MEET OUR TEAM
ATLAS is led by a team of directors who are highly accomplished teachers and administrators, and who are deeply passionate about our mission and core values. Our skilled teaching artists actively pursue their artistic craft and believe that teaching enhances their professional work as artists. Both teachers and teaching artists are committed to collaboration and dedicated to creating a democratic school.
MARIA GIARRIZZO-BARTZ | Founding Artistic Director
Maria Giarrizzo-Bartz is a theater educator, professional actor, and director with over ten years of experience in educational theater. She holds a Master’s in Education from Harvard and a BFA from the University of Montana, where she was a Presidential Scholar. From 2008 to 2016, she ran the drama program at The East Harlem School; there she created and directed an interdisciplinary drama curriculum for grades 4–8. She has directed children’s theater productions for companies and schools across the nation.
CAROLINE GOLSCHNEIDER | Founding Education Director
Caroline Golschneider is an arts educator and policy consultant for the State of Connecticut. She recently served a term as Teacher Leader in Residence for the Connecticut Department of Education. She taught music for nine years at Windsor Locks Public Schools, where she was part of the Leadership Team. She also creates and leads professional development sessions for arts educators around the country. Caroline graduated magna cum laude from Yale with a BA in Music and a Certificate in Teacher Preparation. She received her Master’s in Education at Harvard.
BILLY O'SHEA l STEM Director
Billy O'Shea holds a BS in Biology from Columbia University and a First Professional from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Over the last 13 years, he has taught in a variety of progressive education settings, in public and independent schools, from grades preschool through high school. A lifelong learner, Billy has also worked as an ironworker, as a researcher in an oncology genetics laboratory, and as a counselor to adolescents. An avid maker and builder, he is a passionate advocate for experiential learning.
MICHAEL BATTISTA l Teaching Assistant
Michael Battista is a graduate of Western Connecticut State University with a B.A. in Musical Theatre. He has recently served as the Associate Director of Audubon Arts at Neighborhood Music School. Since graduation, he has worked as a performer in several children’s theatre touring productions and as a director of musical theatre shows. He enjoys sharing his passion for theatre with ATLAS!
DERON BEASLEY l Movement Instructor
Deron Beasley, a member of the NMS Dance faculty and Movement Specialist at ATLAS, is a dance educator, dancer, and choreographer with over 20 years of experience. Born and raised in New Haven, Connecticut, Deron started his dance training in middle school. During Deron’s high school years, he attended the Educational Center for the Arts from 1994-1996, and graduated from Cooperative Arts & Humanities High School in 1998. That year, Deron was awarded the Juilliard Experience Scholarship only awarded to 50 US students every year. Deron attended The Ailey School in NYC from 1999-2001. In 2002, Deron started his dance relationship with the New Haven Board of Education as a dance teacher. In 2005, Deron studied Pedagogy at the Hartford Conservatory for a short time. Deron is currently working creatively for the New Haven Board of Education, supporting academic studies through his movement curriculum.
ANGHARAD DAVIES l Movement Instructor
Angharad Davies (BA with Honors in English, The George Washington University; MFA in Dance, NYU) is an award-winning dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Her choreography for dance, theater, and opera has been presented by Danspace Project and the West End Theatre (NYC); ODC (San Francisco), Radialsystem (Berlin); Walker Art Center, Ted Mann Concert Hall, and Mixed Blood Theater (Minneapolis); and Yale Repertory Theatre, among other venues. She has collaborated with dance companies, directors, and choreographers across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, and performed as a company member with Ivy Baldwin Dance (NYC), Drastic Action (NYC), Gibney Dance (NYC), and Hanna Hegenscheidt (Berlin). She has been on faculty at the University of Minnesota, the Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education, Berlin’s Staatlicheballettschule, and the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, a public performing arts high school in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Additionally, she has taught master classes internationally at many universities and arts institutions, including Yale, Princeton, Sasha Waltz & Guests (Berlin), K3 Zentrum für Choreografie (Hamburg), and Yorkshire Dance Centre (Leeds). Current teaching includes faculty appointments at The Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven, Choate Rosemary Hall, and Naugatuck Valley Community College in Waterbury Connecticut.
BILLY OCHOA l Spanish Instructor
Billy Ochoa teaches Spanish at ATLAS and CELC Middle School via Zoom from Guatemala. In Guatemala, he works directly with an organization called EducArte, supporting youth who cannot afford to attend school. EducArte is a Guatemalan non-governmental organization which devotes itself to social justice through education and art. In addition to academic education, they attach great importance to learning through artistic expression. The desired objective is to encourage and support children and young people so that they can become independent and self-sufficient adults who take responsibility and have a positive impact on their community.