Our Head of School
Head of School Jay Underwood has over 25 years of teaching and leadership experience at independent schools across the country. Before coming to GJA in 2019, Jay was the head of High Meadows School in Atlanta from 2010 to 2019 and Rio Grande School in Santa Fe, New Mexico from 2005 to 2010. Jay spent more than a decade at Far Hills Country Day School in New Jersey as a middle school history and language arts teacher before becoming the school’s Director of Curriculum and Faculty Development. Jay holds an Ed.M. in Educational Leadership from Rutgers University and a BA in English from Guilford College. In 2017, he was selected as a Head’s Fellow at Columbia University’s Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership. Jay and his wife, Maureen, live in Brooklyn with their twin daughters, Sara and Paige.

Board of Trustees
The GJA Board of Trustees is a dedicated group of professionals that guides the school as it continues to grow and thrive.
- Steve Lipman, Board Chair
Managing Director, The Rothschild Group
- Elisabeth Hutchins, Vice Chair
Educator, Former Teacher, GJA
- Stephan Kuppenheimer, Treasurer
Managing Director, GSO Capital, Blackstone
- Michael Carroll, Secretary
Freelance Writer
- Marjorie Croes Silverman, PHD
Professor of Psychology and Former Dean, Barnard College
- Robert Camacho
Senior Managing Director, Blackstone
- Brother Brian Carty, FSC
Founder, De La Salle Academy & George Jackson Academy
- Timothy Croak
Managing Director, USB Financial Services, Inc., GJA Teacher
- Thomas A. Jakobson
Managing Member, Jakobson Properties, LLC
- Jon Lindsey
Partner, Major Lindsey & Africa, GJA Teacher
- Paul S. Levy
Managing Director: JLL Partners
- Walfrido Martinez
Managing Partner, Hunton Andrews Kurth
- Nate Norstrud
Director of Strategy, New York Life
- David O’ Halloran, PhD
Head of School, St. David’s School
- Rafael Padilla, MD
Anesthesiologist
- Jay Underwood, Ex Officio
Head of School, George Jackson Academy
- Paul Williams
Corporate Director, MLA Global
- Vivian Zelter
Development Committee Chair, Founder of GJA Associate Board