Meet the Health Services Team
Dr. Susan Zapalac, Medical Director
Dr. Zapalac is the Medical Director at Cate and co-chair of the Student Services Committee. She is a board certified Emergency Medicine physician and has worked in the field for over 20 years. She and her husband moved to Santa Barbara 20 years ago after finishing residency at LA County+USC. Dr. Zapalac is a mother of three children, and two dogs Scarlet and Arjen. In her free time she loves the outdoors–backpacking, hiking, skiing and walking on the beach. Dr. Zapalac appreciates how fragile life is and believes it’s important to work hard and play even harder.
Cara Terlep BSN RN, Associate Director of Health Services
Cara, or “Nurse Cara,” has been a nurse since 2010, and worked with babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and University of California San Diego before she came to Cate School. She thinks being a nurse is the best profession she could have ever chosen for herself. Cara loves to travel, backpack, camp, hike, bike, listen to music, garden, cook, and spend time with those in her community. She has lived in Carpinteria since 2018 with my stepdaughter Serena, and her partner Dylan. She also has two cats named Darwin and Stinks, and a dog named Captain. One of her goals in life is to see all of the US National Parks before she’s 50 years old. Cara feels that working with teenagers is incredibly rewarding, and loves working with the adolescent population.
Nikki Yamaoka BSN, RN Assistant Director of Health Services
Nikki, or more commonly known as “Nurse Nikki” began her career in health care by volunteering as a candy striper when she was only 15 years old. Since that time, she has over 30 years of experience in various areas of patient care (diet aide, nursing assistant, medical technician, Pediatric Med/Surg RN, Pediatric Oncology, School Nurse, and Assistant Director of Nursing at Cate School (best job ever)! She and her husband Brian have two children, Griffin and Ian. They enjoy weekend getaways to Big Bear and Disney Cruises. Nikki is an active member of several volunteer organizations for Carpinteria schools. Inclusion and equal opportunity for learning is something Nikki is very passionate about.
Sunny Rich, Registered Nurse
Sunny, or better known as “Nurse Sunny” to the Cate students, always truly wants to know “How are you? Are you eating, sleeping well? Are you making time to have some fun?” Sunny loves to go dancing, and see live performances especially for music and stand-up comedy. In her spare time she enjoys cooking, reading, trying new restaurants, being outdoors and traveling. Sunny was a stay-at-home mom for 18 years before graduating from nursing school in 2012. After she graduated, she went directly into school nursing so she could have the same schedule as her girls. She is a mom to 4 lovely daughters who actually like her (she thinks!) so a lot of fun times are spent with them.
Summer Clark, Registered Nurse
Meet Nurse Summer! She loves being a nurse and enjoys surrounding herself with students who are learning and pursuing their dreams. She enjoys spontaneous adventures. Some of her endeavors include skydiving, hiking in Yosemite, climbing Half Dome, snow skiing, and white water river rafting down the Arkansas river in Colorado. For fun, she likes exploring different cultures and has traveled to Canada, Italy, France, Greece, and Spain. In her spare time I also enjoy rollerblading, kayaking, barre, yoga, Zumba, tennis, and going on beach walks with her friends. She loves spending quality time with her nieces and nephews. Summer speaks Spanish, and is a self-proclaimed foodie! She would love to hear about your favorite place you have explored and/or a favorite entrée you would recommend anytime you come by the Health Center.
Margaret Coyne, Medical Assistant
Margaret was born and raised in Santa Barbara. She has been working as a Medical Assistant since 2015, and she I loves it. Before working at Cate School, she assisted with plastic surgery at a local dermatology office. Margaret has two boys, Eli and Orion. Their family has lots of pets: one dog, two guinea pigs, birds, fish and frogs. Margaret loves to be out in nature, in the mountains or at the beach- it’s where she feel most content!
Brooke Craig, Registered Nurse
Brooke became a nurse during the 2020 COVID pandemic. Starting her career in a LTAC (long term acute care) facility, she quickly learned she had a passion for emergency nursing and made the career change to a trauma nurse in the Denver Metro area! After moving back home to (Oakview) in 2022, she continued her ER career at CMH Ventura! Brooke, her husband Chris, and three kids (Colt, Piper, and Renley) enjoy sports, camping, and traveling on the weekends! In addition to taking care of her kiddos, she also takes care of her 5 chickens, dogs, and cat! Brooke has a passion for caring for all age populations, Veteran care, and Mental health! She looks forward to her new career with Cate and caring for the adolescent population!