Eleven new staff members have joined Northwood for the 2025-26 school year: six teachers, two counselors, two support staff and a new assistant principal. As they bring a buzz of fresh energy, let’s take a closer look into the lives of some of the new teachers.
Shannon Simon
After a two-decade break from her dream of becoming a teacher, English teacher Shannon Simon is now taking her first steps. With a graduate degree in British medieval literature, Old English epics never bore her.
“I have known I wanted to be a teacher for 35 years, pretty much since I was probably in sixth grade,” Simon said. “It’s more fun to be around people who are still in a place where they see themselves as students.”
Beginning as a student teacher at Northwood last year, she is now teaching Humanities 9, English Language Development 2 and Reading Lab. As she gets situated, she appreciates the supportive nature of her students and coworkers.
“All of the teachers are genuinely working with one another and there’s a very productive environment,” Simon said. “There’s always going to be days when anybody is not in the mood to be at school, but so many students are so motivated to do well, and it makes my job very easy.”
Marianna Robles
Science teacher Marianna Robles is no stranger to Irvine. Growing up in the nearby Tustin Unified School District, she occasionally visited Northwood and in fourth grade, even caught a glimpse of our Homecoming from a distance.
Her communication skills developed early: As her high school’s color guard captain, she was often praised for her ability to break information down clearly. She watched “Mythbusters,” a show about using science to test urban legends, every Wednesday as a child, so it’s no surprise she studied marine biology in college. While pursuing science was her childhood dream, teaching jumped into her life unexpectedly.
“I was volunteering with my marine biology and ecology club,” Robles said. “A grad student who I was working with turned to me at one point and said, ‘Have you ever thought about becoming a teacher? Because I think you’d be really good at it.’ Because of that conversation, it changed the trajectory of my time in college.”
Robles taught for three years in TUSD at Tustin and Beckman high schools after getting her master’s degree in education in 2022. Now teaching Integrated Science 1 and AP Biology at Northwood, she appreciates the level of involvement students have.
“I am really drawn to the energy and the excitement,” Robles said. “The part that really just excites me the most is being able to be a part of that academic journey and be able to help contribute to different paths that students want to take.”
Jonas Shantz
Growing up, math teacher Jonas Shantz dreamed of being a carpenter. After graduating college with a civil engineering degree, he spent his first few years working in carpentry. Despite enjoying the work, he realized that it wouldn’t be a sustainable career. After a friend introduced him to a teaching position, he made the switch.
“I didn’t grow up putting stickers on my things in my room and organizing things,” Shantz said. “But I like math, and I like kids, so it sort of seemed like a good fit. It’s very dynamic. You get to meet so many people.”
During his 24-year tenure teaching at two New York high schools, he successfully ran a carpentry program at one of them. Both schools only had around 400 students, so his transition to teaching Math 1 and Math 3 at Northwood meant adjusting to a much larger student population.
“The school that I came from—everybody knows everybody,” Shantz said. “I never worked in a school where I would walk down the hall and not know the kids. Just the sheer number of people—I could work here for 20 years, and… there’ll never be a time when I know all the kids.”
Other new staff
Also joining Northwood’s staff this year are campus control assistant Darrian Hambrick, office assistant Amanda Hansen, counselor Tiffany Le, college and career counselor Alyssa Phan, science teacher Gabby Puerner, drama teacher Michele Sheehy, special education teacher Andrea Wood and assistant principal Alissa Changala.
