Specialty Teachers
Laurie McKenzie
Handwork Teacher
Laurie McKenzie has been teaching Handwork at SunRidge School for 24 years, bringing creativity, warmth, and deep dedication to her students’ artistic journeys. She finds great joy in witnessing the confidence, skill, and sense of wonder that emerge as children engage in meaningful, hands-on work.
Laurie’s love for fiber arts and visual expression began in childhood during a magical chapter living on a sailboat in the Bahamas. There, she explored coral reefs, watched her mother sew sails beneath the palms, and learned from her father, a pen and ink artist. These early experiences sparked a lifelong passion for color, craft, and creativity.
Before becoming a teacher, Laurie worked in flower and quilt shops, deepening her connection to textiles and design. She later completed a four-year teacher training program at the Center for Educational Renewal in Santa Rosa, which led her to Handwork teaching and the Waldorf-inspired educational path she loves.
Laurie met her husband while traveling in Jamaica, and together they raised three sons between Jamaica and Fairfax, California. Today, she delights in being a grandmother to her sweet granddaughter.
Dale Thurber
Movement Teacher and Athletics Director
Dale is a SunRiginal, hired in the first year of the school’s existence in 2001-2002. Coming from a background as a high Sierra naturalist (30+ summers), ropes course director, and college wilderness trip leader, Dale teaches from a base of teambuilding and leadership. Dale possesses a BA in Political Science with minors in History and Philosophy, and has also earned CA teaching credentials in Social Science and Physical Education. Since starting work at Sunridge, he has completed numerous Waldorf-centered movement workshops over the years, including the two year Core Studies with the Spatial Dynamics Institute.
Dale stresses the importance of the most valuable life skill - listening - and encourages his students to believe not only in themselves, but in the greater good. He seeks to always be a team player, and brings his love of sport and movement to the students. He’s fond of the notion that it takes a coach - who believes that you are more capable than you might think - to bring out the best in someone, and enjoys the relationship with athletes discovering that through playing on a team. Dale has coached coed volleyball and most of our basketball teams since 2002 and runs the Athletics program.
Dale (“Mr.T”) works to host other schools in special events like the Mayacamas Medieval Tournament (6th), and Pentathlon (5th). As an Educational Foundation member, he also helps with the annual Move-A-Thon (our school’s biggest fundraiser) and festivals like the May Faire and the Winter Spiral.
Dale’s hobbies include games of all kinds, especially roleplaying and board games, the challenge of DIY home projects, camping, cooking, hiking, playing the guitar and throwing discs.
Marcela Ronan
Spanish Teacher
Marcela has been teaching at SunRidge School for several years, bringing her passion for language, movement, and multicultural learning to the classroom each day. Born in Cali, Colombia, Marcela discovered her love for both teaching and dance early in life. She earned degrees in both fields before relocating to Chicago with her husband in search of a safer place to raise their family. While there, she embraced North American culture and completed her studies at the Arcturus Rudolf Steiner Education Program. She later moved to Santa Rosa to complete her four-year Waldorf Teacher Training.
With 38 years of teaching experience—including time at Rudolf Steiner College—Marcela brings depth, creativity, and joy to her teaching. Her approach is rooted in the belief that language learning should engage the whole child—head, heart, and hands—through music, rhythm, story, and cultural connection.
Outside the classroom, Marcela is an avid dancer who enjoys Salsa, R&B, Blues, and more. She also swims early each morning, a practice that keeps her centered and energized for her students. When she’s not teaching or dancing, she keeps busy with many other pursuits—but that’s a story for another time…she feels privileged to be part of the SunRidge community, where love, learning, and growth are shared every day.
Sorrel Allen
Garden Teacher
Sorrel Allen has been teaching at SunRidge School since 2021 bringing her passion for growing sustainable children, food, and natural systems and her love of ecology and land-based learning to the children each day. Together they cultivate a culture of gratitude, wonder, abundance, beauty and joy.
Her degrees in English + Environmental Studies and extensive coursework and fieldwork as a California Naturalist and in Horticulture, Restoration Ecology, Botany, Permaculture Design, Herbal studies, Edible education; coupled with her years of experience as an environmental educator and early childhood educator instructing in Montessori and Waldorf methods, have aptly prepared Sorrel for nurturing the whole ecosystem of a child —head, heart, and hands.
Prior to joining SunRidge, Sorrel worked in classrooms and natural communities around the Bay Area and internationally Leading Los Embajadores trips in Mexico, teaching in Haiti, as a Teacher Naturalist at Caritas Creek, a Habitat Restoration Educator at Earth Team Environmental Network, an Educator and Restoration Program Manager at Save The Bay, a Community Engagement Manager at Sonoma Ag and Open Space, a Garden Educator at the SAY Sunflower Youth Garden, and Garden Manager at Food For Thought.
In these roles she gained emotional intelligence and experience in child development, inquiry-based learning, outdoor education, sustainable regenerative agriculture, plant medicine, propagation and care, youth empowerment, garden science education, and community-based land stewardship. Sorrel’s teaching approach is rooted in care, observation, creativity and empowerment fostering curiosity and reverence for one another and the gifts of the natural world.
Outside the garden classroom, Sorrel enjoys adventuring with her family, communing with nature, gardening, hiking, swimming, field journaling, writing and making art, dancing, and sharing delicious meals with friends.
Alexander Volonts
Specialty Strings Music Teacher
Alexander Volonts has been teaching at SunRidge since 2016, bringing his passion for music to the classroom each day. With a background in violin and viola playing, Mr.Volonts holds degrees from San Francisco Conservatory and the Juilliard School. He believes in nurturing the whole child—head, heart and hands, and nourishing this spiritual connection through the power of music.
Prior to SunRidge, Mr. Volonts taught music at Summerfield Waldorf School as well as the Adventures in Music program of the San Francisco Symphony—performing and teaching seminars at every public school in SF.
Currently, Mr. Volonts is a member of the Santa Rosa Symphony Orchestra and is active in their music education department. He often coaches the various ensembles of that organization and heads the faculty at the Simply Strings program held at Sheppard Elementary. Outside of the classroom, Mr. Volonts enjoys exercise, coaching baseball, and playing chess. He feels grateful to be a part of the SunRidge School community and to support students on their journey of growth and discovery.
David Ferrera
Woodworking
David is privileged to work with the amazing 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students at SunRidge School! He has been teaching woodworking as a Specialty Instructor since August 2024.
David is passionate about empowering students to discover their developmental edges socially and academically. His focus is on helping students grow their capacities to become better individual woodworkers, as well as better teammates .
Prior to joining SunRidge School, David worked as a Sonoma County substitute teacher for 18 months. His tenure as an elementary and middle school teacher follows his long career in team building, mediation, and meeting facilitation for corporations and non-profit organizations.
David began his teaching career 1989 as a naturalist instructor with the Yosemite National Institutes, where he led weekly residential groups for 5+ years, before transitioning to corporate instructional design and team building work. His teaching approach is rooted in empowerment, appreciative inquiry, encouraging critical thinking and cultivating self-respect and kindness among peers.