Specialist Teachers

Gary Lawson

Gary Lawson brings a decade of Physical Education teaching experience and over 19 years of soccer coaching experience to Nord Anglia. This included seven years as the Department Chair of Physical Education and Girls Varsity Head Coach at Brooklyn Friends School (Brooklyn, NY). Gary also serves as the Head Women’s soccer coach at St. Joseph’s College Brooklyn (NCAA DIII) and was selected to the 'Sports 40 Under 40' Class of 2018 list from Coaches and Athletic Director Magazine highlighted as one of the top 40 coaches in the nation.

While at Brooklyn Friends School, the England native helped build a unique and exciting Physical Education program called ‘Pathways’ and turn around a soccer program guiding the Panthers to four straight Independent Schools Athletic League (ISAL) playoffs championships. In 2017, he lead the St. Joseph’s College Bears to their first Skyline Conference playoff appearance in college history.

While playing soccer semi-professionally at various league clubs in England after graduation, Gary began his coaching career at Watford FC and eventually traveled overseas to the US and joined Ashley's Soccer Camp and Soccer Domain Academy (Montclair, NJ) and began coaching various travel teams, academies and camps.

Gary graduated from Buckinghamshire Chilterns University with BA (Hons) in Leisure Management & Sport Studies followed by a PGCE in Physical Education from London Metropolitan University. He also holds an Advanced National Diploma, a National Diploma and a Goalkeeping Level One Diploma from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and holds a United States Soccer Federation Coaching License.

Gary resides in Manhattan with his wife Cindy and his son Jack Dylan.

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Cristyn Draper

Cristyn studied music at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama where she attained a BMus (Hons.) degree, followed by Trinity College of Music in London, where she was awarded a scholarship to study for her Master’s Degree in Music. After performing harp and piano for a UK tour with a children’s theatre company, Cristyn developed a passion for sharing her love of music with young people and obtained a PGCE with QTS in 2008. With a decade of teaching experience in both UK and international schools, Cristyn has delivered an engaging music curriculum to students of all ages and believes that music is unique in its ability to inspire and encourage self-expression. Although originally from Wales, Cristyn will be joining NAISNY from an international school in Hong Kong and is looking forward to exploring the rich world of the arts that New York has to offer.

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Molly Moffat

My name is Molly Moffat and I have a passion for teaching Key Stage 1 students. I began my journey to becoming a teacher at a small, private college in Minnesota, St. Olaf College. There I studied for a bachelor’s degree in Dance with a minor in Environmental Studies. From there I made a big move overseas to study for a master’s degree in English Literature at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. During that time, I volunteered at many local schools as a teaching assistant and a soccer coach. That’s when I made the decision to study for my Post Graduate Certificate of Education at Exeter University. I then went on to teach at Hillyfield Primary Academy in London, teaching in Year 1 and Year 2. During my time at that school, I completed an Outstanding teacher training course, was the leader for Special Educational Needs learning in Year 1 and was a coach in the Improving Teacher program. I also started a cheerleading program, the school’s first, and started directing school plays.

I joined the British International School of Charlotte in 2013 as a Year 1 and 2 class teacher and have come to love working for the Nord Anglia family. During my time in Charlotte, I attended training at MIT help develop STEAM learning throughout the school. I really love the STEAM approach to learning and how it links subjects like Science, Art and Technology to provide cross-curricular learning experiences that are creative, engaging and memorable. I also attended training at The Juilliard School in preparation for developing and implementing the Juilliard curriculum for Dance at the Nord Anglia International School in New York. I also love all things theatrical, and have enjoyed developing and directing school plays for the younger-aged children at my school, with the Gruffalo Play being my absolute favorite!

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Victoria McIntrye

Victoria studied Drama & Theatre Studies and English Literature at Liverpool Hope University. She quickly realized a talent for inspiring others and, after graduating, she won a place at Northumbria University and obtained a PGCE in Primary Education. Since then, Victoria has taught in Year 1 and Year 3 as well as running the school choir, entering (and winning!) several regional inter school competitions. In the meantime, she also continued to teach Drama and Singing at her local Stagecoach Performing Arts, and a year ago was appointed as Principal for two schools. Victoria still loves performing herself and has appeared on stage many times since she was as young as 5. She can’t wait to sample the bright lights of Broadway in New York and is looking forward to inspiring more children to follow their dreams. 

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Samuel Hitchen

Sam is an enthusiastic and committed teacher with a wide range of experience in education. He has taught in a variety of settings including a UK village primary school, an inner city academy and a large community college. Sam graduated in Law from Newcastle University before achieving his legal practice certificate in Manchester, followed by a PGCE in Primary Education. He has also undertaken advanced studies in Special Educational Needs (SEN) to compliment his SEN experience and leadership roles. In addition to his teaching roles, Sam has taken part in a number of daring fundraising activities for the UK National Autistic Society including skydiving, Manchester £10k and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. He is looking forward to his new role at NAISNY where he is excited about joining an outstanding team. 

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Silvia Brown

I grew up in Peru where I graduated from Universidad Mayor de San Marcos with a Bachelors degree in Social Communications. Later, I moved to the USA,  felt called to the Educational field and started working in a preschool, which motivated me to begin studies in Early Childhood Education at the Masters level. Once I moved to New York, I started working as a Spanish teacher and tutor and completed many professional development courses. Throughout my Spanish teaching career, I have had the wonderful opportunity to teach a diverse group of children ranging from 18 months to middle school age. I enjoys creating engaging lesson plans that motivate students, acknowledges different learning styles and instils a love for learning Spanish language and culture. 

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