Meet Your School Committee Members

Phone: 617-797-8726

Email:

Degrees and Certifications:

Dr. Andy Liu

Andy Liu, Chair, was elected to the School Committee in 2020. He holds a BA in philosophy from Harvard University and a PhD in mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley. Until recently, Dr. Liu worked as a neuroscientist at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he did experiments to understand how cells in the eye sense light and communicate with the brain. He now teaches mathematics at Lynn Classical High School. 

Dr. Liu is a former Town Meeting Member, and he has a son in middle school who is a graduate of BEEP.  Dr. Liu’s present term expires in 2026.

Phone: 617-738-9434

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Suzanne Federspiel

Suzanne Federspiel (she/her/hers), Vice Chair, was first elected to the School Committee in 2017.  She has been an educator for more than thirty years in Connecticut and Massachusetts.  Most recently she served as a special education teacher, a literacy coach, and then as an elementary school principal for the Boston Public Schools.  She is currently a teacher mentor in Boston. 

In addition to her degrees in education from U-Conn, Storrs, and U-Mass, Amherst, Suzanne has an MBA from Boston University. She and her husband have lived in Brookline since 1985.  Their two children attended Pierce School and Brookline High School.  Ms. Federspiel’s current term expires in 2026.

Phone: 617-566-5329

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Helen Charlupski

Helen Charlupski was first elected to the School Committee in 1992. She holds a BA and Master of Social Work from the University of Michigan. She was a member of the Early Childhood Advisory Council of the Massachusetts Department of Education from 1994-2004 and has been the Massachusetts Association of School Committees representative to the Department of Early Education and Care since its inception in 2005.
 
Ms. Charlupski was the Chair of EDCO (Education Collaborative, which Brookline belongs to along with 17 other communities west of Boston) from 2009-2012. Ms. Charlupski is married to Dr. Joseph Biederman and has three children who graduated from the Runkle School and Brookline High School. Ms. Charlupski’s present term expires in 2025.

Phone: 202-709-8148

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Dr. Steven Ehrenberg

Steven Ehrenberg (he/him) was elected to the School Committee in 2021. Dr. Ehrenberg is an international educational development professional and has spent most of the past 15 years designing and directing education programs for global nonprofits, including FHI 360 and RTI International. Dr. Ehrenberg holds a BA in English literature from Williams College, an MS in Journalism from Columbia University, and an Ed.D. in International Educational Development from Teachers College, Columbia University.

He and his wife have two daughters attending Lawrence School. Dr. Ehrenberg’s current term expires in 2025.

Phone: 617-270-8946

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Valerie Frias

Valerie Frias (she/her/hers) was appointed to the School Committee in July 2021 and then elected to a three-year term in 2022.  She is an attorney and nonprofit leader with over 20 years’ experience leading organizations serving marginalized populations.  She has advised school districts on policy and legal matters related to special education, LGBTQ issues, and other issues related to civil rights and youth advocacy.  She served as a PTO Co-Chair for Driscoll School, was a member of Brookline SEPAC (Special Education Parent Advisory Council), and served on the Driscoll School Principal Search Committee.  Ms. Frias serves as Co-Chair of the Driscoll School Building Advisory Committee. She is mother to two PSB students and coaches therapeutic sports.  

She earned her Juris Doctor degree from the Northeastern University School of Law and her B.A. in History and German from Tufts University.  Her term expires in 2025.

Phone: 781-771-2618

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Dr. Jesse Hefter

Jesse Hefter was elected to the School Committee in 2024. He holds a BS in Chemistry from the University of Bridgeport and a PhD in Chemistry from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland. He retired from Verizon Communications in 2019 as an Associate IT Fellow after a 35-year-long career spanning material science, operations statistics, logistics, quality management, teaching and training, software development, and data warehousing and analysis. He is the holder of 6 U.S. Patents.
 
He and his wife, Brenda, a special educator, have lived in Brookline since 1984 and raised their three children here. They have two grandchildren currently in the Roland Hayes School. Jesse has volunteered as the President of the Greater Boston Eruv Corporation since 1984 and was a past President of the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts and a Board Member of the Bureau of Jewish Education. He has taught a community adult education Talmud class for over 20 years. Jesse serves Brookline as a Town Meeting Member in Precinct 14, a member of the Pedestrian Advisory Committee, and a member of the Moderator's Committee on PFAS. Dr. Hefter's current term expires in 2027.
 

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Sarah Moghtader

Sarah Moghtader was elected to serve as a member of the School Committee in 2024. Prior to that, she was a teacher in the Public Schools of Brookline for more than 15 years. She was a middle school French teacher at Ridley, Runkle, Hayes and Lawrence.

Sarah earned a MEd from University of Massachusetts, Boston. She has presented to teachers in local and national conferences, she helped write standards for DESE and has served on committees here in Brookline as a community member. With her husband, she has three kids and the youngest is in 7th grade at Lawrence. Ms. Moghtader's present term expires in 2027.

Phone: 617-935-4985

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Mariah Nobrega

Mariah Nobrega (she/her/hers) was elected to the School Committee in 2020. She holds a BA in Political Science from NYU and an MBA from Northeastern, where she works in the College of Engineering. A near life-long resident of Brookline, Ms. Nobrega attended BEEP at Lynch Center, Lawrence School, and Brookline High School.  She and her husband have three children at Brookline High School and Lawrence School.

She served as a Town Meeting Member 2009-2022, Brookline Advisory (finance) Committeee member 2015-2020, Brookline Commission for Diversity, Inclusion and Community Relations member 2019-2021, and Pierce PTO Treasurer 2014-2019. Ms. Nobrega’s present term expires in 2026.

Phone: 617-669-8050

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Carolyn Thall

Carolyn Thall was elected to the School Committee in 2024. She has a BA in Psychology from Trinity College (Hartford) and an M.Ed. from Boston University’s Literacy, Language and Cultural Studies program. She had a multi-faceted career in educational organizations and non-profits including Fair Test, the Asian American Civic Association, and Jewish Vocational Service. She also attended Suffolk University’s School of Art and Design, worked in the building/interiors field, and co-founded and served on the Board of Roslindale Open Studios.

In Brookline, she has been a Town Meeting Member since 2016, served on the Advisory Committee, and has had children in the public schools since 2011, from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Ms. Thall's present term expires in 2027.