Get to know your Hemispheres Academy team…We look forward to meeting you!
Megan Capozzi, Executive Director
Megan has taught students at all levels, from preschool to college. She received her B.A. from St. Lawrence University and then earned an M.A. in Elementary Education from Fordham University. Beginning her career as a classroom teacher in a New York City public school, Megan was then recruited to join a private school in D.C. to rewrite their third-grade curriculum. After several years of teaching and curriculum development, Megan started developing custom curricula for private families, starting with academics for two children on a yearlong trip around the world.
As an educational consultant, she designs custom curricula and rubrics for non-traditional learning, and guides families and students through educational testing, high school, college applications, and more. In addition to educational consulting, Megan has also been an adjunct professor at a local college.
Megan is amazingly equipped to support Hemispheres’ globally mobile families and learners. She is excited to craft a personalized, supportive, and connected online learning experience for your students.
Leah Moorefield Evans, Director of Student Services
Leah has worked in teaching and curriculum development for 14 years. Prior to teaching, she spent six years in higher education alumni relations and development at Georgetown University. Leah holds a Master’s degree in Elementary Education from Boston University and a Master’s degree in Liberal Studies from Georgetown University. She has worked as an elementary teacher in Massachusetts and as a middle school teacher in Virginia. In 2012, she started Afterschoolplans.com, a business providing U.S. History courses and Gifted and Talented plans to families living abroad. She created course materials for children in kindergarten through eighth grade. She has collaborated with other expat business owners to provide relocation resources and activity packets for kids on the move. She has also written curriculum using the Virginia Standards of Learning and the Common Core while working with students in the U.S. and in international schools.
Leah is a 500 hour certified yoga teacher who has lived in Washington D.C., Tbilisi, Quito, Kyiv, Asuncion, Mexico City, and Guatemala City with her Foreign Service husband and four children.
Leah is looking forward to applying all her experiences to further your students’ engagement in learning.
April Marcus, Hemispheres Teacher Coach
April received her MA in Education while living in Colombia through a distance program with the University of Alabama. Since then, she has been teaching in a variety of capacities including shadowing, tutoring, and large classroom teaching. She has particularly enjoyed working in small groups and one on one with special needs children.
April Marcus is married to a USAID officer and is living in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Her family has been living overseas for 15 years: They started in Egypt and continued to Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, and now Guatemala. They have three children Jackson (20, at University in Boulder), Luke (17), and Claire (14), and two energetic dogs.
April loves to read, exercise, and cook and can’t wait to share her enthusiasm with your students.
Juliet Johnson , Hemispheres Teacher Coach
Juliet Johnson is a State Department trailing spouse living in Switzerland, between Lake Geneva and a dairy farm with very happy looking Swiss cows. She graduated from William and Mary with a double major in English and Elementary Education, then taught 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders in Fairfax County, Virginia. Later she taught science and math enrichment to K-4th graders while earning her Master of Education in Educational Psychology with a focus on Gifted Education at the University of Virginia. After her youngest started preschool she went back to teach reading (focusing on struggling readers) in Malawi and Japan. She has also taught 4 and 5 years olds at a play-based preschool in Virginia and at a Montessori school in Ukraine.
With her husband Tim, she has three boys, Everett (17), Miles (15) and Forrest (nearly 13) and a dog named after the biome (Taïga, 3). They like rollercoasters, cooking together (homemade pizza on Fridays!) and playing board games like Ticket to Ride or Wingspan, and skiing. She and her family have lived in Virginia, Malawi, Japan and Ukraine.
Juliet loves to teach and volunteer in schools everywhere she lives. She especially loves finding new ways to engage unique and different types of learners like your students.
Kailee Tuttle, Hemispheres Teacher Coach
Kailee has been teaching for the past 5 years in Philadelphia and Washington DC. She has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics and a Master of Arts in Education from the University of Notre Dame. Kailee particularly enjoys curriculum creation and building relationships with students through small groups. Kailee is married to a Diplomatic Security Officer and is currently in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on their first overseas tour.
In her free time, Kailee likes to go hiking and take outdoor adventures with her two dogs and husband.
Melissa Morrison; Manager of Marketing, Accounts and Process Improvement
Melissa Morrison, a former foreign service family member, is here to help students find Hemispheres Academy, while helping Hemispheres Academy to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. She is continually looking for system implementation, improvements, and ways to reach the people who will benefit from our online school.
After an MBA from University of Cincinnati in Marketing, Management and International Business (with a certificate in Quantitative Analysis), she embarked on a 30+ year career in consumer and marketing research. Equally left- and right-brained, she enjoys working with both people and data. Having made five moves in five years on three continents, she and her family have settled into the south of France—for now!
Omaira Alam, Hemispheres Teacher Coach
Omaira Alam is an experienced educator, researcher, and consultant, with nearly 25 years in education; principal, board member, teacher trainer, and classroom teacher. She has collaborated with respected institutions including the US Dept. of State, Shenandoah University, University of Southern Australia, and the University of Toronto.
Omaira earned her undergraduate degree in Neuroscience and World History from the University of Toronto. Later, she shifted her focus to Global Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, and she holds a master's in special education from The George Washington University.
She spends a lot of her time working with educators on school improvement plans, strategic plans and teacher training. She looks through the lens of a special educator and this perspective allows her to always keep the neurodiverse student in mind. Her passion is how to increase student engagement in the classroom.
Once a navy family and then a foreign service family, Omaira has been able to see how they do education elsewhere in the world. Omaira has lived in Tunisia, Egypt, Spain, Canada and Senegal. She currently resides in northern Virginia with her husband, two children, and three cats (two from Pakistan, one from Tunisia). She enjoys her husband’s BBQ tandoori chicken, reading, sunsets and sunrises, and the perfect cup of chai.
Sally Loughborough, Hemispheres Teacher Coach
Sally Loughborough has been teaching for 20 years and working internationally since 2008. Her BA is in American History from Skidmore College; her Master's is in Educational Leadership and Special Education from Notre Dame of Maryland. She previously taught in Baltimore in the US and in the UAE, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Qatar, China, and Korea. Most of Sally’s teaching experience has been in Learning Support, helping students make the most of their strengths.
She is currently located in Vietnam, enjoying its sunny weather and great food. In her free time, she enjoys drawing, painting, and gardening.
Sally hopes to help Hemisphere Academy students achieve their goals so that they can be equally successful in their schoolwork and after school life.