Leadership, Administration & Staff - BASIS Independent McLean

Service-oriented and eager to help, our leadership, administration, and staff are champions of the school community. While their key focus is supporting the teachers in the classroom, they work hard to ensure every student and family has a positive experience. Whether they are the front-and-center, visible faces of our school or the unsung, behind-the-scenes heroes, leadership, administration, and staff are invaluable in upholding our culture and values.

Looking to get to know our unmatched, expert teaching faculty? Explore our teaching philosophy and meet the educators that bring it to life every day.

Our upper management works to foster an unparalleled learning environment, keep the campus running smoothly, set the tone of our culture, and ensure that students and teachers alike receive the support and encouragement they need to excel.

Ms. Aust

Head of Operations

Ms. Aust

Head of Operations

Ms. Aust has been involved in education for more than 10 years in a variety of roles including summer camp director, after-school enrichment chair, kindergarten teacher, teaching assistant, and PTA president. Her experience has given her knowledge in organizing children’s programs, leading teachers and employees, and teaching in the classroom with students.

Immediately prior to joining the BASIS Independent McLean community, Ms. Aust was the summer camp director at Pinecrest School, where she developed a summer camp schedule for PreK-grade 6 students, implemented a new online registration system, hired camp teachers, and responded to parent and staff inquires, among other things. In her role as a kindergarten teacher and teaching assistant, she was in the classroom full time, creating lesson plans, providing students with individualized guidance, and collaborating with other teachers. Before finding her passion in education, Ms. Aust spent a decade in the human resources field.

Ms. Aust is originally from Hawaii and has lived in various parts of the United States as well as Japan, England, and Germany. She holds a Master of Education Leadership with a concentration in Independent School Leadership from George Mason University and a Bachelor of General Studies in Human Services from the University of Connecticut,

“I love that BASIS Independent McLean allows students to take responsibility for their education and offers them an environment where learning is exciting and expectations are high. Kids are so capable, and when they believe that, they can achieve amazing things,” she said. Ms. Aust has three children and likes to quilt in her spare time.

Mr. Shorbe

Head of School

Mr. Shorbe

Head of School

Mr. Shorbe has been a fixture of school and network management at BASIS Curriculum Schools for nearly a decade. Highlights of his career are numerous, and include being the Head of School of the first BASIS primary school in Arizona; expanding our network in Texas, California, and Washington, D.C.; serving school leaders as an Associate Vice President. In 2015, Mr. Shorbe was selected to be the founding Head of School of BASIS International School Shenzhen.

Most recently, Mr. Shorbe has led BASIS International School Guangzhou as the Head of School from its founding days to a full program with approximately 1,000 students in PreK through grade 12. Guiding teachers from all over the world to adopt the best practices of our network, whether their students are 3 or 18, and building a unified student body of expats and English learners alike, takes resolve, expert management, and—as you will soon find—an unyielding sense of humor. Mr. Shorbe possesses all these qualities in abundance.

Prior to joining the network, Mr. Shorbe taught primary school and middle school social studies while earning two consecutive master’s degrees from Northern Arizona University, one in Elementary Education, and the other in Educational Leadership.

After high school, Mr. Shorbe spent a few years in the US Army. Upon his return from military life, he had a short career in construction management before deciding to pursue a degree in history, which he received from The University of Arizona.