Welcome to our Alumni Feature of the Month, where we shine a spotlight on the incredible achievements and inspiring journeys of our esteemed graduates. Each month, we will introduce you to a distinguished alumnus or alumna who has made a significant impact in their field, community, or beyond. These remarkable individuals serve as living examples of the power of education and the enduring connections forged during their time at Unity School. Join us as we celebrate their successes, share their stories, and showcase the diverse talents that make our alumni community truly exceptional.

Dr. Dervi Ganesh – Class of 1998

1. What path did you follow after leaving Unity School?
   I attended the University of Miami.
2. Reflecting on your time at Unity School, what do you think was the most valuable lesson or skill you gained?
   Leadership with kindness, compassion, and empathy.
3. If you could offer some advice to current Unity School students, what words of wisdom would you share?
   Don’t be afraid to make mistakes or try new things, this is the perfect environment to do so!
4. How do you think the foundation you received at Unity School prepared you for your career and adult life?
   In addition to a robust education, I gained confidence not only in my current abilities, but also in branching out to things that weren’t as comfortable or familiar. The Unity teachers like Mrs. Ferguson and Coach Sharon who are still here, were excellent role models for me for women who were kind, intelligent, and have a desire to make the world a better, brighter place.
5. What influenced your decision to enroll your children at Unity School?
   I wouldn’t have had it any other way! Mrs. K. was my daughter’s teacher last year and I knew as soon as I met her that the Unity fundamentals were being carried out all of these decades later. I wanted my daughter to have the solid foundation I had to prepare me for life. She had a wonderful year with Mrs. K.
6. What’s keeping you busy these days?
   I am an Ob/Gyn in private practice working with my Father. I am also Co-Course Director for the University of Miami Medical School Ob/Gyn Clerkship. My most important position is Mom to Lulani and Baby Michael!

Edward Hazard

1. Which college did you go to?

Undergrad – University of Michigan, Industrial Engineering

Graduate – Columbia University, Master’s in Business

2. What is your current position and how did Unity prepare you for your career and/or adult life?

I am the Vice President at Jamestown Metal Marine Sales, a company that engineers and constructs interiors for large commercial and Navy ships. Unity offers a very hands-on style of learning combined with a more conventional book-based education. Being able to learn in multiple different ways helped build a more fluid understanding of topics and instilled an additional level of curiosity that I believe increased my desire to get into a field like Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding.

3. What do you think was the most valuable thing you learned at Unity?

Unity specializes in building a strong sense of community. As opposed to competing against one another, I felt a collective sense of working together to learn and grow. Whether it was later in my education, my career, or my family life, being able to work together and have compassion for other people is a critical life skill. This trait was a major part of helping me get to where I am today.

4. What advice would you give to the current Unity students?

When I was in Kindergarten, I was struggling to learn phonetics. Unity was deciding if another year in kindergarten was needed before I received extra help from my mother and then teacher Mrs. Stec. I would later grow up to graduate with honors from High School and College.  Remember that no matter how hard you may be struggling on an individual topic, it does not define you or your overall abilities. It is only one step in the journey!

5. Why did you choose Unity to be your children’s school?

It wasn’t until I attended High School that I realized one of the unique aspects of my education compared to others was Lessons in Living. I believe if someone had first introduced the concept of a “peace bell” to me in High School I would have chuckled. To expose children starting from a young age simple concepts such as peace, self-appreciation, and the importance of family is invaluable when you grow older. That is the education I want my daughters to have.

6. Anything else you would like to add?

My grandmother had 6 grandchildren that were attending Unity at one time. Without exaggeration, for every single event the school hosted, she would show up long before to always get the same seat in the church. When she, unfortunately, passed while we were on the verge of finishing our education at Unity, the school put a blanket on the exact seat she sat in until her last grandchild graduated. Name another school that would do something like that!

Katie Barber Douglas

1. Which year did you graduate?
1996

2. What is your current position?
I am a partner at Robbins Geller Rudman and Dowd LLP where I specialize in complex class-action litigation representing plaintiffs in securities and consumer fraud cases.

3. Which college did you go to? I attended Georgetown University in Washington D.C. for undergraduate (Go Hoyas!) and University of Miami for law school (Go Canes!).

4. What is your favorite memory from Unity? I really loved the class trips. I have many fond memories of petting sea cucumbers at Sea Camp, drinking from the fountain of youth in St. Augustine (and then panicking that I would never age), and visiting the monuments and museums in Washington D.C.

5. What do you think was the most valuable thing you learned at Unity? The most valuable thing I learned at Unity was to always look towards the positive. At a very young age, though Lessons and Living, we were taught to live in appreciation and gratitude. I learned how to handle conflict by standing up for my beliefs, but also respecting another’s point of view. At Unity it was always “cool to be kind.”

6. Was there a teacher who made an impact on your life? There were many teachers at Unity that made an impact on my life. Most importantly, my mother, Maria Barber served as the Headmistress of Unity for over 20 years. She was a rock-star! At 34, and with two young daughters, she was the youngest and only female Headmistress in the area. She constantly challenged herself to be better, and led with clear expectations, kindness, and respect. She had an innate ability to identify a child’s academic and emotional needs and create an environment to support that. To this day, I have former students tell me about the positive impact she had on their lives. She also balanced a full-time career and motherhood seamlessly; and always ensured my sister and I knew that we were (and still are) the most important things in her and my father’s life.

 Ms. Lang, my first grade teacher, spawned my love of reading.  At reading time, she would sit in an oversize rocking chair and transform into an “old lady” with tiny glasses a shawl and read to us in various voices. She taught me to appreciate the magic of books, creativity and imagination.

 Coach Sharon was my basketball and volleyball coach.  She was the first female coach I ever had; and was smart, athletic and hilarious.  She gave me so much confidence, but also taught me to not take myself too seriously.

7. What advice would you give to the current Unity students? Live in the moment and take this opportunity to really understand yourself, your interests, as well as those of your peers. Unity is a safe-space where you are surrounded and supported by friends, teachers, administrators and parents that genuinely care about you and want you to succeed.

8. How do you think the foundation you received at Unity prepared you for life? I always credit Unity as helping to build the confidence and self-esteem I had as a child. I learned to celebrate mine (and my peers) successes and to take responsibility and learn from my mistakes, without embarrassment. Teachers and administration knew everyone by name and took an interest in each child’s strength and interests; I always felt comfortable in my own skin and that I could succeed in anything I put my mind to.

9. Why did you choose to send your children to Unity? My husband and I wanted an environment where our boys felt special and were never just a number. We wanted them to be challenged academically, and to be exposed to various programs like art, music and sports. But most importantly, we wanted them to be supported emotionally, and for their own unique offerings.

 When we toured the school we were impressed with all the positive developments since I attended, such as the full gymnasium, and technology advancements. But we were also grateful that Unity’s best qualities remained, like the Lessons in Living Program, the above grade-level math and the supportive community.  I love seeing moms, dads, grandparents, friends and the like bringing kids to and from school, cheering them on at sports and school concerts and playing at the park.  Everyone appears to have the same goal: putting their kids first.  

Dr. Michael Lopez

1.  Which year did you graduate?

I graduated in 2003. My younger brother, Carlos, and sister Annie also attended Unity School.

2. What do you think was the most valuable thing you learned at Unity?

The most valuable thing I learned was how to become a well-rounded person with the education and background to be able to build upon to achieve my professional goals. I thrived in the smaller class sizes and really enjoyed my teachers.

3. How do you think the foundation you received at Unity prepared you for life?

Unity prepared me with a solid foundation and a love of lifelong learning. I had early exposure to sports and music as well. I went on to Cornell University and was a Division I Baseball player. I always wanted to be a surgeon and I attended medical school at NOVA Southeastern University. I did my residency at the University of Miami in general surgery. I am currently a cardiothoracic surgery fellow at MD Anderson and UT Houston.

4. What advice would you give to the current Unity students?

I would tell the current students to take advantage of everything that Unity has to offer (extra-curriculars, sports, music). I would also tell them that I still keep in touch with many of my Unity friends. I’ve even been in some of their weddings. One of the coolest things is that one of my old friends from Unity and I have children in the same class now.

5. Why did you choose Unity to be your children’s school?

When my wife and I were looking for schools for our children, we decided on Unity because I was very happy with the strong education I received. We were welcomed by the Unity community. We have been very happy with the education our son has been receiving. It is great to see that Unity has continued to prosper over the years.

6. Anything else you would like to add?

Don’t change Wednesday pizza day ever!

Dr. Jennifer Alvarez
Class of 1995

1.Which year did you graduate?
I attended Unity School from preschool through 8th grade.  I graduated in 1995 and went on to Atlantic high school IB program.

2. Which college did you go to?
Undergrad: I graduated with honors from the University of Florida. GO GATORS!! Medical School: Nova Southeastern University Residency in Anatomic/Clinical Pathology: Creighton University (Omaha, Nebraska) Fellowship in Cytopathology: University of Colorado (Denver, CO)

3. What is your current position and how did Unity prepare you for your career and/or adult life?
I am currently a Pathologist specializing in Anatomic/Clinical and Cytopathology at Bethesda
Hospital.  Unity instilled a strong work ethic in me early on. The teachers I had during my time at
Unity made learning fun and I wanted to keep reading and learning as much as I could. They
encouraged me to dream big and that I could become whatever I set my mind to—which was always to become a Doctor.

4. What is your favorite memory from Unity?
I have so many wonderful memories from Unity but my most favorite memory has to be The
Odyssey of the Mind program which is a creative problem-solving team competition. I
participated in “OM” for many years beginning in elementary school all the way through high
school (Atlantic HS, IB program). Our teams at Unity (and Atlantic) won many regional and state
championships and we were fortunate to travel around the country competing with teams from
all over the world! Through Odyssey, we were able to combine creative and critical thinking
skills to solve problems given to us. Unity was a force to be reckon with during that time. We
were the team to beat! I would love to get OM back on campus. It was truly a special program.
Another fond memory I have is participating in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 7th
grade with the Unity Show Choir. We were part of “America Sings”. It was a once in a lifetime
experience!

5. What do you think was the most valuable thing you learned at Unity?
Unity was my home away from home. My mom was a teacher there for many years and we had
the same kids in class from preschool through 8th grade. It was like a family. Unity taught us to
look out for one another; To treat everyone equally and to be kind to your neighbors.

6. Was there a teacher who made an impact on your life?
I was fortunate to have my mom as one of my teachers.  She was really good at teaching—she
made History Class fun!!   She was also my Odyssey of the Mind coach… who led us to 3rd
place at World Competition! She cared about all of her students and wanted us all to succeed.
She invested a lot of time in her classroom and allowed us to think independently and creatively.
Ms Margie Richards was my drama teacher! She was all things fabulous. She instilled
confidence in me that I didn’t know I had! She would encourage me (and the other students) to
sign up for auditions and not be afraid to get on stage. Her favorite word was “Projection”, and
those who know Margie can imagine her saying it !

I also have fond memories of my second grade teacher Ms. Sullivan. I’ll never forget she gave
us a seed as our last day of school gift. We were instructed to plant the seed and watch it grow,
to symbolize our growth as students. That seed grew into a beautiful huge tree!  It was very
special.

I also had Coach Sharon as my PE and basketball coach. Not enough words can describe her
ability to coach and mentor young student athletes. She also gave me the confidence to believe
I could succeed in sports as a young girl ! I love watching her success all these years later.

7. What advice would you give to the current Unity students? 
Never give up. Keep working on your goals and dreams and learn as much as you can from
your teachers AND your peers.

8. Why did you choose Unity to be your children’s school? 
I love Unity’s philosophy -“to empower children and inspire learning by educating the entire
child: mind, body and spirit”.

Go Mustangs!

Jaclyn Daily
Class of 2004

1. What was your favorite memory from Unity?

Unity Students are admitted to their top choice high schools. Once there, they are flourishing–when visiting area high schools we regularly hear: “We love Unity students!”