Clay Daniel is a graduate of Harvard University and Dallas Theological Seminary. After five years as a campus minister working with Yale students, he returned to education in 2008. He founded Clayborne in 2009 because he saw the promise of a powerful recipe: one part one-to-one test preparation; one part flexible program; one part responsive team of highly trained tutors. Also, he just really loves these tests; it’s like Christmas every time a new one is released. He also loves coaching students as they realize their dreams. In his free time, Clay enjoys spending time with his wife and two kids, playing and watching sports, and playing Scrabble, for which he has a national ranking (translation: he has spent way too much time playing Scrabble).

Clay’s test preparation credentials include:

• 10+ years preparing students for the SSAT, SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, and LSAT
• Perfect GRE score (old GRE twice; new GRE once)
• Perfect GMAT score
• 178 LSAT score (99th percentile)
• SAT 2360 (800 CR, 800 M, 760 W)
• ACT 36 (36E, 36M, 36R, 36S)

Clay, as one long interested in classical education, was thrilled to discover the Classic Learning Test (CLT) and became for a time one of its question editors. The CLT unites his interest in the great books with his curiosity about the puzzle of a standardized test. Clay is delighted to serve as our CLT director and lead tutor.

Lee Elberson was born and raised in southern Louisiana. He joined the Marines at age 17 in an effort to find some discipline. Well, he found it. He studied physics at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and was inducted into the honors society Sigma Pi Sigma. He did graduate work in atomic physics at the University of Maryland, attempting to shape molecules using custom lasers. He did research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, working on relativistic electron transport in a laser-induced plasma (using big lasers to make small stars).

Needless to say, Lee has a love for all things quantifiable. He is an energetic person with a passion for education, and he enjoys coaching young adults as they achieve their goals. He has received a perfect math and science score on the ACT and SAT. When not working, you will find him volunteering with Community Investment Collaborative, a local non-profit where he helps entrepreneurs develop the tools to found and maintain successful businesses. Around town, you might see Lee at networking events or pitching a new business idea. For fun, he enjoys playing squash, pranking the company's website, playing strategy games, building lego sets, or off-roading in his Jeep.

You can listen to Lee's Future of Education podcast here.

Scott Webster is a native son of Charlottesville, who completed his undergraduate studies at UVA, earning a bachelors degree  in history.  Growing up in local public schools, he flourished with opportunities afforded him by “gifted” programs and superior teachers. His work with under-resourced youth in Charlottesville Abundant Life Ministries (CALM) alerted him to the disparity between his and his students’ educational experience. He studied race dynamics and specialized in African history with a focus on race relations and youth culture in apartheid-era South Africa and in Harlem, New York. Building on his studies, he continued to work with youth even as he pursued a career as a software quality analyst. Finding IT less than challenging, he took a leap of faith, pursued his true passion for teaching, and joined the Clayborne team in 2012.

Bringing his experience in product quality assurance and test prep to bear, he now oversees operations for Clayborne, leads the college entrance exam program, and tutors students preparing for the SSAT, SAT, ACT, GRE, and GMAT tests. In his free time, Scott enjoys reading classics and biographies, fumbling around the squash court, planning out his garden, and going on grand adventures with his wife and adorable little girls.

James Supplee was born and raised in a small town called Parkesburg, Pennsylvania (roughly one hour’s drive west of Philadelphia), where he began tutoring and teaching in high school. He then attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with a degree in Economics while experiencing the joy of teaching and mentoring many students, ranging from middle schoolers in West Philadelphia to college-aged peers at Penn. He also trained to teach English as a Second Language in Hong Kong prior to his work with teenagers in Hanoi, Vietnam. In his free time, James enjoys sports (playing and watching), the outdoors, all kinds of music, and the wonderful food scene here in Charlottesville.

Subjects: ACT Math/Science, SAT Math, GMAT Math, GRE Math, and subject area mathematics.

Josh Nierle was born and raised in Newport News, Virginia. He graduated from William and Mary with a BA in Government and then earned his MA from Regent University in the same subject, concentrating in International Relations and Political Theory. One of his passions in this life lies in learning and teaching others to learn each in their own unique way.  He has recently moved to Charlottesville, and enjoys reading, debating, hiking, and soccer.

Subjects: LSAT/GRE/GMAT Verbal, ACT/SAT Verbal, Humanities & Social Science

Born and raised in Washington D.C., Alex attended Wheaton College where he studied Bible and Theology. He also holds an M.Div from the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in historical theology from Marquette University where he also served as an adjunct history professor. Alex has been college guidance adviser and upper school headmaster at the Eastbrook Academy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and later, upper school headmaster at the Fuqua School in Farmville, Virginia. Alex has been part of the Clayborne team since July 2019.

During his time in education, Alex has taught many courses at both the secondary and university levels in history, Latin, theology, geography, debate, and capstone seminars.  In addition, Alex has played (high school and college) and coached (youth and high school) both lacrosse and volleyball.

Alex recently completely remodeled a home and spent every weekend day at either Lowe’s or Home Depot. Now that he’s finished, he spends as much time as possible playing Jedi Fallen Order.

Anna Goldsmith was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, but moved to Charlottesville in middle school and considers herself a Charlottesville native. She earned a degree in English with Teacher Licensure from Liberty University and holds a Virginia teaching license for 6-12th grade English. After graduating, Anna spent almost two years working at Clayborne before transitioning to full-time teaching. She has extensive experience working with students with ADD/ADHD and learning differences and recently spent two years volunteering in South Africa where she trained teachers in rural communities. Anna moved to Chicago in 2020 and is excited to establish a new branch of Clayborne in the Chicagoland area. Anna loves connecting with students and helping them find ways to make learning click with their personalities and learning styles. In her free time, Anna enjoys watching sports, playing board games, and trying new restaurants.

Subjects: ACT Verbal, SAT Verbal, Reading, Writing, Math through Algebra I, Organizational Coaching

Rebecca Hill is a versatile teacher with specialties in writing, literature, and higher education preparation. She has fourteen years of experience teaching one-on-one and in high school and college classroom settings, including at UCLA, California State University, New York University-Abu Dhabi, and Southern Connecticut State University, and has developed humanities and organizational coaching curriculum for schools and non-profit organizations. She has teaching certifications in secondary education, college composition, and completed masters and doctoral degrees in English literature.

Leslie Chisholm joined Clayborne Education in 2015 as account manager and bookkeeper.

She grew up on Lake Erie, earned a BA in Philosphy/Sociology from Rollins College, and moved to Charlottesville for graduate school. This is where she raised her two sons.

When she's not working for Clayborne, she taps her 25+ years of experience as the human resources generalist and administrative assistant at Charlottesville Albemarle Technical Education Center. CATEC is dedicated to preparing its high school students for employment  in a career that they’re passionate about while instilling a commitment to lifelong learning.

She spends her free time with her mustang rescue and her golden retriever, always searching for rocks (or shells if she’s on the beach), and is writing a book.

Vivian hails from Orange, Virginia, and earned a bachelors degree in psychology from the University of Virginia. She joined Clayborne as a math tutor in 2017. She is delighted to share with students her love of all things quantitative, and to encourage them in their mastery of math concepts and disciplines. In 2019, Vivian brought her love of puzzles and analysis to bear on Clayborne logistics. In addition to tutoring, you will now find her supporting clients and tutors, wrangling schedules, and validating data. Outside of the office, Vivian enjoys solving puzzles and playing intricate board games, kayaking Virginia’s rivers, playing instruments, and cuddling her silly pug, Chubbs.

Barry Keith teaches at Monticello High School and holds a B.A. in French from the College of William and Mary as well as a M.Ed. from Virginia Tech. He has taught French I, II, III, IV, and AP French V, and Spanish I, II, and III. Barry has served with the College Board as a reader for the AP French exams yearly since 2005. He is married with three children and enjoys tournament Scrabble(R), solving chess problems, collecting stamps, poker, and reading.

Subjects: French, Spanish, Math, and SAT Math

Before joining Clayborne, Sales Manager Richard Needham was a manager at several e-commerce companies. He holds an M.F.A. in Film Production with an award for academic excellence from the University of Miami School of Communication in Coral Gables Florida. Richard has wrangled chickens in Central Park for a Busta Rhymes video, produced The Ticket, a documentary about lottery winners (currently on Hulu), traveled to Mongolia to film reindeer herders and has worked as cinematographer on numerous films for artist Dara Friedman. Richard loves travel, surf and snow sports and going on random adventures with his daughter, Rachel.