Employee Directory

Paola Ligonde

• Visual Arts Faculty
• Email
• Dyker Heights
• Middle School, Upper School

“My intent is to help students find and define their own perspectives; teaching them the conventions and standards, partly so they can decide when it is best to subvert them”

Paola Ligondé is a self-proclaimed “stuff enthusiast” with a Master’s in Interior Design. Her studies concentrated on exhibition spaces, which continues to inspire her exploration of interdisciplinary artisanship and narrative presentation techniques. She began her teaching career in 2021 when she joined Poly Prep as a Middle and Upper School art teacher. She brings with her experience in art education by way of Curious Jane where she was a camp curriculum designer and content creator for their DIY crafts magazine.

Born in Brooklyn, New York to Haitian expatriates, Paola spent her formative years in New England where she was a boarder at Phillips Academy (Andover) following her participation in Prep for Prep 9, an NYC-based academic enrichment and school matching program.

Paola embraces the multi-lingual, socially hybridized, intersectional nature of her upbringing. She hopes to take a culturally affirming approach to learning in the classroom, reflecting her bent towards greater accessibility, inclusion, representation, and reverence in and for the applied arts.