Four individuals familiar to Columbus Academy will take on new roles at the school in the coming months. Head of School Melissa Soderberg has announced the hiring of Edward Rhee as Associate Head of Middle School and Harland Young as Assistant Director of Facilities and Grounds as well as promotions of Lisa Spolter to Assistant Director of Admissions and Dr. Pascal Losambe to Assistant Head of School for Student Outreach.
Rhee is a 1993 graduate of Academy and is presently the Middle School Director of Children’s Day School in San Francisco. He earned his bachelor’s degree in English and drama from Kenyon College in 1997 and a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2004. Rhee, who will join our staff this summer, has been a devoted middle school teacher and administrator at both boarding and day schools throughout his career. After emerging as a top candidate as a result of his skills and background, Rhee’s appealing thoughtful nature, deep care of emerging adolescents, and love of Columbus Academy shined through in his interviews. He and his wife Katie Ernst have two sons, Emerson and Lachlan.
Over the years, Young has been a behind-the-scenes manager of many Academy events as the Director of Events and Catering for Taste Hospitality Group. He has 28 years of experience in client-facing roles with expertise in crisis management gained from overseeing operations and staffs at private estates of professional athletes and CEOs. Young, who earned a bachelor’s degree in hospitality management from The Ohio State University in 2008, will begin his new role on our campus on March 1. He and his wife Kristen are foster parents and currently reside in Centerburg.
Spolter has been a teacher in our Lower School since 1993. Presently in her 28th year at Academy, she is the first grade team leader and a member of our responsive classroom team. In addition to teaching, Spolter has served on our admissions committee, as the school’s early childhood coordinator, and as a chapter consultant with the Kappa Kappa Gamma women’s fraternity. She will join the admissions office on July 1 in a part-time role and will continue to be a lower school faculty member as a part-time specialist in social and emotional learning. Spolter has a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in education from the University of Dayton. She and her husband Lorn live in Blacklick with their daughters Sophie ’22 and Abby ’25.
Dr. Losambe, who joined Academy in 2017, will transition from his current role as Upper School Dean of Students and Special Assistant to the Head of School for Student Outreach this summer but will continue as a teacher and advisor. As the Assistant Head of School for Student Outreach, he will work on several school initiatives to create outreach programs throughout Central Ohio, a position he is uniquely prepared for after a decade of teaching and running impactful programs in independent schools. Dr. Losambe is a graduate of Middlebury College (B.A. in molecular biology and biochemistry), Boston College (M.S. in biology) and Purdue University (Ph.D. in educational leadership and policy studies). He and his wife Crystal reside in Westerville with their daughter Marielle and son Judah Marcus.