Leadership

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.

Jay Underwood joined GJA as Head of School in 2019

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, Rothschild & Co.
  • Elisabeth Hutchins, Vice Chair
    Educator, Former Teacher, GJA
  • Stephan Kuppenheimer, Treasurer
    Managing Director, GSO Capital, Blackstone
  • Michael Carroll, Secretary
    Freelance Writer
  • Judy Bigelow
    Founder, Fordham Street Foundation
  • 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
  • Phineas Lambert
    Publisher and Director, Guernica Magazine
  • 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
  • Eric Rothfeld
    CEO, REI Capital, LLC
  • Jay Underwood, Ex Officio
    Head of  School, George Jackson Academy
  • Paul Williams
    Corporate Director, MLA Global
  • Vivian Zelter
    Founder of GJA Associate Board