Fall often means “new” to kids: a new pair of shoes, a new haircut or notebook, a new grade, maybe some new friends or even a new school. Marymount of Santa Barbara is definitely celebrating the new.

Not only did the school have a record number of new students this fall, but there are also new faces in the faculty to help teach all of those new students.

Marymount’s new teachers have diverse backgrounds and come from different parts of the world. They bring innovative teaching methods, years of experience and enthusiasm to their classes. Each has been heartily welcomed and is already loved by fellow faculty, students and parents.

Marymount’s art program is being energized this year with the addition of Jessica House.

A published author and exhibited artist, House joined Marymount with an undergraduate degree in studio art from the University of Texas at Austin and two master’s degrees. Her first master’s degree, in cross cultural education and with honors, is from National University. Her second master’s degree is in fine arts from the University of Wollongong in Australia.

House taught at St. Francis Episcopal School in Potomac, Md., for several years and, more recently, was voted Best Teacher of the Year at Longs Peak Middle School in Colorado. Credentialed to be both a multiple subject and a visual arts teacher, House teaches passionate, cross-curriculum, roll-up-your sleeves classes that invigorate Marymount’s visual arts program.

Marymount’s seventh- and eighth-grade science program is being taken by storm by Andrew Ratcliffe, who is stepping in for the ever-popular Jannine Tuttle while she is on maternity leave.

With a passion for environmental science and management — which he studied earning bachelor’s and master’s degrees in economics from UCSB’s Bren School — Ratcliffe’s enthusiasm about all things science is infectious. It doesn’t hurt that he clearly ranks as “cool” with the students as an accomplished athlete. He was a Division 1 water polo player and knows how to inspire students when he coaches the Marymount water polo, swimming and basketball teams.

Jennifer Hogan, who is teaching seventh- and eighth-grade English this year, hails from New England. She grew up in Connecticut and graduated magna cum laude from Duke University in North Carolina before getting her master’s degree in education from UC Santa Cruz.

Add into the mix a hefty international piece — studies at Oxford University, the University of Edinburgh and a license to teach Ananda Yoga after training in India — and one can start to understand the depth of teaching Hogan brings to Marymount.

She taught at La Jolla Country Day, Scotts Valley High School and, most recently, at Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Conn. Hogan frequently asks her students to read their essays aloud to teach them that, after all, one really does write for an audience. Her animated, fun teaching style makes the students feel comfortable reading their work and “taking ownership of the material” they are studying. Would you believe that her yoga classes are almost as popular as her English classes?

Kate Burris, who is teaching sixth-grade English and comparative religion this year at Marymount, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in history and Middle Eastern studies. She has a master’s degree in language education from Indiana University Bloomington.

Of special note is the fact that Burris speaks five languages. In addition to English, French, Spanish and basic Arabic, she can speak Turkish. This was particularly useful to her in Istanbul, Turkey, where she has spent the past few years teaching to both grammar and middle school students. Her broad travels and international teaching experience season her class discussions and help open her sixth-graders’ eyes to the larger world.

The excitement and energy brought by Marymount’s new teachers combined with the passion and experience of the school’s veteran educators promises to deliver a great 2010-11 academic year for all members of the Marymount community.

— Molly Seguel is the director of admissions for Marymount of Santa Barbara.