Country School Welcomes New Faculty

“We are fortunate to have attracted such a talented and skillful group of teachers,” said Head of School Dr. Robert P. Macrae. “They are terrific additions to Country School’s already excellent and dedicated faculty.”

 

Jordan Alper joins Country School after an 11-year stint at Stanwich School in Greenwich, Connecticut, where she served as Head Math Teacher and Dean of Students. Among her many duties, including all levels of middle and high school math, she mentored young teachers, integrated technology into the math department and led service trips to Rwanda. Jordan Alper received a B.A. from Bowdoin College and an M.A. in teaching from Manhattanville College. She will serve as a ninth grade advisor, teach geometry and algebra, and coach softball.

 

Kayla Berube returns to Country School after earning an M.A. and M. Ed. at Teachers College, Columbia University. During her time away she also served as a Counseling Intern and Mental Health Specialist at the Harlem Educational Activities Fund. In her first stint at Country School, she was a third grade lead teacher; now she will serve as the full-time School Counselor for the Middle and Upper Schools.

 

Melissa Faucher ’91 returns to her alma mater to teach one section of eighth grade math. Her most recent teaching post was at the School of the Future in New York City where she taught tenth grade math and helped to revise the school's assessment standards. Previous to that, she taught Pre-algebra, Geometry and Algebra II at Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Connecticut. Most recently, she co-founded T.M. Faucher LLC, a general contracting business, in Darien, Connecticut, where she has been an active volunteer and coach.

 

Catherine Flint comes to Country School after a year at Foote School in New Haven, Connecticut, as a teaching intern where she partnered with the math department on curriculum development in the middle grades. Before that she served as a teaching fellow for two years at Citizens Schools in Oakland, California, where she taught Algebra and Pre-algebra while earning a Subject Teaching Credential in Secondary School Mathematics in the state of California. She is a graduate of Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minnesota. She joins the Upper School faculty to teach seventh grade math and ninth grade algebra, advise in seventh grade, and coach basketball and softball.

 

Andres Gonzalez-Stewart arrives in the Upper School after serving for the last three years as a teacher of Mandarin and Spanish, a coach of basketball and track and field, a dorm parent and an advisor at Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg, Virginia. Previous to that, he fulfilled similar duties for one year at Millbrook School in Millbrook, New York. Andres earned an M.A. and B.A. from Middlebury College and has completed language immersion programs in Spain and China. He will teach Mandarin in the Upper School and Spanish in both the Upper and Middle Schools. He will also join the seventh grade advisory team and coach basketball and cross-country.

 

Marshall Johnson ’04 is a Country School alumnus who returns to New Canaan after working for three years at Hockaday School in Dallas, Texas, as a middle school humanities teacher and seventh grade advisor. Part of his duties were to travel to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to help recruit for the school. Marshall Johnson graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia. In the Stevens Building he will teach seventh grade English and U.S. History, advise seventh graders, and join the coaching ranks in hockey and lacrosse.

 

Martha McAndrews spent the last four years at Dexter Southfield School in Brookline, Massachusetts, teaching Biology and A.P. Environmental Science, serving as a tenth grade class dean, advising and coaching. During the summers, she has taught science classes and headed a dormitory at Taft School's summer school in Waterbury, Connecticut. She is a magna cum laude graduate of St. Lawrence University. Martha McAndrews will teach eighth and ninth grade science, advise eighth grade students and coach cross-country.

 

Haley Sanborn brings eight years of experience at two schools to her role as Learning Resource teacher. She has worked for the last five years at the Hun School in Princeton, New Jersey, as a Learning Specialist, dorm parent, student advisor and varsity lacrosse coach. Previous to that, she spent three years at Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Massachusetts, in similar roles. Haley Sanborn has completed an M. Ed at Cambridge College, an Advanced Professional Certificate from Lesley College and a B.A. from the University of New Hampshire, where she was a Division 1 lacrosse player. At Country School she will teach lab classes and partner with Upper School faculty to help differentiate for students at all levels. She will also coach in the hockey and lacrosse programs.

 

Margaret Mackey will join as the Science Assistant Teacher. She holds a M.A. in Teaching from Sacred Heart University and a B.S. in Environmental Science from UCLA. She taught at the New Canaan Nature Center this past summer and was an intern and student teacher at Middlebrook Middle School in Wilton, Conn. She was also the seventh and eighth grade science intern at Country School in 2013, and is excited to return to the school and teach in Lower School.