every individual student is dependent on a network of supports. He is pleased to work with Camino Nuevo Charter Academy where family partnerships are not considered supplemental to, but rather foundational to the success of the educational program. Jay earned an undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University, a Masters in Teaching from Dominican University, and a Masters in School Leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education. As new to the Los Angeles community from Chicago, Jay is excited to explore southern California with his wife Alexandra and (eventually) their baby boy who is expected in December.

Dr. Michelle Pyo is assistant principal of instruction at the Jane Eisner Campus. She is responsible for much of the instructional program, including the mathematics, science, and technology departments as well as physical education and intervention programs. Dr. Pyo comes to Camino Nuevo with decades of experience in education. In her previous roles, she served as interim principal and the instructional coach for secondary mathematics and science teachers. She also taught secondary mathematics for eight years, spanning from pre-algebra to Advanced Placement calculus. Dr. Pyo was the program director of a non-profit organization that focused on supporting at-risk youth in the San Francisco Unified School District. She is also a professor of mathematics at a small private university. Dr. Pyo earned a bachelor's degree in neuroscience from U.C. Berkeley, a master's degree in secondary mathematics education from U.C.L.A., and a doctorate degree in teacher education in multicultural societies from the University of Southern California.

Assistant Principal of Student Supports