Over the summer, Holy Child completed a full-scale locker renovation project. Each student, in both the Upper and Middle schools, will have a new locker; with fifth- and sixth- grade students having cubbies in their respective classrooms.
2225 Westchester Avenue, Rye
967-5622
Year Founded: 1904
Grades: 5-12
Head of School: Ann F. Sullivan
Enrollment: 333
Average Class Size: 14
Student/Teacher Ratio: 7 to 1
Tuition: $27,000-$29,000
First Day of School: September 6
Campus Improvements
Over the summer, Holy Child completed a full-scale locker renovation project. Each student, in both the Upper and Middle schools, will have a new locker; with fifth- and sixth- grade students having cubbies in their respective classrooms. Architects Andrea Steele and Andrew Deibel have designed maple bench seating for the long hallways in the Upper and Middle School locker rooms. The project was developed over the recent academic year with input from administrators and students and overseen by the school’s Building and Grounds Committee.
New Faculty and Administrators
Joanna Broda
Director of Guidance and College Counseling
Ms. Broda spent 24 years at Pace University, holding positions in Undergraduate and Graduate Admission and Enrollment Management. She obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Russian Studies and a Master’s degree in Russian Language and Literature from Fordham University.
Samantha Dembicer
Alumnae Intern
Ms. Dembicer earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Japanese from Middlebury College this past May. She will assist in the Math department as well as the Guidance and College Counseling Office.
Shannon Duggan
Visual Arts
Ms. Duggan has a Master of Art History degree from Richmond, the American International University in London. She worked previously at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, and held teaching positions at Saint Peter’s Sacred Heart School in Danbury.
Andrea Costa Egan
Director of Development
Ms. Egan comes to Holy Child after serving as the Director of Major Gifts at Bergen County’s United Way the last three years. She received her Master of Public Administration in Nonprofit Management from Baruch, and a Bachelor’s degree in Policy Studies with a Spanish minor from Syracuse University.
Susannah Grossman
English
Ms. Grossman previously taught English, History, and Archaeology at The Archer School for Girls in Los Angeles. She is completing her Master of Science from the University of Edinburgh and has a Bachelor’s degree from University of Pennsylvania with a double major in Art History and English.
Patricia Houser
History Department Chair
Ms. Houser has a Doctorate of Philosophy, Urban Planning from Columbia University; a Master of Arts in Geography from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and a Bachelor’s degree in Social Science Secondary Education from Oneonta.
Satish Joshi
Artist-in-Residence
Mr. Joshi graduated from the New Delhi College of Art in 1968 with an honors degree in painting and printmaking. After his arrival in New York the following year, he began his career as a painter, sculptor, and printmaker.
Cairistin Mills
School Counselor
Ms. Mills has spent the last six years at St. Vincent’s in Harrison, and before that was a therapist at New York Presbyterian Hospital as well as a treatment coordinator. She received her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Southern California and her Bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Princeton.
Lauren Poccia ’07
Alumnae Intern
Ms. Poccia will intern in the Admission Department and the Upper School Learning Center. A recent graduate of Fairfield University with a B.A. in History and a minor in Sociology and Women’s Studies, she was the recipient of the Sister Mary Basil Award at her graduation from Holy Child.
Jacqueline Richard
Religious Studies
Ms. Richard will teach Ethics and Social Justice in the Upper School. She earned her Master’s in Religion from Yale Divinity School and the Institute of Sacred Music, and a Bachelor’s degree in Religion from Duke.
Bringing Back Alumnae
Last school year marked the first year of Holy Child’s Alumnae Internship Program — a yearlong program that allows Holy Child graduates to work in administrative and teaching positions to gain experience and knowledge in education. Head of School Ann Sullivan said, “I feel it is our responsibility to bring young people into the profession and who better than Holy Child alumnae.”
This year, Holy Child welcomes two from the Class of 2007, Samantha Dembicer and Lauren Poccia. Both young women will split their time assistant teaching and working in administrative roles.
Holy Child Arts Abroad
In mid-August, eleven Holy Child students, along with three faculty members, embarked on a weeklong trip to Edinburgh, Scotland for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which this year showcased Asian theater and music. American students perform at the Fringe as part of the American High School Theatre Festival, and it is Holy Child’s long-term goal that students will have the opportunity to compete for one of these coveted spots.
Curriculum and Program Additions
Anthropology has been added to the eighth-grade curriculum. Taught by Fiona Kelly, classes will focus on the physical anthropology of early humans as well as social and cultural anthropology.
The Middle School has also added a Field Study Program to the seventh-grade science curriculum. Under the leadership of Mike Clancy, students will study salt marshes and seashore trends in Cape Cod in the spring.
The Upper School boasts two new programs. In June Holy Child received the Generoso Pope Foundation Grant to establish an Italian Cultural Studies Program. The two-year experience consists of classroom and field study abroad, as well as a final research project. Holy Child has become a voting Board Member of the Online School for Girls, a consortium of over 45 nationally and internationally known schools. It offers challenging courses, including ones for faculty development and more esoteric courses such as Multivariable Calculus.
