On Tuesday, September 6, Dwight-Englewood eagerly welcomes back to the School all new and returning children and their families, for what promises to be an enriching 2011-'12 academic year. 

D-E is also proud to welcome the following new faculty members, who are joining our Lower, Middle and Upper School Divisions. 

James Aitkens: 8th Grade Dean - Middle School (MS); MS Faculty member, History and Discovery courses
James Aitkens most recently served as Assistant Dean of Students and Co-Curricular Coordinator at the Trinity-Pawling School (Pawling, NY).  He holds his Ed. S. (Specialist Degree) in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Northern Colorado (Greeley, CO)   He will also be serving as a Coach for the MS Soccer and Freshman Basketball Teams.

William Biondolino: Upper School (US) Latin
William ("Bill") Biondolino holds his M.Ed. from Harvard Graduate School of Education.  He most recently worked with the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and Cambridge Harvard Summer Academy, and he has also taught Latin and History at the Bishop Kearney High School (Brooklyn, NY). 

Daniel Carragher, Ph.D.: US Psychology
Daniel ("Danny") Carragher most recently was an Adjunct Faculty member with the New York University (NYU) School of Education/Department of Applied Psychology.  He has also worked as a Project Director for the NYU Center for Health, Identity, Behavior and Prevention Studies (CHIBPS), and he holds his Ph.D. in School/Clinical Psychology from Hofstra University.

Karina Hernandez: MS Spanish
Karina Hernandez holds a MA in Spanish (Linguistics) from the University of Houston.  Most recently she served on the faculty of The Country Day School (CDS) in Escazu, Costa Rica, teaching Spanish, Costa Rican Social Studies, and SSL.  Previously she also served as a Spanish Teacher with the Episcopal High School (EHS) in Houston.

Heather Kelly: US Latin
Heather Kelly was most recently with the faculty of The Brearley School (New York, NY) as a Classics Instructor.  Her prior experience also includes teaching at Drew University (Madison, NJ); The City University of New York, City College; and the Trinity School (New York, NY) .  She holds her MA in Classics from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, New York University. 

Zachary Linnert: Lower School (LS) Grade 1
Zachary Linnert most recently was on the faculty of PS 89, The Liberty School (New York, NY) as a Kindergarten/1st Grade teacher.  He also worked as 5th/6th Grade and Kindergarten Teacher for PS 347 The ASI / English Lower School (New York, NY).  He holds his Ed. M./MA from Teacher's College, Columbia University, in Deaf Education.

Alaina Lynn:  US History
Alaina Lynn holds her MA in World History from New York University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.  Her experience includes most recently teaching and serving as a Residential Assistant at Phillips Academy (Andover, MA), where she assisted faculty members in modern history and law-related secondary school courses, and did tutoring.  She also holds a BA in History from Cornell University, College of Arts and Sciences (Ithaca, NY).

Ryan Martin, Ph.D.:  US History
Ryan Martin most recently served as a Graduate Assistant at Columbia University.  He holds a Ph.D. in History, East Asian Languages and Culture and a MA in Regional Studies East Asia from Harvard University.  His experience also includes serving as a Graduate Instructor in Social Sciences/East Asia Thesis Seminar at Columbia.

Barry Ostrer: LS Grade 5 Math
Barry Ostrer holds his MA in Teaching, Childhood Education from Manhattanville College (Purchase, NY).  He most recently served on the faculty of the George Washington Elementary School in White Plains, NY, as a 3rd Grade Teacher.  He also has had extensive experience working for IBM Corporation (Armonk, NY), most recently as a Manager of Communications / Public Relations Specialist and also as a Lead Sales Specialist, Relationship Manager, and Systems Engineer.

Jeanny Profeta: MS Math
Jeanny Profeta holds a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from Concordia University and a BS in both Elementary Education and Mathematics from Seton Hall University.  Most recently she served as a 6th and 7th Grade Pre-Algebra Teacher for the Thurston Middle School in Laguna Beach (CA).

Sankar Sengupta, Ph.D.:  US Math / Physics
Sankar Sengupta most recently was on the faculty of Riverdale Country High School (Bronx, NY) as a Senior Teacher of Science and Mathematics.  His prior experience also includes serving on the faculty of Hunter College of the City University of New York (NY), and as a Research Associate with the University of Geneva (Geneva, Switzerland).  He holds his Ph.D. in Solid State Physics from Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, University of Calcutta, India.

Ronda Sowa: LS Grade 4
Ronda Sowa holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IN).  Her experience includes most recently serving as Director of Education at Go St. Luke's School Summer Program (New York, NY) and a 3rd Grade Associate Teacher at St. Luke's School.   She will also receive her Masters of Science in Literacy Education from Hunter College in December 2011.

Danial Sussman: MS History - English
Danial Sussman holds his Ed.M. in Learning and Teaching from Harvard University.  Most recently he was a Founding Teacher for the New Vision Academy Charter School in New York, NY and his prior experience also includes working as an Intern Teacher for the Learning Project Elementary School (Boston, MA).   In addition to his teaching duties, he will be a Coach for both the Middle School Cross Country and Upper School Winter Track Teams.

Maggie Watkins: US Math
Maggie Watkins most recently worked as Substitute for both High School and Middle School level classes at Mahwah High School,and also as a Bergen County Special Services Home Instructor for Middle and Upper School subjects.  She holds her Master's of Arts in Teaching Mathematics from New York University.

Nikki Willis: 11th Grade Dean - US Faculty, English
Nikki Willis most recently was Dean of the Senior Class at the Taft School (Watertown, CT), at which she also taught English. Her experience also includes serving as Academic Counselor for the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics at the University of Texas - Austin. She holds her Ph.D. in Radio-Television-Film from the University of Texas - Austin, and a MA in both Cinema Studies (New York University, NY), and Education (Tufts University, Medford, NY).