Faculty and staff updates

Welcome new faculty!

Beth Foreman she/her/hers Middle School Learning Support Mrs. Foreman joins Gordon this year, bringing thirty years of experience supporting diverse learners in inclusive environments. Her most recent experience was at Nathanael Greene Middle School, Providence, where she taught math and English to neurodivergent learners. Prior to that, she worked in schools in Massachusetts, in positions that combined classroom teaching, student support and administration. She has a Master of Education in Inclusive Special Education, Moderate Disabilities (PreK–8) from Lesley University, Cambridge, MA and a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Boston University, Boston, MA. In addition, she holds certifications in English Language Learning and Structured Literacy and Dyslexia Intervention. Beth is looking forward to sharing her love of nature, her creativity using recycled materials, and her passion for reading.

Camille Harrison she/her/hers Director of the Joukowsky Family Library Ms. Harrison comes to Gordon from Dedham Country Day School, a pre-kindergarten to eighth grade school where she has served as Director of Library and Academic Technology and Research for the past six years. Before her time at Dedham, Camille worked on the library and technology teams at the Berkeley Carroll School and the Churchill School and Center, and she served at a series of nonprofits that served young people. She holds a BA in Graphic Arts and Sociology from Syracuse University and a Masters of Science, Library and Information Science with Library Media Specialist Certification from Pratt Institute.

Elyssa Hurley she/her/hers  Middle School music Miss Hurley is a passionate educator and musician with a decade of experience building curricula as choir director and music teacher, primarily at Ponaganset Middle School. Her work involved classroom teaching and administrative leadership as well as program design that included the creation of Ponaganset Middle School's first musical theater program. She is also the co-founder and co-director of the Voices United Mixed Chorus in Walpole, Massachusetts, a barbershop a cappella chorus that includes Gordon's own Bridget Baird. Additionally, Elyssa sings in the barbershop quartet Past Curfew, and works with the Rhode Island Music Educators Association as a manager for the middle school choral All-State groups. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education from Muskingum University in New Concord, Ohio.

Holly Parsons she/her/hers Middle School Spanish Ms. Parsons will be spending the year at Gordon in an interim capacity while Rebecca Garfield is on leave. She is a gifted educator with decades of experience teaching English as a second language and Spanish in schools in Massachusetts, New York and California. Most recently, she spent ten years in Foxborough Public Schools, providing Spanish instruction in first to sixth grade, mentoring beginning teachers and overhauling the district curriculum. She has a Bachelor of Arts from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and a Master of Arts in Teaching at Salem State University in Salem, Massachusetts.

Lindsay Robinson Third grade she/her/hers  Mrs. Robinson has been a third grade teacher for twelve years at Highlander Charter Elementary School in Providence where her thoughtful, child-centered work earned her the District Teacher of the Year in 2017. Prior to this she spent four years educating children and adults through non-profits and community organizations in St. Louis, Missouri. For the past five years, she has also served as a master gardener volunteer educator through the University of Rhode Island Cooperative Extension, mentoring community gardeners and supporting local food donation networks. She has a M.A.T. in Elementary Education from Brown University, a B.A. in Sociology from Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa, and additional post-baccalaureate coursework in education from the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

Familiar faces in new places

Gordon’s eighth grade humanities curriculum will be restructured into two distinct classes. Middle School director Matthew Boyd and Assistant Head for Teaching and Learning Alethea Dunham-Carson will teach the history class, and Head of School Meredith deChabert will teach English.

As Dr. deChabert explained in an email in May, “in eighth grade history, students will engage more fully in the practices of historians, analyzing primary sources, understanding context, weighing perspectives, and constructing evidence-based interpretations of the past. In English, students will have more time to immerse themselves in literature, to analyze an author’s craft, and to grow as writers, developing voice, structure, and argument with intention and care.”

Greg Carson has a new title, Annual Giving and Alumni Engagement Manager, which better reflects his shifting responsibilities, and so has Chip Riegel, who has become Marketing and Communications Assistant. Greg will also be returning to the classroom to teach one section of fifth grade math.

Maggie Friedfeld will step outside of her third grade classroom to become the math specialist for all of Lower School. The move will allow math specialist Eric Kravitz to focus his full energy on Middle School and pick up two sections of fifth grade math.

Having recently finished her Master of Library and Information Studies degree, Mateal Lovaas Ishihara will become the part-time children’s librarian at Dedham Country Day School, a job that allows her to continue at Gordon part-time, serving as an in-house substitute teacher in the Middle School and assisting with eighth grade English alongside Meredith deChabert. 

After a year helping lead the Young Kindergarten classroom, Jess Kelly will be back part-time supporting Ann McAree and Ngina Johnson in the Nursery classroom.

As Alison Lewkowitz returns to sixth grade after a year's leave, Susan Trecansky will move to the fifth grade team, teaching one section of humanities and handling academic support.

Kaitlyn Beaver will expand her portfolio to include fifth grade music.

After a year serving in Middle School in an interim capacity, Lauren St. Martin is now permanent staff, teaching Middle School health and seventh grade math.

Happy news in Lower School

Second grade's Jess Macdonald got married over the summer and is now going by Mrs. Jess Waldron.

You may have missed…

Over the course of last year, there were a number of staffing changes:

Mireya Méndez expanded her role at Gordon to become Early Childhood and Lower School Spanish instructor. 

After school staff member Season James expanded her role to become part-time Early Childhood support staff.

And Emma Freel joined the arts team immediately before the school year began to serve alongside Don Mays on the after school theater team and to create and execute a first-ever springtime theater workshop for third grade.