Weil College Prep School Faculty

Emily Morris was born and raised in Ojai, California. With generations of educators in her family, Emily has deep roots in education and a passion for inspiring and supporting our youth. She holds a B.A. in English and Comparative Literary Studies from Occidental College and an M.Ed. in School Leadership from the University of San Diego.

She has been a member of the Weil teaching faculty since Fall 2016 and teaches Painting and Drawing and English 2. Within the classroom, she works to cultivate each student as empathetic, critically-thinking, and academically focused individuals who contribute positively to the classroom community. She believes that learning is a lifelong process and hopes to instill a love of learning within her students.

Outside of work, Emily enjoys hiking, painting, traveling, and spending time with her husband, newborn son, and dog.
Emily can be contract at emorris@weiltennis.com

Patrick Praetorius is the history/social science teacher for Weil Prep. Patrick studied a wide range of disciplines at Whittier College, where he received his undergraduate degree in English. After that, he earned his master’s degree in education and teaching credential from The Claremont Graduate University. He has taught in public and private schools in the Southern California area since 1988.

Patrick says, “In my mind, education is the key to a successful, rewarding, and happy life. I believe that learning never stops for the individual. I take personal satisfaction from knowing that I am helping the Weil students to reach their goals. If by being their teacher I have helped them learn how to learn, and develop a love for learning, I feel very gratified. History and social studies are a passion for me, and I am excited to share in the learning exploration of these topics with the Weil students!”

When he is not teaching, Patrick enjoys attending lectures, concerts, and the theater. He also has a passion for communing with nature in such ways as hiking and cycling and camping with his family.

Sandi Stub has been teaching English Literature at Weil College Preparatory School since 2012. She began her teaching career in 1988 at an elementary school near Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. Over half of her students did not speak English. This led her to develop a classroom setting that covered an array of course work with the goal for students to acquire the English language in the process. After teaching there for three years Sandi moved to San Francisco and was hired by Burlingame Middle School as the Director of ELL (English Language Learning). Her classroom was made up of students from all over the world: sixteen different countries speaking thirteen different languages. After her first year she was voted by the students as the Teacher who Assigns the Most Homework, however, ironically, students also voted her to receive the Favorite Teacher Award. This reflects Sandi's dedication to instill that a strong work ethic has a myriad of positive results.

Sandi transitioned soon thereafter to teach English Literature and has not turned back ever since. "There is so much that lies within a book. The literary timeline is based upon historical events and ideologies that enhances not only students' knowledge, but helps them to formulate their own look on life."

Sandi earned her Bachelor's degree in Sociology at the University of California Santa Barbara. She attained her multiple subject credential at San Diego State University, her CLAD (Cross-cultural, Language and Academic Development) Certificate while working in Los Angeles, and a second teaching credential and Master's degree in Mild to Moderate Special Education at San Francisco State University.

Sandi enjoys being active outside of the classroom. Gardening, hiking, and engaging in a variety of art projects are part of her daily routine.

David grew up in Southern California and spent most of his youth playing baseball and riding motorcycles. This was significant because this is where he picked up his interest in statistics, physics, and math. After earning an undergraduate degree in Business Administration and Industrial Arts, he worked in management for Lamborghini of North America. Eventually, he was drawn toward education and earned a master’s degree in mathematics and started a thirty-plus year career teaching at local boarding high schools. This is his first year at Weil Academy.

David’s favorite part of teaching is getting to know each student, discovering his/her thought process, and working to find ways to help students to learn. Although he has taught the same topics for many years, it has never been exactly the same because each student is different. And, self-servingly, this is what keeps David feeling young and alert.

In addition to his three thirty-ish kids, Papa Davie has a grandson and a granddaughter on the way. He and his wife run a jewelry design and production shop, and they very much enjoy watching birds with their three dogs.

Eddy moved to Weil from Portugal where he was teaching Humanities at a private international school. Prior to this, he taught Social Emotional Learning and was a member of the residential staff at a small independent boarding school in Vermont. Eddy has been teaching in schools for almost 20 years in many locations, including the United States, Europe, and Central America. He earned his master’s degree in psychology from University in London, England. He is passionate about making this world a better place through connections with young people and is a strong believer in experiential and project-based learning and he designs his classes around the natural interests of the students.

Eddy has primarily been an English and Social Emotional Learning teacher and Counselor over the years and has led multi-week international service trips with students to Iceland, Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. He loves travel and adventure and has ridden on camels in the Sahara and climbed glaciers in New Zealand and enjoys being active outdoors, including hiking, biking, paddling and most any sport.

Marcela recently joined Weil Tennis Academy as a Spanish teacher. She grew up in Costa Rica and has spent most of her career in education working at boarding schools in the United States. She has always felt a passion for child development and education. She earned her degree in psychology and has worked primarily as a Spanish teacher and residential faculty leader. Marcela's approach to education is to allow the student to find and follow their own learning styles; to build relationships between peers and teachers in order for the students to feel secure and enjoy the learning process. She lives at Weil with her husband Eddy, daughter Nova and their little dog, Joey. She enjoys listening to podcasts, dancing, and all things crafty.

Christoph Thart is a math and science teacher at Weil Academy. He grew up mostly in California but has lived outside the USA in Germany and South Africa as well. He received a BA degree in Biology from University of California Santa Barbara and Multiple Subject Credential from Azusa Pacific University.

Christoph is new to Weil but this is his 10th year teaching math and science that includes years in middle school, high school and SAT preparatory work for The Princeton Review. Always interested in learning, it was Christoph's time living and traveling abroad that cemented his understanding of how important education is in preparing students for productive and fulfilling futures as global citizens. He strives to connect learning to outside the classroom and to prepare students for their future academic endeavours.

Outside of school, Christoph enjoys spending time with his three sons and getting away to the mountains for snow sports and hiking. He played 4 school sports in high school including tennis and now enjoys coaching his sons in AYSO soccer.

Chris can be contacted at cthart@weiltennis.com

Dr. Alex Benitz is a graduate of the University of North Texas with a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry and an alumnus of CSU Channel Islands with a Bachelor's in Biochemistry. He is a successful chemistry, biology, and physics classroom educator and has taught at the high school and university levels. Dr. Benitz's teaching development began by tutoring students in STEM at Oxnard College. He is a graduate of UNT's G-STEP (graduate student teaching excellence program) which promotes active learning in the classroom. As part of his graduate education, he worked with Dr. D'Souza to synthesize novel molecules that employed the principles of photosynthesis for applications in solar technology. In addition to teaching, Dr. Benitz is an avid and exploratory chef. During the summer, he enjoys spending time hiking and camping with his two dogs and husband of twenty years.

Alex can be reached at abenitz@weiltennis.com

Karen was born and raised in Ojai, CA and attended Nordhoff High School where she competed in various sports such as: track and field, basketball, and soccer. She studied abroad in Mexico for 2 years where she worked on perfecting her writing and communication skills in her first language, Spanish. In 2015, she graduated from Chaparral High School, and continued to study business at Ventura College.

She began her journey with Weil Academy in 2016 and enjoys working with a diverse group of student-athletes and colleagues. Outside of the office, Karen enjoys all decorative and functional crafting activities such as: macramé, painting, paper crafts, and jewelry making. She most enjoys exploring the Ojai Valley trails with her family and dog.

Ben serves as the Dean of Students at Weil Academy. Originally from Cleveland, OH, Ben studied music and musicology at Kenyon College and Indiana University. With over thirteen years of experience in boarding school education, Ben joined the Weil team in 2010 after stints at Olney Friends School (OH), Andrews Osborne Academy (OH), and The Bolles School (FL), where he served in various capacities as a teacher and student affairs administrator.

What Ben loves most about Weil is working with a student body that values hard work on and off the court and that supports each other on a daily basis. In his free time, Ben enjoys cooking, eating Zankou Chicken, and exploring the hiking trails of Southern California and the Central Coast with his wife and two children, Henry and Beecher.