Meet the New Faculty!

—REBECCA WU ‘21

Nine new faculty members arrived on the St. Mark's teaching scene this fall. Three of the new faculty members arrived in the STEM departments, two in Modern Languages, two in History and English departments, one in Admission, and one in College Counseling. 

Admission - Anthony Figueiredo

Anthony Figueiredo is thrilled to become a member of the St. Mark’s community as an Assistant Director of Admission and our Head Football Coach. He previously served as Global Leadership/GCI Teacher, Student Life Coordinator, and Head Football Coach at Cardigan Mountain School in NH, where he worked closely with the Admissions team. Anthony holds a Master’s in Organizational Leadership and also has experience coaching football at the collegiate level. He lives on campus with his wife Kara and their daughters Ruby and Isabelle.

College Counseling - Nora Guyer

Nora Guyer joins the St. Mark’s community as the Associate Director of College Counseling. She has previously served as a Senior Program Manager at Mass Insight and as the Director of College Counseling at Harlem Village Academy. Nora holds an AB in English from Harvard and Master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in Statistics, Measurement, & Research Technologies and School and Mental Health Counseling. Nora is excited to live on campus in the Thayer dormitory with her cat, Peanut.

English - Lauren Kelly

Lauren Kelly comes to the St. Mark’s English Department after spending the last ten years working as an English teacher in boarding schools, including Kimball Union Academy, Lake Forest Academy, and Williston Northampton School. She earned her post-graduate degree from the University of York where she traveled to Egypt for dissertation research. Lauren aspires to make each student feel seen, supported, and challenged. She looks forward to overseeing the yearbook and living in the Sawyer dormitory with her dog, Bingley.

History / English - Dejai Barnes

Dejai Barnes is excited to join both the History and English Departments here at St. Mark’s. He earned his Ph.D. in History of Christianity from Columbia, where he taught Literature of the Humanities to first-year college students for several years. Prior to that, he earned his MA in History and Philosophy of Religion from Concordia University in Montreal, QC. Dejai will coach soccer and live on campus in Theriot House North with his wife Alanna, his daughter Willa, and their dog Bowie.

Math - Michele Nieves

Michele Nieves joins the Math Department after multiple years of teaching high school math in California. Most recently, she served as an inaugural teacher and Math Department Chair at the Girls Academic Leadership Academy in Los Angeles. She holds a Master of Arts in Teaching from the University of Southern California. Michele and her husband Hector were excited to make the big transition from the West Coast to the East Coast over the summer and are happily living on campus with their cat, Rene Descartes.

Math - Johnny McNamara

Johnny McNamara was so eager about joining our Math Department and the St. Mark’s community that he jumped right in during Lion Term. He enjoyed getting to know so many students in such an experiential setting. Johnny recently earned his Master’s of Education from Boston College and comes to us with experience teaching in North Quincy and Chestnut Hill. He also has independent school experience as a graduate of St. Sebastian’s. He is lives off-campus and looks forward to coaching football and lacrosse.

Modern Languages - Showjean Wu

Showjean Wu, a former St. Mark’s faculty member from 2011 - 2015, is excited to return to our Modern Language Department to teach Chinese I through Chinese V. A native Chinese speaker, she holds Master's degrees in Education and Computer Science. Since her departure from St. Mark’s, Showjean has lived in California and has been teaching in Chinese immersion classrooms at the International School of Peninsula. Showjean is lives off-campus with her husband Thomas. They have 2 adult sons: Jerry and Darren.

Modern Languages - Luc Bonhomme

Luc Bonhomme is thrilled to join our Modern Language Department to teach all levels of French. A native French speaker, he comes to St. Mark's from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where he has been completing his Ph.D. in Francophone Literature and Cinema. Luc has been teaching French for many years at the university level and looks forward to transferring his skills to teaching high school. Luc grew up in Haiti and is very excited to support our Haiti Partnership in addition to coaching. Luc will be living in Pine Cottage.

Science - Jean Lindsay-Dwyer

Jean Lindsay-Dwyer joins our Science Department after multiple years of teaching and tutoring Chemistry at both the high school and college level, most recently at The Winsor School. She holds a Master's degree in Chemistry from Boston College and has extensive experience working in the chemical and environmental industries in laboratory settings as well as a technical representative. Jean will live off-campus with her husband, Peter, and their two cats, Dusty and Oscar. They have 2 adult daughters, Lydia and Martha.

2019 Spring Departing Faculty

Ms. Millet

—Jane Dubrova ‘20

There are some people who are only good at one thing and others who can write a 150-page-long research paper in the morning, run a half-marathon in the afternoon, save the planet from the aliens’ attack in the night, and still look cool while doing it. I’ve only known Ms. Millet for a year, but I do have a serious suspicion that she hides a superwoman costume somewhere in her closet. Be the most amazing APUSH teacher one could ask for – easy, swing the tennis racket like Serena Williams – don’t even have to try hard, oversee the publication of the coolest yearbook ever – phhh. “There should be something she can’t do. Maybe acting?” I thought at some point of the year, but then she walked into the classroom dressed like an eighteenth-century priest and delivered the “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” sermon, leaving me speechless and a little bit scared.

Ms. Millet inspires students and faculty members with her passion and enthusiasm, no matter what she is doing. She has taught Advanced US history class, coached Rec tennis, managed the Yearbook staff, and served as a Director of the St. Mark's Saturday program. I was fortunate enough to come to St. Mark’s just in time to get to know her. Milton is incredibly lucky to have her, as would any other school.

The St. Mark’s community thanks Ms. Millet for everything she has done for this school and its students, who will definitely miss her next year. I know I will.

Ms. Cahill

—Elise Gobron ‘21

After four years of teaching here at St. Mark’s, Ms. Moira Cahill is also sadly leaving the school. Ms. Cahill shared her passion for literature with her students as an English teacher. Although she taught mostly juniors and seniors in her prior teaching experience, Ms. Cahill found the most joy in teaching fourth formers here at St. Mark’s. Although it is not a fourth-form course, Ms. Cahill also found her American Literature class to be her favorite, as it allowed her to share her love for and connection to literature with her students.

Ms. Cahill also shared her enthusiasm for SM athletics as a four year varsity basketball coach, four year varsity softball coach, and two year JV field hockey coach. Basketball being her favorite sport to both play and coach, Ms. Cahill loved every second of her time coaching varsity girls basketball sharing the “best and most heartbreaking moments” with her players. Ms. Cahill also became fond of coaching softball, as this years team especially excited and delighted her with each passing game.

Looking forward to next year, Ms. Cahill is excited to move in with her fiance and enjoy a much deserved relaxing break as she focuses on her family and next exciting career path. Ms. Cahill will especially miss all of her English students, basketball and softball players, and girls whom she shared a dorm with. As she moves on from St. Mark’s next year, Ms. Cahill will be truly missed by her students and all those who knew her at the school.

Mr. Backon

—Jane Dubrova ‘20

Mr. Backon might be one of the few Advanced BC Calculus teachers left in the world who makes math teacher jokes sound hilarious. He could make the students in his class laugh while we were solving or at least trying to solve the tenth differential equation in the past hour, which is in itself an achievement worth mentioning. In addition to Advanced BC Calculus, Mr. Backon also taught Physics and coached Girls Varsity Soccer and Boys JV Crew. Students will remember him for his sense of humor, kindness, and passionate discussions on random topics during his classes. St. Mark’s community wishes Mr. Backon all the best on his future journey.

Ms. London

—Amy kim ‘20

Ms. London has been working as a college counselor at St. Mark’s for five years. Not only did she make highly notable contributions to the college office, she also worked with third formers during Lion Term. St. Mark’s was her first ever experience in a boarding school, and the atmosphere was very new to Ms. London. She praised her co-workers highly saying that she worked with the “best colleagues in the best office”, and she highly appreciated working with students from diverse backgrounds. She further asserted that she will definitely miss every single student she had connections with and said she had fun learning and talking to students from across the globe. Ms. London is leaving to be the Head of a private school in Rhode Island, students wish her the best in her new school.

Ms. Fu

—Amy kim ‘20

Ms. Fu has been teaching as a Chinese teacher at St. Mark’s for four years. She taught Chinese classes from Chinese I to Advanced Chinese Language and Culture, and had much devotion and care for her students. She fully contributed to creating field trips to Chinatown with her students and holding diverse Chinese events such as celebrating Lunar New Year, making dumplings, being in charge of student trips to China, and taking her Chinese class students to Chinese restaurants. Her balance of fun and productive Chinese classes built a strong, deep relationship between her and each of her students. Students missed when she was on maternity leave at the start of the year when she was absent due to her daughter Emma’s birth. She will definitely be missed even more next year.

Ms. McColloch

—Sunny Li ‘22

Ms. McColloch has been teaching at St.Mark’s School since 2011. In her eight years here, she has taught various levels of French as part of the Modern Language Department. She is also the director of the

Lion Term, coach for girls rowing, and directing faculty of Haiti Partnership Committee. Ms. McColloch has amazing memories during her work in those various positions, and she enjoys all of them. She is very familiar with the people and the campus itself. Her favorite part of campus is the cross-country trails around West campus as she had a good time there walking her dog. But her favorite part of St.Mark’s is the student body and the community. Ms. McColloch loves all the students she taught and knew. She plans interesting in-class activities, and she makes birthday cakes for her advisors. The people here at St.Mark’s School are what she will miss the most when she leaves. She is sad that she won’t be here with the same students next year. But her future students will be lucky to have her as she is devoted, caring, and passionate teacher.

Mr. Healy

—Rebecca wu ‘21

Mr. Healy has taught Math courses at St. Mark's for four years. He also coached Varsity Wrestling and JV Softball. He will miss working with all the wonderful teachers, faculty, and students at the school. He has been especially impressed by the curiosity, enthusiasm, and thoughtfulness of the students here. Before diving back to teaching, Mr. Healy will spend more time with his family. He will also try new things such as learning to speak Tagalog and tutoring.

Mr. Young

—Kian Sahani ‘20

Mr. Young has been my advisor for the past two years. We met every single Friday during x-block just to check in, and he has always been extremely supportive in times when there was no one else to look to. Along with just meeting on Fridays, the advisory would also have “Fun Fact Friday” where each advisee would share a fun fact they had learned and the winner would get a tally mark on the whiteboard behind his desk. Mr. Young is so much more than an advisor though. He’s a coach, an admissions staff member, a husband, a father, and a friend. I still remember orientation when I would tell people I had Mr. Young as an advisor and they would comment on how lucky I was. They were right. Coach Young is truly an amazing person. He goes out of his way to help people, no matter what the circumstances, and he does what we all aspire to do: to live a life of consequence. As someone who has spent so much time with him at this school, I am really sad to see him go, but maybe it’s for the best he moves on, and I wish him the best at Fessenden School.