Leadership

Administrative Team

List of 13 members.

Joel Allen

Director of Athletics

(858) 875-0850

San Diego Christian College - B.S.

allenjo@bishops.com
Bio
Joel Allen came to Bishop’s as an assistant football coach in 2007, and he assumed the responsibilities of associate athletic director and head football coach in 2009. Joel was appointed director of athletics in 2011. In this role, he is responsible for all aspects of the middle and upper school athletic programs. Joel was named 2014 CIF San Diego Section Athletic Director of the Year and MaxPreps California Coach of the Year in 2010. In Joel’s 10 seasons as head football coach, Bishop’s teams have won three CIF championships and a California State Division IV Championship, and many Bishop’s student-athletes in all sports have gone on to play at the college level.
Michael Beamer

Dean of Students

858-875-0812

Boston University - M.Ed.
Duke University - B.S.

beamerm@bishops.com
Bio
Michael Beamer has been the dean of students at Bishop's since 2012. As dean, he is charged with overseeing all forms of non-academic support for the School, including the counseling and nursing offices, attendance, the advisory program, and student discipline. Michael works closely with the upper school class sponsors on co-curricular initiatives and chairs both the discipline committee and the student services committee. Before coming to Bishop's, he was the dean of students for four years and worked in the admission office for three years at Cate School in Carpinteria, California. Prior to his work in education, Michael served in the U.S. Navy for six years, deploying twice while on board the USS Elliot (DD-967), where he served as strike officer and navigator.
Kim Cooper

Director of Admissions and Financial Aid

(858) 875-0809

Connecticut College - B.A.
Endicott College - M.E.

kim.cooper@bishops.com
Bio
Kim Cooper has served as director of admissions and financial aid at Bishop’s since 2011. In this role, she is responsible for the recruitment and retention of a highly qualified, diverse student body of 800 and the strategic allocation of a $3.1 million financial aid budget. Kim has developed appropriate admission policies and procedures, led a creative branding process, pioneered a longitudinal study with the academic dean to analyze overall student achievement, and expanded outreach locally and nationally. Kim serves on the board of The Character Collaborative, Inc., a national initiative on advancing character in admissions.
Pamela Duffy

Chief Operating and Financial Officer

(858) 875-0734

San Diego State University - B.S.

pamela.duffy@bishops.com
Bio
Pamela J. (Pam) Duffy is Bishop’s chief operating and financial officer. Ms. Duffybegan her career in public accounting at Deloitte & Touche, later spending time in the private sector as the controller for Accredited Home Lenders, a mortgage banking company. She joined California Western School of Law as the chief financial officer in 2004 and left as vice president of finance and chief financial officer in July 2019. At Cal Western, Ms. Duffy was responsible for financial reporting and compliance, budgeting and forecasting, and accounting processes and procedures. In addition, she managed the business office, facilities management and the information technology departments. She holds a bachelor of science degree in business administration from San Diego State University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Ron Kim

Head of School

(858) 875-0721

U.C. Berkeley - B.A.
University of Chicago - M.A.

ron.kim@bishops.com
Bio
Ron Kim brings a wealth of experience in school leadership, student-centered pedagogy and inclusive education principles to The Bishop’s School. For the 2018-2019 school year, he served as the interim assistant head of school at The Buckley School. Prior to Buckley, he was the head of school at BASIS Independent McLean (Virginia) and spent 23 years at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, where he held various administrative and teaching roles during his distinguished career, the most recent were assistant principal, dean of faculty, history instructor and girls' varsity basketball coach. Ron was the youngest dean of faculty ever appointed at Exeter. Ron grew up in Southern California and earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of California, Berkeley, and a master's degree in history from the University of Chicago.
Harlan Klein

Head of Middle School

(858) 875-0703

University of California, Santa Cruz - B.A.
National University - M.Ed.
University of San Diego - M.A.

harlan.klein@bishops.com
Bio
Harlan Klein joined Bishop’s as the head of middle school in 2018. In this role, he is responsible for all aspects of the middle school program. Harlan joined Bishop’s after a 20+ year career in the San Diego Unified School District, where he most recently served as principal of Muirlands Middle School in La Jolla. He was also principal of Innovation Middle and Toler Elementary Schools. At Innovation Middle, Harlan helped establish the District’s first 24/7, school-to-home technology program and implementation of Google Apps for Education (now called G Suite for Education) and was the lead principal for the FCC Grant, “Learning on the Go” which provided ubiquitous internet access to individual devices for middle school students. Harlan has served as a board member of the Character Development Center at the University of San Diego for 15+ years, presented at numerous conferences and in 2018 received the Distinguished Leader Award by the San Diego Administrators Association.
Janice Murabayashi

Academic Dean

(858) 875-0718

Brown University - B.A.
UCLA - M.A.
Teachers College, Columbia University - M.A.

janice.murabayashi@bishops.com
Bio
Janice Murabayashi joined the School in 2017. As academic dean Janice is responsible foroverseeing the academic curriculum of the School and working with department chairs, college counselors, summer school directors and librarians to affirm and update the work of their programs. She is also the primary contact for academic advising for the ninth and tenth grades. She came to Bishop’s from the International School of Asia, Karuizawa (ISAK) in Japan, where she was assistant head of school from 2013-2017. Janice helped to plan and manage all elements of the opening and operation of ISAK, a boarding, English language, International Baccalaureate Diploma Program school, as well as its application to the United World College network. Prior to ISAK, Janice served as the middle school dean of students and upper school academic dean at La Jolla Country Day School, and as a middle and upper school teacher and coach at Francis Parker School (San Diego), Brentwood School (Los Angeles) and Punahou School (Honolulu).
Brian Ogden

Head of Upper School

(858) 875-0738

Georgetown University - B.S.F.S.
Teachers College at Columbia University - M.A.

brian.ogden@bishops.com
Bio
Brian joined Bishop’s in 2016 as the head of upper school, where he is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day management of the upper school (grades 9-12). Brian is also a student advisor. Prior to Bishop’s, Brian held a variety of roles in independent schools, including history teacher, dorm head, grade-level dean, swimming, soccer and water polo coach, dean of students and dean of faculty. Most recently he spent 14 years at The Webb Schools in Claremont, California.
Keri Peckham

Director of Marketing and Communications

(858) 875-0790

Florida State University - B.A
American University - M.A.

keri.peckham@bishops.com
Bio
Keri Peckham joined Bishop's in 2013 as the associate director of marketing and communications and took on the role of director in 2017. At Bishop's, Keri is responsible for brand strategy, content development, digital marketing, social media, publications, media relations and crisis communications. Prior to Bishop's, Keri worked in communications and public affairs roles for the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego, the Federal Reserve Board, the National Governors Association and the Florida Governor’s Office.
Rev. Nicole Simopoulos-Pigato

Chaplain

(858) 875-0727

Stanford University - B.A.
Graduate Theological Union - M.A.

nicole.simopoulos-pigato@bishops.com
Bio
The Rev. Nicole Simpoulos-Pigato joined Bishop’s as the School’s chaplain in 2018. As chaplain Nicole oversees the Bishop’s Chapel Program for grades 6-12. Prior to Bishop’s, Nicole was chaplain and religious studies teacher at ‘Iolani School in Honolulu. Her work there also included co-coordination of ‘Iolani’s K-12 service learning committee, and oversight of the K-12 Faith in Action, Service & Justice programs of St. Alban’s Chapel. Prior to ‘Iolani, Nicole served as chaplain, taught religion and coordinated service learning programs at the National Cathedral School for Girls in Washington, D.C., and Oregon Episcopal School in Portland, Oregon. She is ordained in the Episcopal Church.
David Thompson

Director of Diversity and Community Life

(858) 875-0701

Lehigh University - B.A.

thompsond@bishops.com
Bio
David Thompson joined Bishop’s as an associate director of college counseling and affinity group sponsor in 2013. He took on his current role in 2017. In this role, David values careful listening and attention to the details of our respective stories as integral to the makeup of our dynamic community. He came to Bishop's from the East Coast where he was the assistant dean of admission at Swarthmore College, and an assistant director of admission and assistant director of diversity recruitment at his alma mater, Lehigh University.
John Trifiletti

Assistant Head of School/Chief Advancement Officer

(858) 875-0851

University of San Diego - B.A.

trifilettij@bishops.com
Bio
John Trifiletti joined Bishop’s in 2004 as chief advancement officer and assistant head of school. In these roles, John is responsible for all development and marketing initiatives. He is a member of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Association of Fundraising Professionals. John is immediate past president of the Rotary Club of La Jolla and secretary/treasurer of the Kraemer Endowment Foundation. Prior to joining Bishop's, John served as associate vice president for development at the University of San Diego.
Anthony Trumbo

Sr. Director of Educational Technology and Information Systems; Wattis-Dumke Foundation Chair in Com

(858) 875-0835

Drexel University - B.S.
Syracuse University - M.S.

trumbot@bishops.com
Bio
Tony Trumbo joined The Bishop’s School in 2012, and he oversees both academic and information technology. Under Tony’s leadership, Bishop’s implemented a student device program with an iPad program for the middle school and a BYOD program for the supper school and increased use of technology in the classroom. He’s also helped transition the School to electronic communication for parents, students, faculty and staff. Prior to Bishop’s, Tony was the director of technology at the Ensworth School in Nashville for nine years. In that role, he led Ensworth in planning and implementing the technology infrastructure for a new high school campus as well as integrating the new campus with the existing K-8 campus.

Administrative Team

List of 13 members.

Joel Allen

Michael Beamer

Kim Cooper

Pamela Duffy

Ron Kim

Harlan Klein

Janice Murabayashi

Brian Ogden

Keri Peckham

Rev. Nicole Simopoulos-Pigato

David Thompson

John Trifiletti

Anthony Trumbo