D-E Welcomes New 2015 Faculty & Staff

8/28/2015

Another new school year means a new crop of faculty and staff at Dwight-Englewood - and this year's group of 21 is actually the largest ever!

In the Lower School, we welcome four new faculty members:

After eight years as a second grade teacher at the Cathedral School in Manhattan followed by a three-year middle school writing teacher stint at the Wilson School in Mountain Lakes, Doran Muus has been a substitute teacher at D-E for the last three years and is finally joining the permanent staff as the new assistant first grade teacher - replacing Rachel DiGiovanni, who will now serve as the Lower School Math Specialist.
Replacing Mary Jean Alleva as the Learning Specialist is Sophia Dorner, who comes to D-E after serving as a K-Grade 6 reading specialist in the Garfield Public School District for the last 14 years.
Music teacher Lisa Dove joins the Lower School after teaching at various elementary schools and early childhood music programs in New York City, including the Lucy Moses School, St. Ann’s School in Brooklyn and, most recently, the Brooklyn College Preparatory Center for the Arts.
Madeleine Jansen is the Lower School’s new Strings Ensemble Director, having taught at the Interlochen Arts Camp and the Luzerne Music Center.

The Middle School has a host of new teachers - including maternity leave replacements for three teachers:

Since Dan Sussman is joining the Upper School English department, Gautham Akula will be teaching seventh grade English and History, having spent two decades teaching middle school through college in New York City, New Orleans, Lebanon, India and, most recently, the Chadwick International School of South Korea.
After serving a variety of history teaching roles in the Las Vegas, NV., region, New Jersey native Bryan Kessler will fill in for Anne Goodman ‘02 during her one-year maternity leave.
Eighth grade science teacher Morgan Withrow’s half-year maternity leave replacement is Katherine Leitch, who just received her Ph.D. in June from the Rockefeller University’s Laboratory for Sensory Neuroscience after obtaining her M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge in 2012 and her B.S. from Michigan State University in 2008.
Swarthmore College 2012 graduate who just obtained her MA in Literature this June from California’s Mills College, Stephanie Stott is sixth grade English teacher Lisa Quirk’s half-year maternity leave replacement.
Matthew Schade joins the History department as seventh grade history teacher Betsey Carson is on leave. A 2013 graduate of Temple University with a B.Ed. in Secondary Education and History, Mr. Schade has taught Social Studies at his alma mater, Garnet Valley High School in Pennsylvania, and most recently for the Wallingford-Swarthmore School District.
And finally, the new Middle and Upper School Learning Specialist is Nicholas Arenholz, who most recently served as a special education/resource room teacher for five years at Ramsey’s Don Bosco Prep.

Which leads us to the Upper School’s new faculty:

Formerly the Dean of Student Life for 11 years at the Hudson School in Hoboken, Lisa Wittner replaces William Stegmeyer as the Class of 2019’s dean.
A 2009 graduate of Vassar College, Latin teacher Janice So obtained her MA in Classics at the University of Washington in 2012 and joins D-E after spending a year teaching Latin at Philadelphia’s Springside Chestnut Hill Academy.
Replacing science teacher Vicki Solis is Neil Shaw, who has taught at various schools around the world (Hong Kong, Turkey, Thailand and Argentina) since 1992, but spent the last eight years at St. Timothy’s School in Maryland as the Science Chair, Chemistry and Biology teacher for grades 7 to 12.
University of Rochester graduate Ben Ambler is the newest member of the Upper School history department, having taught for three years at Western Michigan University (where he earned his MA in Medieval Studies) followed by three years at Arizona State University (where he is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in English Literature).
Armed with a BA from the College of the Holy Cross and an MA in English Literary Studies from Hatfield College, Durham University in England, Kate Guandalini will be teaching English while beloved English teacher Jerry Krauthamer is on leave.

Even our staff has had some changes:

Our former controller Sally Martino moves into the role of Director of Finance, while former accounts payable coordinator Narciza Loja now serves as the controller. Silvana Guaycha joins D-E as the accounts payable coordinator.
The new Facilities Office administrative assistant is Carmen Diana Torres, daughter of D-E assistant varsity baseball coach Ivan Torres, who obtained both her BA and M.S.eD. at St. John’s University and spent three years working there as well.
The Development Office welcomes Assistant Director of Annual Giving and alumna Caroline Chappell Hazarian ‘05, who graduated from Sweet Briar College in 2009 prior to spending the past five years at the Manhattan-based sustainability consultancy Great Forest.
While longtime custodial worker Herbie McCoy retired this past spring, the Maintenance office has gained two new members: Jose Echeverry and Cristian Echeverry.
New Director of Summer School and Enrichment Programs, Michele Wright, began her role in early August during the final days of outgoing director and Upper School math teacher Shakeh Tashjian. Michele - who, as the mom of Gregory Llewellyn '19, was already familiar with D-E - has served as a music teacher, artistic coordinator, program manager and most recently Director of Music Programs and New Initiatives at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center’s Arts Education Department.
Working with Michele as the new Operations Manager for D-E 360 Programs is InJin Jun, who has served as the Summer Connections Office and D-E Substitute Schedule Coordinator for the past two years.

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D-E Welcomes New 2015 Faculty & Staff