Nola-rae Cronan has more than two decades of experience in independent schools, including her current role as head of school at Carlthorp School in Santa Monica. Nola-rae has served in a variety of capacities in education, including as a teacher, dorm parent, coach, school counselor, dean, and division head. Her vast experience touches all aspects of school life, including curriculum development, technology integration, professional development for faculty and staff, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, student leadership, and student programming. The independent school world is part of her family life as well; her husband, Ara Brown, spent twenty years as an independent school educator and is now an educational search consultant, and her children, Kalah and Noah, both attended day and boarding schools. Her eldest, Kalah, is in her third year as a high school English teacher at an independent school in VA.