According to the Director of Lower and Middle School Dr. Zanita Kelly, 6th Grade Math Teacher Teo Cutter’s enthusiasm for math, his students, and Westridge is contagious. (Already, he is the kind of teacher whom students choose as the subject of their portrait projects in art class!)

“Teo makes math come to life for students,” Dr. Kelly said. “They see math everywhere now because of him and especially his data-driven projects.” She is also thrilled with his embrace of being a homeroom teacher and advisor. “It is so important for a math teacher in a girls’ school—where we actively work to combat traditional dips in math confidence—to own the social-emotional piece of our work. Teo understands how the internal world bleeds into student learning.”

For our faculty profile of Cutter, we are tapping into the great work of student journalist Willa E.-B. ’28 from our award-winning Westridge Spyglass student newspaper. We've copied Willa's profile below, along with an editor's note of updates since the piece was written.

Statistician and Economist Teo Cutter Embraces the Westridge Community as the New 6th Grade Math Teacher

by Willa E.-B. ’28

New sixth-grade math teacher Mr. Teo Cutter is no stranger to the trending Taylor Swift albums, as he has his students collect data daily on everything on their minds–including Taylor Swift albums. By showing the fun and tactical sides of math, he teaches students to “find that joy in the silliness and the nerdiness of mathematics and numbers.”

Mr. Cutter’s belief in the power of data comes from his experience as a passionate economist. In his classroom, he teaches his students how to communicate in the “language of mathematics.” Just a few weeks into the school year, Mr. Cutter has already delved into the competitive and strategic world of the New York Stock Exchange with his students. Mr. Cutter has his students engage in real-world applications of math to teach them how to handle chance and money.

Mr. Cutter earned his B.A. in economics from Occidental College. While at Occidental College, Mr. Cutter was part of the cross-country and track and field teams. When he eventually became a cross-country coach, he said, “I loved that so much that I decided I wanted to work with students full time.” Following, Mr. Cutter earned his M.A. in Secondary Education and Teaching at Claremont Graduate University.

So far, Mr. Cutter says his experience at Westridge is everything he had hoped. He’s very impressed by the Westridge sixth graders’ ability to “bounce back,” let go of mistakes, and move on to the next task. Their resilience has inspired Mr. Cutter. “I’ve been doing a better job of taking a step back and trying to just reset,” he said.

Outside of school, Mr. Cutter enjoys his time as a father of his two children, a cat, and his three chickens named Lana, Yetta, and Ruby. He has also recently discovered the joy of woodworking and carving. “I found myself gravitating towards something I could do with my hands,” said Mr. Cutter.

Mr. Cutter plans to continue embracing Westridge and the athletic program. He said, “I’m going to be out at track meets, I’m going to be watching, I’m going to be cheering.” Mr. Cutter has felt the warmth of Westridge ever since his job interview (which happened to fall on his birthday). Mr. Cutter said, “[Westridge is] the best way I possibly could have spent my birthday, getting to know the wonderful people here on campus.”