Meet Chloe Appleby 



Chloe Appleby has joined the Woodberry Forest School communications office as an assistant director of communications. In this role, she will draw on her background in journalism and digital storytelling to uncover and share the stories that connect Woodberry with parents, alumni, donors, and the broader community. Chloe will also lead the school’s journalism class, mentoring the next generation of reporters for The Oracle.

She earned a bachelor of arts in English from Davidson College and a master of science in journalism from Columbia University, where she graduated as the valedictorian of her class. Chloe began her career as a content marketing intern at Wray Ward in Charlotte, North Carolina, before moving into writing and reporting roles at Red Ventures and, most recently, The Island Packet, where she covered local news.

Meet Katie Blashford P’29

After a twenty-year career at Fredericksburg Academy where she served as department coordinator, honor council sponsor, and lacrosse, soccer, and field hockey coach, Katie Blashford joins Woodberry’s history department. She has taught a range of classes in the AP history curriculum and has served as a reader for AP Modern World History for fourteen years. Katie graduated from the University of Virginia with a BA in history and from the University of Mary Washington with a master’s in education. At Woodberry, she will coach Bengal soccer and Bengal lacrosse.

Meet Lydia Bowersox 

Lydia is one of two incoming Kenan-Lewis Fellows and will teach in the history department and coach track. She graduated from Washington and Lee University with degrees in history and education. Lydia was inducted into the Phi Eta Sigma Honor Society and completed more than one hundred hours of student teaching in the Rockbridge County School District. She competed on the W&L varsity equestrian team and also served as a resident advisor in the dorms for two years.

Meet Chris Colbeck

Chris joins Woodberry from Memphis University School, where he has taught English and coached lacrosse since 2017. Chris was awarded the John M. Nail Outstanding Teacher Award at MUS in 2024. Prior to his work at MUS, Chris worked as a TA at the University of Mississippi's Center for the Study of Southern Culture and has extensive history in agriculture as an environmental worker and farmer. During his ten years of coaching Division I lacrosse, Chris worked with our own Michael Leahy on UVA’s 1999 national championship winning team. He will teach fourth- and fifth-form English and coach mountain biking and lacrosse.

Meet Elizabeth Colbeck

Elizabeth has a long history of stellar work in both boarding and all-boys schools. She comes to Woodberry after a thirty-year career at Memphis University School, during which she served as English department chair, on the admissions committee, and as director of the MUS in Europe abroad program and MUS Civil Rights Tours. Elizabeth was honored during her time at MUS with the John Murray Springfield Distinguished Teaching Award and the John M. Nail Outstanding Teaching Award. Prior to her storied career at MUS, Elizabeth spent five years working at Episcopal High School where she taught English, served as dorm head, and advised the yearbook staff. She will coach third-form fitness and swimming.

Meet Kendra Crane MSN, RN

Kendra began at Woodberry as the assistant director of health services last year and joins the faculty as our health teacher this year. Kendra has extensive nursing experience in administration, pediatrics, geriatrics, adult health, hospice/palliative care, OR/PACU, and college level teaching. Prior to Woodberry, she worked as the district nurse manager for nine school clinics in Orange County, collaborating with directors and principals, providing clinical oversight to staff nurses, establishing policies and procedures, and providing health education and training to staff and students. Kendra was also an adjunct professor at Germanna Community College where she taught didactic, clinical, and lab courses for students in the nursing school. In her role as assistant director of health services at Woodberry, Kendra oversees day-to-day operations at the health center, provides supervision and training to nursing staff, and collaborates with our director of health services, athletic trainers, dean of students’ office, director of safety and security, and numerous off-site providers at Orange Family Physicians and UVA Medical Center.   

Meet Mourad Fahim

After serving as Woodberry's varsity tennis coach for a number of years, Mourad returns in a full-time role as a computer science teacher. He earned a BS in computer science and statistics from Radford University before receiving his MS in computer science from Virginia Tech. After twenty years as a software engineer, Mourad is bringing his real world experience to the classroom and will teach an array of classes including Principles of Programming and Design, Python, Intro to Computing Pathways, and Cybersecurity. He will also serve as varsity head tennis coach. 

Meet Max Fan

Max comes to Woodberry as our second incoming Kenan-Lewis Fellow and will teach in both the math and history departments and coach JV tennis. He has a wealth of experience in all-boys boarding schools, having attended Scotch College in Melbourne from 2016 to 2021. Max attended Harvard University, graduating with double majors in pure mathematics and English literature. He spent three summers as a teaching intern at Maru-a-Pula School in Gaborne, Botswana, where he taught a mixture of math, physics, chemistry, and English literature courses.

Meet Tyler Houston ’10

Tyler Houston serves as Woodberry's assistant director of the Amici Fund and alumni relations, arriving with experience spanning education and advancement fields, including roles as a classroom history teacher, coach of multiple sports, and most recently in annual fundraising. He was introduced to Woodberry as a student in 2006 and graduated in 2010, playing football and lacrosse during his time here, and returns with a deep connection to the community. After graduating from the University of Mary Washington, where he earned degrees in history and art history, Tyler went on to earn an MS in sports management from the University of Florida. Before returning to Woodberry, Tyler oversaw the growth and emergence of a travel lacrosse market in his hometown of Fredericksburg through True Lacrosse and served as director of the annual fund and alumni relations at Blue Ridge School for the past two years.

We profiled Tyler in the June alumni newsletter.

Meet Antxon Iturbe

Antxon Iturbe will serve as Woodberry’s inaugural director of recruitment in the admission office. For the past thirteen years, Antxon has worked for St. Anne’s-Belfield School where he was a Spanish teacher, director of English Language Learning, traveling member of the admissions department, and director of residential life. Before arriving at STAB, Antxon played basketball professionally in Spain for nearly ten years after an impressive athletic career at George Washington University, where he earned his BA in economics. He also has his master’s in education from UMass-Amherst.

Meet Joe Nero

Joe, a former Kenan-Lewis Fellow at Woodberry and newly appointed assistant director of college counseling, returns to campus after teaching and coaching at Savannah Country Day School. A graduate of Davidson College, where he earned a BA in Spanish, Joe brings both academic experience and a strong familiarity with the Woodberry community. During his previous tenure, he lived on dorm, coached athletics, and taught students — many of whom are now rising sixth formers. This prior connection positions him to step seamlessly into his new role as a trusted advocate for students navigating the college process. Joe will join Julia Hixson, director of college counseling and Perry Gresham, assistant director of college counseling, forming a dynamic and expanded leadership team within the college counseling office.



Meet Carla Patterson



Carla most recently served as science teacher and peer tutoring director at the Hun School of Princeton, New Jersey, and was previously a middle school science teacher and STEAM program lead developer at Christina Seix Academy in Trenton, New Jersey. Carla graduated from Montclair State University with a BS in biology and also served the United States Air Force as a cybersecurity officer for six years. At Woodberry, she will teach chemistry and biology and coach in our squash program.

Meet Grey Simpson

Grey returns to the classroom after a stint as athletic director at Scranton Preparatory School to teach chemistry in our science department. Previously, he has taught chemistry and coached football, basketball, and track at a host of boarding schools, including Lawrenceville, Hill, and Darlington. Grey will serve on our varsity football staff as well as act as our interim head coach for both the indoor and outdoor track programs.

Meet Puff Summers ’01



Puff joins Woodberry all the way from Ireland to serve in our admissions department and act as head coach of the varsity basketball team. Puff is a graduate of Woodberry Forest and Davidson College, where he earned a BA in economics and played basketball. He has played and coached basketball internationally for the past two decades and is excited about coming back home to Virginia.