Paul Marble
Executive Director
Paul Marble has served his entire career as a teacher and administrator in three Massachusetts high schools, including a private boarding school, a large urban district school, and a charter public school. Paul taught IB English at Sturgis for six years; was Principal for six years; became Executive Director in July of 2016; has made numerous presentations about the IB Diploma Programme and its implementation; is an IB Site Visitor; and is an IB Workshop Leader, helping experienced IB teachers from across the nation support diverse learners in their classrooms. He also has developed and led teacher workshops for the IB Organization’s Bridging the Equity Gap project.
Jenn Kirk
Principal, Sturgis West Campus
Jenn Kirk is Principal of Sturgis West. She joined Sturgis as a Spanish teacher in 2007 and has served as Lead Teacher of the Spanish and French Department, Critical Friends Group Facilitator, World Challenge Leader of a Sturgis trip to Costa Rica as well as Administrative Intern and Coordinator of Creativity, Action, Service (CAS) at Sturgis West. Prior to joining Sturgis, Jenn taught for eight years in Latin America: Costa Rica (1998-2000) and Colombia (2001-2007).
Patrick O'Kane
Principal, Sturgis East Campus
Patrick O’Kane is Principal of Sturgis East. He joined Sturgis as a Spanish teacher in 2009 and has served as lead teacher in French and Spanish, assistant IB coordinator, administrative intern, critical friends group facilitator, crisis team leader and athletic director. Prior to Sturgis, he taught English in Bilbao (Spain), as well as Spanish in New York City, New Jersey, and Rotterdam (Holland). Patrick is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Lehigh University.
James Albrecht
Director of Finance and Operations
James Albrecht joined Sturgis as the Director of Finance & Operations in August, 2004. Prior to joining Sturgis, James held positions of Chief Financial Officer, Controller, and Assistant Controller in several companies in Massachusetts and New Hampshire from 1984-2004. James also served for six years on a school board in New Hampshire and for three years was the Trustee of Trust Funds for that school board. James has made several workshop presentations on budgeting, financial controls, and facilities management to participants from across the Commonwealth.
Karen Gauthier
Assistant Principal, Sturgis East Campus
Karen Gauthier joined Sturgis East as Lead School Counselor in 2017. Prior to joining Sturgis, Karen spent twenty-four years working for Barnstable Public Schools. She began her career as Guidance Director of the Barnstable Middle School prior to transitioning to a school counseling role at Barnstable High School eleven years later.
John Newcombe
Assistant Principal, Sturgis West Campus
John Newcombe began his teaching career in 2005. After serving in the U.S. Army and spending a number of years driving for UPS, John ventured back to college. After receiving his degree, he joined Sturgis East as a math and physics teacher. In 2011, when Sturgis West was opened, John moved from the East Campus and became the lead teacher for both the math and science departments at the new West campus. In addition to teaching, John has served as an assistant IB coordinator and an administrative intern. Most recently, he has taken on the roles of Assistant Athletic Director and Assistant Principal.
Susan Voigt
Special Education Coordinator, Sturgis East and West
Susan Voigt joined Sturgis in 2005, as the Special Education Coordinator for the East campus and as a key team member in constructing an “IB for All” climate. Susan taught IB Psychology for four years at Sturgis. She has led numerous IB weekend workshops on creating Inclusive Classrooms. She was part of an IB global workgroup in The Hague, Netherlands, that created inclusive resources for IB schools. Susan has consulted across the world about learning diversity in the IB program with educators, schools, and parents. Prior to joining Sturgis, she was the Principal at Latham Centers for six years, a residential school for children and adolescents with intensive Special Education needs in Brewster, Massachusetts.
Jessica Lynch
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Coordinator, Sturgis East and West
Jessica Lynch joined Sturgis West in 2011 as a Special Education Teacher after being an educational consultant and teaching in Cambridge. MA at both the high and middle school levels. In 2014, she became the Special Education Coordinator at West, and has served as the co-leader of the Equity Professional Learning Community. At the state level, Jessica has been a presenter on self-advocacy for special education students. She is thrilled to join Melissa on the DEIB team.
Christine McDowell
Multilingual Learner Department Coordinator, Sturgis East and West
Christine McDowell joined Sturgis during the 2012-2013 school year. Her previous roles at Sturgis include being an Instructional Coach, teaching Theory of Knowledge (T.O.K.), serving as the Creativity, Activity, and Service (C.A.S.) Coordinator, and being a Special Education inclusion teacher. Christine taught English abroad in South Korea and China, worked for the Peace Corps as a teacher trainer, and taught math and science in Brooklyn, NY before getting her M.A. in International Educational Development at Teachers College. She helped found the Equity Professional Learning Community at Sturgis, teaches the SEI course, and facilitates numerous professional development sessions each year. for Sturgis faculty and staff.
Melissa Rais
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Coordinator, Sturgis East and West
Melissa Rais joined Sturgis West in 2018 as a Spanish teacher. She previously taught Spanish in New Orleans for five years and then moved back to her native Colombia to teach high school English for eight years. In her second year at Sturgis, Melissa joined Camille Manrique as the Community Outreach Liaison, where she assisted in developing a plan to reach out to the greater community on Cape Cod, particularly the Hispanic, Brazilian, and Haitian communities. The Outreach team is greatly responsible for the annual magazine Sturgis Soundings, which includes a collection of projects and memorable moments in the daily lives of students and faculty. This year, Melissa is very excited to join Jessica Lynch as the DEIB Assistant Coordinator and continue her passion to support multiple communities around Cape Cod with a strong message of diversity and inclusion.