Celebrating Faculty: Milestones, Departures + Welcoming

Celebrating faculty milestones, paying tribute to beloved departing faculty members, and welcoming some new faces to the team for school year 2024-2025.

Faculty Milestones:

Celebrating 25 years

**Christine Draper**
Social Studies Teacher

Celebrating 15 years

Celebrating 10 years

Celebrating 5 Years

**Whitney Buckley**
Director of Marketing + Communications

Departing Faculty:

Katie Chhu, Director of Admission

In just two years, Katie Chhu has accomplished much for the GUS admission office. In addition to welcoming so many new families to the GUS community, she spearheaded major efforts to differentiate, including re-imagining our financial aid model in favor of a new, more equitable and accessible model, as well as our transition to continuous enrollment, which simplifies the enrollment process for families. She has represented GUS at countless community events, on podcasts, and at the NAIS Annual Conference, and was a member of the inaugural cohort of AISNE’s Leadership and Racial Justice Fellows. She has been a friendly and welcoming face to greet families as they arrive at GUS, whether for morning drop-off, a campus tour, or one of our GUS events. We will miss her creativity, partnership, and positive energy at GUS and wish her all the best!

Martha Delay, Director of Advancement

Martha Delay has served as Director of Advancement at GUS for nine years. Her talent for event planning and creating meaningful community gatherings were a real highlight, including the 40+ Forward Events, the Return to Starry Night Art Auction during COVID, beautiful greenhouse dinners, and numerous auction events. She oversaw the donations for both the big play ground and the lower school Naturescape, and the renovated Collins Family Library. In addition, she created an 8th grade gift fund and recently worked to launch the GUS alumni council, efforts that will affect GUS into the future. There were also many small ways Martha made members of our community feel valued and important through her thoughtful gift-giving and letter-writing. Martha helped keep our community together and we are grateful for all the support she gave to GUS. As a GUS parent to two GUS grads, Ryan ’19 and Maggie ’21, we hope Martha will remain connected to GUS always.

Mary Ellen Frechette, Director of Finance

It can be a thankless job to be behind the scenes keeping everything going strong. Mary Ellen Frechette came to GUS eight years ago, and while she will be quick to say how amazing the teachers are, Mary Ellen also did amazing things for the school. Mary Ellen’s goal was to see the school reach a stable and solid financial position and under her management, great strides were made and she has met her goal! GUS is certainly better off than she found it and how grateful we are for all that she has done to keep things humming along. From managing the audit, to health benefits and payroll, to budgets, there is nothing that happens at GUS that Mary Ellen doesn’t have some part of.

Renée LaRoche, Third Grade Teacher

Renée LaRoche joined the third grade team at GUS in September 2021, after having served as a much-loved counselor in our SUMMER@GUS camp. Former Director of Auxiliary Programs, Nancy Hartmann, as well as numerous GUS teachers who worked alongside her in the summer, gushed with praise for Renée’s ability to connect with children and nurture their growth. This proved to be a defining feature of her teaching style during her three years in third grade at GUS. Whether academic or social-emotional learning, or chatting about the Bruins or Celtics latest games, Renée’s students felt known, valued, and empowered by her. Renée’s work at GUS went beyond the classroom to include coaching lacrosse for our 7th and 8th graders, who fondly knew her as “Coach Ren.” Renée deeply cared about the GUS community as a whole, and we were all enriched by her time with us. We will miss her as she moves on to a school in Maine close to her new home there, but we wish her all the best in her new adventures.

Sandra Thoms, Kindergarten Teacher

This year we honor one of GUS' most dedicated and devoted teachers, Mrs. Sandra Thoms. Sandy has modeled good GUS teaching for 36 years, as she steadily and thoughtfully taught our children. How sweet it was to hear students remember her teaching them numbers, how to write their names, how to bake bread, and of course, there was the building of the house. She inspired a love of learning and discovery in her students, while also partnering with parents with tenderness and patience. As a colleague, Sandy guided and mentored so many, while always demonstrating her own commitment to professional learning. Sandy has always wanted to know more in order to do more. Also, we must acknowledge her dedication to DEIJ efforts and inclusivity. Sandy has always cared about making GUS a place for all. She leaves quite a legacy and we are so incredibly grateful for the knowledge and heart she has shared with all of us over her time at GUS. If you would like to honor Sandy’s legacy, please consider a gift in support of GUS Faculty.

Incoming faculty:

Emily Glore, Director of Admission

Glen Urquhart School is excited to name Emily Glore as our new Director of Admissions and Community Outreach. Emily has a masters degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Colorado and a masters in Education from the Klingenstein Private School Leadership program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Emily started her career teaching Kindergarten before becoming an educational consultant, but returned to the classroom at Epstein Hillel School and most recently, Shore Country Day School where she taught first grade. Emily comes to GUS with a shared vision of what education should be for young people. She is a skilled leader, with boundless energy and a contagious sense of joy. We are thrilled to have her as the first person families meet when they come to GUS.

Danielle Figueria, Director of Advancement

We are thrilled to announce Danielle Figueria as our new Director of Advancement. Danielle is an experienced advancement professional and a passionate advocate for inclusion, dedicated to impacting change through philanthropy in school settings. After graduating from UMass Dartmouth with a degree in business marketing, she began her career in wealth management. Upon realizing her zest for independent schools, she pivoted to advancement work at The Winsor School and Landmark School in alumni and parent engagement roles. Most recently, she served as Manager of Leadership Engagement at Perkins School for the Blind. Danielle is eager to immerse herself in the community and learn the hallmarks of a GUS education, and we are excited to welcome her to the team!

Suzy Light, Lower School Math Teacher

Suzy Light is an experienced educator that comes to GUS after a long career at Brookwood School. She is a graduate of Bucknell University, where she studied elementary education, and has an M.Ed. in Elementary Education from Lesley University. Additionally, she is currently pursuing a graduate certificate in Mindfulness Studies. She began her teaching career as a classroom teacher in Washington, D.C., before joining the Brookwood School where she was a second grade teacher for 25 years! Suzy is drawn to the way GUS centers exploration, curiosity, and social justice. We look forward to welcoming Suzy to GUS! Read more about Suzy’s role, a new position for GUS, here.

Jess Torcicollo, Director of Finance

Jess Torcicollo is an experienced business management professional. After growing up in the north shore (she grew up less than a mile from GUS!), she moved to Utah where she went on to graduate from Utah Valley University with a BS in behavioral sciences and an AS in social work. After working as the Program Director of an anti-violence non-profit organization, she started and managed several small businesses. Most recently, she worked as the owner/operator of an Accounting and Advisory company assisting small businesses with their bookkeeping, payroll, human resources, and financial planning. Jess is inspired by the GUS approach to education and we are excited to welcome her to the team!

FacultyGretchen ForsythJune 24, 2024