As Head of School at The Adelson Educational Campus since its founding, Mr. Schiffman ranks among our nation’s most respected educators. During his 35+ years as a professional educator, Paul Schiffman served as a teacher, a principal, assistant superintendent and head of a New York premier private educational institution. He plays an active role as a mentor for aspiring school leaders through the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), and as a board member for PNAIS. Mr. Schiffman earned his bachelor’s degree in business education from the State University of New York (SUNY), Albany, and his master’s and certificate of advanced studies in educational administration from SUNY, Brockport.

With deep expertise and great enthusiasm and commitment, Paul Schiffman is known for his warm, collaborative leadership style and ability to build and sustain strong and effective partnerships with parents, faculty and the community. He brings a unified administrative approach to The Adelson Educational Campus, working with the heads of our lower, middle and upper schools to nurture a rigorous academic program within a caring campus community, where camaraderie, mutual respect and trust allow excellence to flourish and students to achieve their full potential.

Paul and his wife Sandy enjoy hiking, reading, traveling to offbeat places, and visiting with their daughters and grandson in their leisure time. His personal hobbies include furniture painting and glass marble bead making.

Prior to entering K-12 education, Dr. Mahoney was a university scientist and faculty member at the University of Missouri. He earned a Bachelor's degree in Biology and a Doctorate in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles, and conducted post-doctoral work at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Mahoney made the move to private K-12 education in 1998 as founding science chair at Columbia Independent School in Missouri, shortly after serving as principal investigator in an NIH-funded research effort at the University of Missouri aimed at better understanding why cells become cancerous. In 2004, Paul Mahoney was a finalist for the position of Educator Astronaut with NASA. Since then, he has maintained close ties with NASA, working with them to improve the science and math curricula for our nation's students.

Throughout her more than 20 years of service to the educational community, Stacy Colwell has provided excellent leadership to a variety of schools with a continual emphasis on improving instruction for all students. Her background as a school administrator, teacher trainer, mentor, and classroom teacher gives her a broad perspective on the needs of the entire school community. She holds a Masters in Education, focusing on educational administration, from Washington State University, a multiple-subject teaching credential from California State University, San Bernardino, and a Bachelor of Science degree in communication arts from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. Married for more than 20 years, with a daughter who attends The Adelson Educational Campus, Ms. Colwell enjoys quality time with her family, reading, playing games, swimming and golfing.

Karin Soresman studied in South Africa, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in early childhood education. After immigrating to the United States, she earned another Bachelor's degree and went on to teach in day schools for two decades. Throughout her impressive career, she has received many awards as well as recognition for excellence, conferred by institutions in both South Africa and the United States. Nominated for "Teacher of the Year" (a Disney award), Ms. Soresman advanced all the way to the final round, and was later recognized by KVBC-TV, Channel 3 in Las Vegas as their "Teacher of the Month". With extensive training in speech and drama, she has produced many plays, and has completed her director's certificate in preschool education. Ms. Soresman says she is "thrilled to be entrusted with educating and promoting the best interests of each child in line with the philosophy of The Adelson Educational Campus".

Believing that athletics play a significant role in the social and physical development of today’s youth, Rob Blackwell is a very positive role model for students. He is a former athlete, coach, counselor and faculty mentor at both the independent school and collegiate level, including assistant men’s basketball coach at Division I St. Francis College, located in Brooklyn Heights, New York. His goals are to provide a wide variety of activities and sports, creating a positive learning environment while instilling pride, and offering students the opportunity to compete interscholastically. A graduate of New York’s St. Bonaventure University, with a Master of Arts in Education Administration and Supervision from University of Phoenix, Coach Blackwell is the recipient of multiple awards for coaching and sportsmanship. 

Davida Sims has a passion for helping children develop a life-long love of learning. Originally from Los Angeles, Davida graduated with a BA from the University of Washington and a JD from Northeastern University. Although she is an active member of the MA bar, her heart has always been in education and public interest work. She worked as a development executive at Nevada Public Radio, she has co-authored four business books, as well as written numerous articles in the areas of business and education. Her and her husband Damon have two children at The Adelson Educational Campus, the oldest having been an AEC student since 2004.

Working with and educating children has been Shelley Kalb's passion since she was a youngster herself. Prior to becoming our Director of Admissions, Shelley was a kindergarten teacher at the former Hebrew Academy. She enjoys meeting prospective families and students and contributing to the growth of the The Adelson Educational Campus community. A certified reading specialist for grades K-12, Ms. Kalb holds a Master's in Education from Loyola College in Baltimore, Maryland, where she taught first and second grade at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation Day School.

Bill is a CPA and comes to The Dr. Miriam and Sheldon G. Adelson Educational Campus with over 20 years of experience in accounting and finance. After serving five years with KPMG, Bill worked as a controller and entrepreneur for various companies, mostly in the construction and non-profit arenas. Outside of work, Bill volunteers his time coaching youth baseball. Originally from New Jersey, Bill and his wife have called Las Vegas home for more than 17 years. They have two children.

Parker received his BA from Columbia and his JD from the University of Colorado. He has taught Kindergarten through 12th grade, inclusive; spent close to three decades teaching in and leading independent schools; designed three middle school buildings and programs; and, has led both boys and girls high school basketball teams to state tournaments (while honored as coach of the year). Parker was appointed Commissioner to the Nevada Commission for Educational Excellence (2007). As elementary, middle and high principal of a charter school for at-risk students, Parker's students and teachers received Exemplary and High Achieving acclaim for their academic accomplishments. Last year, Parker helped to found a K-8 elementary school for students who learn differently. When Parker is not with his family or at school, he runs (many marathons), bikes or herds cats (four in the Parker family currently).
 

Amir Eden holds an M.A. in Educational Leadership from San Francisco State University and a B.A. in Political Science from Florida Atlantic University.  Prior to joining The Adelson Campus Community, Amir served as the 5-12 Principal at Jess Schwartz Jewish Community Day School in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Amir brings extensive leadership experience to our school having served as the 6-12 Hebrew Department Chair and Director of Student Life and Experiential Education in Donna Klein Jewish Academy in Boca Raton, Florida.  In his Student Life Role, Amir led spirit activities, Shabbatonim, retreats, weekly Town Meetings, and the Study in Israel Program, Amir was successful at cultivating a vibrant community of Jewish youths committed to the school's core values of Jewish living and academic achievement.

Prior to joining the Donna Klein Jewish Academy, Amir has spent seven years as a middle school Hebrew teacher and an advisor, at Brandeis Hillel Day School in San Francisco.  Amir has also worked with several summer camps and student programs, including the Israeli Boy & Girl Scouts Federation, where he served as a director of the North Miami Branch for two years.

Arriving from Long Island, New York, in 1990, Carla Behrin worked for the Jewish Federation of Las Vegas before joining our staff in 1998. In New York, she worked at The Huntington Jewish Center as executive secretary to Rabbi Neil Kurshan, president of the Nassau-Suffolk Rabbinical Assembly and author of the book, How to Raise Your Child To Be A Mensch. Ms. Behrin herself knows more than most about raising children. She raised her grandchildren — one who will graduate this year, and one who is an alumnus of the school. She also has been involved in catering for more than three decades and has owned her own restaurants. Today, when requesting a table at a local restaurant and asked how many children she has, she replies, “hundreds, but I only brought two with me. Ms. Behrin claims to be one of the few people in the world who looks forward to Monday morning — “so I can go to work and see all my children.”

Marsha Feldman arrived in Las Vegas in 1997, and immediately began teaching at the former Hebrew Academy/Adelson Campus. From early childhood, Ms. Feldman had a burning desire to teach, and with the help of her two grandmothers was able to attend The State University at New Paltz, New York, where she received her bachelor’s degree in education. Earlier in her career, Ms. Feldman taught kindergarten on Long Island, as well as special education for grades K-9, Hebrew school for grades K-6 and Bat Mitzvah classes for children and adults. She is excited to be a part of the growth at The Adelson Educational Campus.

After teaching in our preschool program for five years, in 2010 Jennifer George joined our school's development team. Prior to joining the former Hebrew Academy faculty, Ms. George taught at The Challenger Schools for six years, both in Northern California and Las Vegas. While there she participated in Challenger's teacher certification and attained their highest level, Master Gold Teacher. Previously, she was with Achieve in Northern California teaching special needs children ages 7-12 in their after-school recreational program. While living in Northern California she attended both Foothill and West Valley College, studying early childhood education. Ms. George recently completed her Child Development Accreditation, a nationally accredited certificate program for early childhood educators.

Wendy Parnell is a true Las Vegan, completing all her kindergarten through college education in Las Vegas. She joined The Adelson Educational Campus after spending the last 30 years working for Corporate America in marketing, accounting and human resources. As the Accounting and Human Resources Manager, she is proud to be a part of the faculty and staff that is supporting this campus.

I am very excited to be the new school nurse!  13 years ago, I received by Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing from the University at Buffalo in New York.  I have been very fortunate to have had many vast experiences working in the nursing field, from working with various volunteer ambulance corps, pediatric nursing in an ICU, to working with adults with both mental and physical disabilities, Recovery Room nursing at Same Day Surgery Centers, managing Primary Care Clinics for both the adult and pediatric populations, and teaching American Red Cross classes in First Aid, CPR, and even Swimming.  In my spare time, I love spending time with my family and raising my 4 girls.

Peter Randazzo moved to the Las Vegas area in 2007 to escape the cold weather of East Rockaway, New York, where he was a bus driver for seven years. He has been married for 43 years and has two children and four grandchildren. He has three grandchildren at The Adelson Educational Campus.