Meet the New Faculty
Middle School English - By: Estelle Anderson, Co-Editor-in-Chief
RR: What most excites you about the year to come?
Roisin Brady: Having real students in front of me and not just on Zoom. And also, I’m very excited to teach American students, or students in America, because although I had my education here at certain points, I’ve never taught in an American school. Some things make me feel like I’m in a movie, which is quite funny - even with the yellow school buses, I’m like “ooo!” It’s such a novelty to me.
Middle and Upper School Learning Specialist - By: Ben Seklir, Co-Managing Editor
RR: What most excites you about the year to come?
Jennifer Buck: All schools have different types of communities, and [it excites me] to learn more about the Riverdale community in general because it’s pretty legendary and it’s cool to be part of it. I’m also excited to get to know a different set of educators, people who’ve been in this field for a really long time and who continue to stay here…As an educator, I learn better from other educators.
Photo Creds: Jennifer Buck
Assistant Director of Athletics - By: Savy Phillips, Co-City Editor
RR: Do you have any unique abilities or hobbies?
Jennifer Capozzoli: I took sign language in high school, so I do have a little bit of American Sign Language in my repertoire.
Photo Creds: Lucia Zambetti
Middle and Upper School Language - By: Eshaan Kothari, Co-Sports Editor
RR: Any unique abilities or hobbies?
Mariya Chokova: I generally like learning new languages. In my free time, I continue to learn more languages. Besides English, French, and Spanish, my native tongue is Bulgarian. I am from Bulgaria. I also speak Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and some Croatian, and I am learning Turkish, Polish, and Persian.
Photo Creds: Eshaan Kothari
Assistant Director of Community Engagement - By: Lauren Gilman, Co-Editor-in-Chief
RR: What will you be doing at Riverdale?
Ciara Everett: I’m the Assistant Director of Community Engagement, so I will be working with students to do programming, especially when it comes to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Overall, I’ll be focusing on wellness, different heritages and identities, and affinity groups.
Photo Creds: Olivia Beyer
Athletic Associate - By: Meg Stroup, Co-Arts Editor
RR: What did you do before coming to Riverdale?
Tony Galvin: I've been coaching baseball and basketball for a long time. I was also the Assistant Athletic Director at the New York Athletic Club for four years, where I oversaw all of the Olympic athlete training for sports like fencing, water polo, [and] judo.
Photo Creds: Lucia Zambetti
Middle and Upper School Art Fellow - By: Jack Henry, Co-City Editor
RR: What did you do before coming to Riverdale?
Collins Hilton: Before coming to Riverdale I worked at a non-for-profit theater company called Manhattan Theater Club. I worked as their education manager for community engagement, so I worked with bringing school groups in and figuring out what we can be doing to better engage with folks in New York City.
Photo Creds: Lucia Zambetti
Middle and Upper School Science - By: Emma Haidar, Co-Executive Editor
RR: Do you have any unique abilities or hobbies?
Cristina Macaraeg: When I was in Los Angeles, I went to culinary school. I was in baking school specifically, so I have a baking diploma. In my free time, I do like to bake stuff up in the kitchen. One of the courses I used to teach was a “Chemistry of Cooking” class, so I was able to take classes myself and then translate that into the high school classroom.
Photo Creds: Lucia Zambetti
Upper School Language, Middle School Homebase - By: Corwin Cheung, Co-Opinions Editor RR: What has been your most memorable teaching moment so far?
Daniel Nosonowitz: Leaving Rye. I left since I was filling in for a sabbatical. I didn’t leave because I wanted to, there were just no other open positions when the teacher came back. My students, even though they knew I had to go, wrote a letter to the head of school, saying we want him to stay. And that’s something I’ll never forget.
Photo Creds: Sam McIntosh
Middle and Upper School Learning Specialist - By: Sam McIntosh, Co-News Editor
RR: Is there anything else you would like to share?
Camilla Pfeiffer: I'm really friendly. Everyone should talk to me. I love meeting new people and I'm here to help, like literally anyone. So if you see me and you're lost, just come talk.
Photo Creds: Sam McIntosh
Middle and Upper School English - By: Colby Stenzler, Co-News Editor
RR: What has been your most memorable teaching moment so far?
Kate Reynolds: My Constructing America class is thrilling. I created an interdisciplinary course at Fieldston years ago, but it’s been a couple of decades since I have taught one. Both the topic, which I am deeply knowledgeable about, as well as my partnership with Mr. Kaufman.
Photo Creds: Olivia Beyer
Middle School English Fellow - By: Alexis Muchnik, Co-Copy Editor
RR: What excites you most about the year to come?
Julia Rohde: The students are great. I think that eighth grade is a really cool year. Especially with the pandemic, these students basically missed a lot of their Middle School experience, and I feel like all the students are really excited to be back and with one another. It’s fun - the energy in the classroom is awesome.
Photo Creds: Olivia Beyer
Middle and Upper School Dance - By: Maxwell Steinberg, Co-Sports Editor
RR: What did you do before coming to Riverdale?
Lauren Spagnuolo: I worked at a few different schools before. I worked at a boarding school in western Massachusetts for a few years, and then I worked at a public school in the Boston area for the past few years. I did their elementary, middle, and high school dance, and it was a huge public school district.
Photo Creds: Maxwell Steinberg
Middle and Upper School Learning Specialist - By: Estelle Anderson, Co-Editor-in-Chief
RR: What most excites you about the year to come?
Tamara Tanujaya: Getting to know my students more - not just the ones in my classes, but just the eighth graders in general. With my role, I get to know more kids, and I feel like that’s really special.
Photo Creds: Tamara Tanujaya
Middle and Upper School English - By: Jake Light, Co-Copy Editor
RR: What has been your most memorable teaching experience so far?
Tyler Telford: The class discussions in my English classes and just to see the interest and passion the students at Riverdale bring to the things they are reading and learning. The connections they make between what they are reading, themselves, and the outside world, and how they want to use the knowledge they are gaining to do something with each other and the community is something that has been most memorable.
Photo Creds: Olivia Beyer
Upper School English - By: Brooke Weiner, Co-Managing Editor
RR: What will you be doing at Riverdale?
Mackenzi Turgeon: I’m a Penn fellow, and I teach ninth grade English. I also assist and coach Middle School volleyball.
RR: Any unique abilities or hobbies?
Mackenzi Turgeon: I like to think I’m pretty good at makeup, but I haven’t done it in a while because of the mask situation, and I like to bake!
Photo Creds: Olivia Beyer
Middle and Upper School Music - By: Charlie Schuman, Co-City Editor
RR: What most excites you about the year to come?
Miho Weber: The adventures we will have learning some really exciting music, a lot of diverse music too. The repertoire is going to be interesting and compelling, and so far I feel like the enthusiasm and the level of playing has been wonderful.
Photo Creds: Sam McIntosh
Upper School Visual Arts - By: Daniel Choi, Co-Arts Editor
RR: What most excites you about the year to come?
Chae Yeon Park: I’m really interested to see how the students lead a more formal architectural discussion and training and use it as another creative outlet for themselves.
Photo Creds: Lucia Zambetti
