Welcome to D-E! New Faculty & Staff On Board

9/1/2013

Dwight-Englewood proudly introduces the following individuals, now on-board as new members of our faculty and staff! Welcome, and thank you for joining our School's community!

As mom to David ‘16 and Ben ’22, Dr. Maryann Aaron is already quite familiar with D-E as she joins the Lower School as their Learning Specialist. A graduate of Binghamton University (BA), Hunter College (MS) and Fordham University (PhD), Dr. Aaron brings with her more than 20 years’ experience, most recently working as Special Education Teacher and Learning Consultant for the South Orangetown Central School District in Blauvelt, NY.

New Lower School Spanish teacher Ericka Collado has taught Spanish for 13 years at various schools, as an adjunct instructor at Manhattan’s Baruch College and New Jersey City University, to middle and high school levels in West Orange. The former Bayonne resident and recent Englewood transplant has not only attended a variety of foreign language conferences and symposiums, but also given many presentations on Spanish in the classroom.

After obtaining a BA in English at Colgate and completing a post-baccalaureate science program at Queens College, Jonathan Egan spent seven years as a science teacher for grades 4-6 and 8 at St. Bernard's School in Manhattan before joining D-E. A member of the Rockland Ultimate Frisbee Scrimmage Team, Westchester Ultimate Disc and New York Road Runners Club, Mr. Egan has also led a few students trips to Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands.

Middle School Learning Specialist Jill Fetzer has worked a combined 26 years in education at schools in several states: 18 years as a teacher and eight as an administrator, most recently as the Winchester Thurston School’s Director of Lower School and North Hills Campus Director in Allison Park, PA. Ms. Fetzer was seeking a position in the New York City-area to join her husband, who was relocated here last fall – as she says, “I see this opportunity as a sign for me to return to what I love most in the world – teaching!”

Kristin Geller will join the Lower School as an assistant teacher for our second grade. Last year she did a great deal of substitute work in our Lower School. She has an M.S. in Early childhood Education and a B.S. in Elementary Education. She has taught education courses at the undergraduate level, and since 1990 has taught in kindergarten, and first grade in public school and fourth and fifth grade in an independent school.

Middle School Psychologist maternity leave replacement Dr. Heather Ginter was formerly the Consultant School Psychologist at the Solomon Schechter Day School of Westchester, but has been an Examiner and Supervisor at the Manhattan-based Educational Records Bureau since 2004 and has had her own private practice/consultation since Fall 2012. A graduate of Cornell University (BS) and Yeshiva University’s Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology (PsyD, MS), the Livingston resident is a member of the American Psychological Association, and has also been an active member of the Cornell Club of Northern New Jersey and the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network.

D-E alumna Maya Gunaseharan ’08 is the Upper School’s new Dean of Student Life. A 2012 graduate of Cornell, she previously worked at the Nielsen Company and interned at IBM and Pepsico. She was an active member of a variety of clubs during her college years, and continues to be involved in a variety of pursuits, including the Soka Gakkai International Buddhist Association for Peace, Culture & Education; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority; Minority Industrial Labor Relations Student Organization; a capella group The Class Notes; American University NAACP Chapter; and Alpha Kappa Psi Business & Professional Fraternity. She was also a representative and faculty for the Student Diversity Leadership/People of Color Conference hosted by the National Association of Independent Schools.

After serving a variety of roles during his 10-year tenure at the Polytechnic School in Pasadena, CA, Brendan McGrail joins the Upper School as the Dean for the Class of 2016. A 1989 graduate of Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, Mr. McGrail obtained his BA at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, before receiving his Master of Education at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education in 2003.

While finishing up his Masters in Social Studies at Columbia's Teacher's College, Alexander Russell-Walker student-taught at the Bronx High School of Science, then spent a year at Brooklyn's Yeshiva Torah Temimah before joining D-E this school year. The Boston University grad, who also taught in Vietnam for a year, just spent the last four months a Teaching Corps Intern at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Middle School Maternity Leave Replacement Bill Stegmayer has a combined 44 years of education experience, from teaching to administrative roles as principal, dean of students, and most recently the Director of Institutional Research, Planning and Assessment at Dominican College for six years. The Demarest resident spent 36 of those years working in the Tenafly School District, served as an adjunct professor at William Paterson and Rutgers, and has also coached soccer, basketball and softball.

Frish from obtaining her BA in Psychology from St. Mary's College of Maryland, Tianran Zhang is now D-E's Chinese instructor, teaching a course being newly offered to the Upper School. Aside from serving as a teaching assistant at St. Mary's Chinese department, she has tutored in Beijing as well as interned for the National Tourism Administration of the People's Republic of China and at the Guoxin Tendering Group.

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Welcome to D-E! New Faculty & Staff On Board