News

At Newton Country Day we are blessed with a world-class professional community and are excited to introduce you to new faculty and staff who join us this year. We are thrilled to welcome the following people who will bring their gifts and expertise to the life of our school community.

2025-2026 New Faculty 

Ms. Renee Dacey has dedicated twenty years to teaching Spanish at Burlington High School, where she served as the World Language Department Chair for the past 14 years. Her experiences living and studying in Spain, along with volunteering on mission trips to the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Pine Ridge Native American Reservation in South Dakota, have motivated her to create real-world connections as a language educator. Ms. Dacey earned her undergraduate degree at Merrimack College and a Master of Arts in Teaching Spanish from Salem State University. A Massachusetts native, Ms. Dacey resides in Waltham, MA, with her husband, her two children, including current 9th grader Sabrina ‘29, and their lovable Golden Retriever. 

 

Ms. Caroline Falvey is a dedicated science educator beginning her seventh year of teaching. She brings experience from charter, public, and private school settings, having most recently spent three years teaching at another Sacred Heart School in San Francisco. Ms. Falvey holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the College of William & Mary and a Master of Arts in Teaching from New York University. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate of Education from Johns Hopkins University, part-time. While she has called San Francisco home for the past six years, Ms. Falvey is a Massachusetts native and is thrilled to be returning with her fiancé and two cats.

 

 

Ms. Katherine Kistner comes to us with extensive experience and leadership on both sides of the college admissions process. Ms. Kistner entered the field as the New England regional admissions representative for the University of South Carolina, where she was quickly promoted to Director of National Recruitment and charged with evaluating national trends and enrollment models, implementing a data-driven recruitment strategy, and developing targeted communication plans, all while leading a robust team of professional staff. As the Associate Director of Counseling and Student Success at Catholic Memorial, Ms. Kistner revolutionized the college counseling curriculum, incorporating self-reflection and establishing effective systems to support students and their families throughout the admissions process. A highly engaged professional in the college counseling and admissions community, Ms. Kistner leads the New England Association for College Admission Counseling’s Mentorship Program, presents regularly at conferences, and graduated from the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s highly selective NEXT program. A native of MetroWest Boston, Ms. Kistner and her husband, in addition to their energetic German Shorthaired Pointer “Goose,” welcomed their first child in August. 

 

Ms. Divya Kopalle is a Cambridge/Somerville resident excited to transition from her work in the technology space to teaching at Newton Country Day. Ms. Kopalle graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in Computer Science and Human Centered Design, and went on to work in Product Development at Verizon before becoming a Senior Data Scientist at N1 Health, a health-tech startup in Boston. Outside of her full time job, Ms. Kopalle has supported youth education through part-time work at Chica-Project, a non-profit empowering young girls in Boston, and as a long-time volunteer at the Museum of Science - experiences which helped spark her passion for STEM education. 

 

Ms. Monica Mascolo brings a deep commitment to student well-being and mental health to her work in education and counseling. She holds a Master of Social Work and a Bachelor of Arts in Applied Psychology and Human Development from Boston College. Her professional journey spans a range of impactful roles, including her most recent position at the Boston College Women’s Center and an internship at Eliot Elementary School, where she supported students through individual counseling, group facilitation, and social-emotional learning. Prior to graduate school, she served as a Milieu Counselor at the Manville School, a therapeutic day school, working closely with students and teaching social-emotional learning. At Loyola University Chicago’s Arrupe College, she served as Campus Minister, designing and leading retreats, mentoring first-generation college students, and coordinating food security efforts.

 

Ms. Micaela Ryan is a passionate educator who has spent the past five years working at Cabot Elementary School in Newton. She is originally from Kingston, New York but moved to Massachusetts to attend Boston College, where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in English and Applied Psychology in 2019 and went on to complete her Master’s degree in Elementary Education at Boston College in 2020. She is excited to join the Newton Country Day School community and to carry out her teaching through the lens of Goal III: a social awareness which impels to action. 

 

 

Mr. John O’Neill is an educator and coach who joins our community as the new Director of Rowing and Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Performance. His career in rowing started at Fairfield University, where he was a 4-year varsity rower competing in the First Varsity 8 and Second Varsity 4. His coaching career started in 2015 as the Novice Coach at Fairfield Prep. He has coached at Norwalk River Rowing, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Boston University, Hingham High School, and Dexter Southfield School. In addition to coaching, Mr. O’Neill has applied his BA in Mechanical Engineering by teaching Woodshop, Engineering, Physics, and Math. He spent the last two years as Varsity Coach, Boatman, and Math Faculty at Brewster Academy in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. In the summer, he works for Sparks Camps, where he runs international rowing camps in New Zealand and Amsterdam. 

 

Mr. Mark Taylor comes to us from the Bancroft School. Born and raised in the suburbs of Minneapolis, he attended Boston University before teaching in international schools in Pakistan and Egypt, where he also earned an M.A. in English and Comparative Literature from the American University in Cairo. He went on to teach at independent schools in Michigan and Maryland, later returning to Boston as a founding teacher at a charter school in South Boston. He then rejoined the independent school world at Bancroft School, where, after teaching upper-level English courses for several years, he founded the Senior Co-op program and became Director of Community Engagement, overseeing global studies travel programs and developing service-learning initiatives in the greater Worcester community. In 2021, he stepped in as Interim Head of the Upper School, a role he held through this past June.

 

Ms. Savannah Wood received her Bachelors of Fine Art from Clemson University in 2019. She has been teaching visual art for the last five years and is currently working on obtaining her Masters in Art Education at Converse University. Ms. Wood enjoys all types of art but feels drawn to ceramics and printmaking as her chosen forms of expression. Originally from South Carolina, she has been in the Boston area since 2024. 

 

 

 

2025-26 New Staff

Ms. Micaela Rivera, Admission Associate, is a 2021 alumna of Sacred Heart Greenwich; her mother is also a Greenwich alum. Ms. Rivera is a recent graduate of Trinity College. An avid rower, Ms. Rivera was a 2024 NCAA Division III medalist. In addition to her role with the Admission Team, Ms. Rivera will also join our Athletics Department as the novice crew coach.
 

 

 

Mr. Logan Gillis, Facilities Associate, hails from New Hampshire, where he spent many hours working for his family’s business. Mr. Gillis joined the Facilities Team in June.