Jonathan Briggs

Brainstormer, Educator/Teacher, Idea generator, Inventor, Parent, Scientist, Technologist

Jonathan joined Eastside Prep in 2005 as the school’s first Director of Technology. Jonathan spends a great deal of time keeping the school up to date with the latest technological changes, which has been no small endeavor over the past seven years. In addition to his teaching duties and independent study programs, Jonathan has implemented a new laptop program in the Middle School, brought admissions and development databases online and written a program for the school that manages data around students and teaching. He has overseen the technological needs of transitioning from 90 users to 330 and from one building to ten. Jonathan may be proudest of starting TEDxEastsidePrep, an annual conference that seeks to explore new ideas in education by bringing in speakers from outside the field of instruction. Prior to joining EPS, Jonathan spent four years teaching math and physics, chairing the upper school science department, and coaching volleyball and golf at the Bentley School in California.

Ideas, systems, the future, creating over consuming

Independent Schools and Charter Schools should serve as the R&D arm of the educational system. They will always be able to adapt, pivot, fail fast [fill in the word du jour] better than the districts while at the same time districts are much better at implementing at scale. We all want to reach students better, we are all driving towards the same goals - let's get some movement going and information flowing.

education, maker, Physics, Tech

Started watching talks when they started going online. I was fascinated by the ideas and absorbed as many as I could. When the TEDx program started, we got involved with that aspect as well. We just completed our fourth TEDxEastsidePrep and each time it gets better.

cooking, art, tying knots,