Saint George Academy · East Village, New York City
19 teachers and staff · A–Z
Every student here is known by name.
Our teachers have come here from seminaries and software companies, from late-night television and Division III ball fields. They chose this school in the East Village for the same reason our students do: it is small enough that nobody is a stranger.
Counseling Interns & Supporting Team
Saint George is an internship site for the Manhattan University School Counseling Program, a partnership established by Dr. Rogutsky. Some of these counselors-in-training work with students on campus; others support the counseling team remotely.
Mr. Andrew Stasiw
Head of School
Community Chorus, Grades 9–12 · Instrumental Ensemble
Saint George is a place of genuine belonging — a place where excellence and happiness coexist.
Mr. Stasiw has served as Head of School since 2015. He still teaches Community Chorus and advises the Instrumental Ensemble, and has spent nineteen years in education.
His path to the work was not a planned one. He grew up in Detroit, studied music at a conservatory, and toured internationally as a pianist before beginning a business career that took him to a vice presidency at a television and film production studio. When a teacher fell ill, he was asked to fill in for a few weeks. The temporary assignment turned into a calling, and he has been in schools ever since. He earned a Bachelor of Music at Wayne State University and an M.S. at St. Mary's University, and holds an Advanced Certificate in Educational Administration from St. John's University.
What he says about Saint George is that it is more a living argument about what education can be than a building full of classes: rooted in care, curiosity, and connection. He has watched students present research at the United Nations, perform on stage, and carry one another through hard stretches, and he takes that as the point — that education is less about achievement than about becoming one's fullest self. Every teacher here knows every student by name. The school celebrates hard work and laughter in roughly equal measure, and prizes ambition alongside empathy.
Outside of school he plays piano, hikes, and swims — the ocean and lakes both. He values compassion toward others, and the thing he hopes students take from him has nothing to do with a syllabus: that life is beautiful, and that gratitude should be a daily practice.
One Trusted Adult
Trusted adults who made a difference in my life: My high school math teacher and an orchestra conductor
They gave me a saying I still recite to myself whenever I feel overwhelmed.
Dr. Chris Rogutsky
Assistant Head of School & IB Coordinator
Teaching & Learning · International Baccalaureate · School Design & Innovation
For her, New York City isn't the backdrop to an education. It is part of the curriculum.
Dr. Rogutsky was practicing place-based education long before she knew there was a name for it. A voracious reader who grew up playing piano, clarinet, bandura, and fife and drums, she was never a conventional student, and that experience has shaped a career spent creating the kinds of educational experiences she once went looking for herself: intellectually serious, creative, dynamic, and connected to the world beyond the classroom.
She founded an educational program for children and families living in New York City homeless shelters, served as Assistant Principal at Hunter College Campus Schools, and later became Principal of the Long Island High School for the Arts. As a professor and graduate program director at Manhattan University she prepares future school counselors, and she established Saint George as an internship site for its counseling students.
Saint George is also a return to a place that has followed her through nearly every stage of her life. As a child, the East Village meant its Ukrainian institutions, including Saint George itself. Today she is back in the same few blocks, helping reimagine a school for a new generation of New Yorkers.
Ms. Meaghan Cheung
Director of College Counseling
College Counseling, Grades 11–12 · Grade 12 Advisor
What I enjoy most is seeing students discover new opportunities, take risks, and change their lives.
Ms. Cheung works with juniors and seniors in the College Counseling program. She grew up on Long Island and in New Jersey, studied at Yale as an undergraduate, and earned her law degree at Fordham.
Outside of school she cooks, plays tennis, and travels. She reads naval history for pleasure, would like to see the fjords of Norway, and — the fact students find hardest to believe — also serves as a village prosecutor.
One Trusted Adult
A trusted adult who made a difference in my life: My guidance counselor
She was funny and understanding, and she encouraged me. She is the reason I aimed higher than I would have on my own.
Ms. Iryna Chuyan
Ukrainian & English Teacher, Center for Ukrainian Studies
Ukrainian I–IV · Technology, Migration, and Moral Choice, Grades 11–12 · Grades 9–12 · Heritage Club
Teaching them something useful — and learning from them at the same time.
Ms. Chuyan teaches the Ukrainian language sequence across grades nine through twelve and the eleventh- and twelfth-grade English elective Technology, Migration, and Moral Choice, which carries its own English Lab — a course that asks what it means to be human in an age of technological change and global displacement, through Ishiguro, Hamid, Warsan Shire, and Toni Morrison. She grew up in Lviv, Ukraine, and studied at the Kyiv University of Technology and Design. She has spent eighteen years in education.
Students are usually surprised to learn that she is an engineer. It is a useful thing for them to know about her, because it is close to what she hopes they take from her classes: that no one arrives at a life in a straight line, and that it is never too late to start something over from the beginning.
Her classes work best when students are genuinely interested in a topic — and, she says, when they discover that even prominent people are regular people, with their own hopes, mistakes, and courage. She builds relationships by listening and asking questions, and by having fun together while they learn. Outside of school she travels, hikes, takes long walks, sews, and skates.
One Trusted Adult
A trusted adult who made a difference in my life: A Ukrainian camp counselor I had
She listened, she was patient, and she was supportive. She encouraged me and inspired me to become a camp counselor myself — and that led, eventually, to my becoming a teacher.
Ms. Liza Donovan
Social Studies Teacher, Center for Global Studies & Economic Systems
Global History · United States History & Civic Foundations · Government, Economics & Global Systems · Grades 9, 11 & 12 · Theatre Company
I want students to experience history firsthand, not just read about it.
Ms. Donovan grew up in Queens, is a graduate of Saint George herself, and came back to teach here in 1992 after Barnard College and a graduate degree in political science from New York University. Thirty-five years into her career, she is one of the people the school is built around. Returning to teach where she had been a student mattered to her: she loved the culture of Saint George as a girl, and wanted the next generation to have the same experience and the same memories.
She teaches Global History: Conflict, Power & Perspective to the ninth grade, United States History & Civic Foundations to the eleventh, and Government, Economics & Global Systems to the twelfth. She teaches through active engagement — group projects, discussion, and real-world connections rather than reading about events at a distance. Her tenth graders spend several days on a simulation of the Congress of Vienna, each student representing a nation and negotiating the future of post-Napoleonic Europe: strategy, secret deals, and votes on the outcome. What they take from it is history, but also diplomacy, negotiation, and problem-solving. Her classes lean hard on public speaking, presentation, and writing, so that students develop their own ideas, work from a range of sources, and grow comfortable communicating them.
What she wants new families to understand is that Saint George is a safe place where everyone knows everyone, small enough that teachers can work one-on-one with students and still hold the line on rigor. It is kind, caring, and supportive, and it has high standards. She is not only teaching social studies, as she puts it — she is teaching work ethic and integrity. The school teaches the whole student.
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Dr. Halverson
Teacher & Director of the Center for Mathematics
Mathematics, Grades 9–12 · Math Club · Table Tennis Club
This is a small school where a student will instantly feel like they belong — and where they get the individual attention of their teachers.
Dr. Halverson teaches mathematics across all four grades. She grew up in South Jersey, studied mathematics at the University of Arizona, and earned a master's degree at Boston University and a doctorate at Northeastern, where her dissertation was in ergodic theory, and minored in computer science along the way. She has spent more than thirty years in education and twenty-one of them at Saint George.
She did not begin in a classroom. She programmed throughout graduate school, worked as an actuary, and then spent thirteen years as a software engineer through the years when computing moved off mainframes and onto microcomputers and PCs. She became a teacher looking for work with more meaning — work that, as a Christian, would be of use to society. She also teaches university-level mathematics courses.
Her math classes do not run on lecture. She teaches for about twenty minutes, sets the class to work, and then circulates, helping students one at a time and in groups; students work individually or together, and she assesses in a variety of ways, so that different kinds of learners have more than one way in.
She advises the Math Club, where students take mathematics beyond the classroom through competitions, puzzles, and collaborative problem-solving, and the Table Tennis Club. The mathematics program runs from MYP Mathematics through Algebra II and Trigonometry, Precalculus and Discrete Mathematics, and the dual-enrollment calculus and statistics sequences offered with St. John's University.
What she values in the school is what she thinks a prospective student should know about it: that Saint George is small enough to belong to instantly, that its students are culturally diverse and unusually cohesive, and that teachers here have both the freedom to teach as they see best and the time to give students individual attention. Outside of school she bodysurfs, bicycles, and reads. Students are usually surprised to learn that she lifts weights.
One Trusted Adult
Trusted adults who made a difference in my life: Two of my high school teachers
They believed in my math ability. They are the reason I became a math major.
Mr. Nick Iadevaio
Athletic Director & Director of Student Wellness
Introduction to Psychology & Physical Education, Grades 9–12 · Grade 10 Advisor · Running Club · Spikeball Club
The material one is grappling with in their studies provides the cognitive and emotional platforms for how one can take on and solve life's problems years down the road.
Mr. Iadevaio is Saint George Academy's Athletic Director and Director of Student Wellness, and teaches Introduction to Psychology and Physical Education. He grew up on Long Island and earned both a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Lesley University.
He is a former college athlete — a four-year starter and the first two-year captain in the history of Lesley's Division III baseball program — and still runs and lifts most days, coaching at the Hofstra University New York Baseball Academy each summer.
That combination is the point rather than a coincidence. As a licensed mental health counselor who also runs the athletics program, he treats physical and mental health as one subject rather than two: the body and the mind trained together, not in separate hours.
One Trusted Adult
A trusted adult who made a difference in my life: My high school baseball coach
He was reliable and stuck to his word, and showed consistent concern for my wellbeing years after I graduated.
Ms. Kelly Jahn
Teacher & Director of the Center for Storytelling & Media
English & Film, Grades 9–12 · Grade 11 Advisor · Literary Magazine · Sketch Comedy Club
I love learning, and I love sharing my passion for literature and the arts. Education is the key to a more just world.
Ms. Jahn teaches English and Film and directs the Center for Storytelling & Media. She grew up on Long Island and studied at Temple University and the University of Galway, and is continuing her study at Hunter College.
Her master's thesis examined dark humour in Irish culture through female-centred comedies, which feeds directly into the Irish literature course she teaches. Before teaching she worked in production on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Saturday Night Live and the Tribeca Festival, and founded Black Crow Comedy, Galway's first open mic centering female and queer comics.
She came to teaching out of a conviction that education is the key to a more just world — and that the world needs readers, writers, and artists now more than ever. Her classroom runs on communication, and on celebrating small joys while dreaming big.
One Trusted Adult
A trusted adult who made a difference in my life: My therapist
She taught me it is okay to struggle with mental health and ask for help.
Ms. Jessie Katz
Director of Student Success, Community Partnerships & Counseling
School Counseling, Grades 9–12 · Grade 9 and Grade 12 Advisor · MYP Community Project · Yearbook
Lean on the people around you. You don't have to do everything on your own.
Ms. Katz directs Student Success, Community Partnerships and Counseling. She advises both the ninth and twelfth grades, co-leads the MYP Community Project and the Yearbook with Mr. Petzold, and teaches in the College Counseling program.
She grew up in Westchester, New York, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Human Services with a concentration in pre-counseling and social work from the University of Delaware. She is completing a Master of Arts in School Counseling at Manhattan University, expected December 2026.
She always knew she wanted a profession built on connecting with people and learning about them; once she began internships in school counseling, she knew she had found it. Her training has been unusually broad for someone early in a career: school counseling internships at both the middle and high school levels, work with a Pupil Personnel Worker conducting home visits for students facing chronic absenteeism, county mediation meetings with families, and a crisis committee focused on school safety. She has also supported students with special needs and learning disabilities in an after-school setting in Tel Aviv, and led wellness and mental health programming at the university level.
One Trusted Adult
A trusted adult who made a difference in my life: My father
He always helped me see different perspectives, and to understand that not everything is as serious as it may seem. He taught me to meet everyone with warmth, and that being kind will always take you farther. I felt supported in all of my interests, passions, and emotions — and I apply what I learned from him in every part of my life.
This is a place where people become like a family. I love working here.
Warm, efficient, and endlessly resourceful, Ms. Kec is the heartbeat of the front office. She is known for doing everything under the sun, and for doing it with kindness, competence, and calm. She is often the first friendly face a family meets, and she takes real pleasure in helping students and parents feel welcomed, supported, and seen.
Originally from Ukraine, Ms. Kec moved to the United States at sixteen, and she brings to Saint George a deep appreciation for community, culture, and connection. She lives in NoMad with her family and is the proud mother of two boys, one of them a member of the Saint George Class of 2027. Outside of school she is an avid reader and cook and a lover of nature and movement, and each spring you are likely to find her and her family at the Ukrainian Street Festival, one of her favorite city traditions.
She believes Saint George is the right place for students who want a small, close community where everyone knows one another and friendships run deep.
Deacon Vitaliy Kit
Teacher & Director of the Center for Faith & Digital Media
Old Testament · New Testament · Iconography: Art, Symbol & Sacred Presence · Moral Questions: Ethics, Justice & Human Responsibility · Coding & Computer Science · Grades 9–12
Deacon Kit teaches the Religion program: Old Testament in the ninth grade and New Testament in the tenth, Iconography: Art, Symbol & Sacred Presence in the eleventh, and Moral Questions: Ethics, Justice & Human Responsibility in the twelfth. He also teaches coding and computer science. He has spent twenty years in education, and has been part of the Saint George community for all of them.
He was born in Sokilnyky, just outside Lviv, and entered the Holy Spirit Seminary in Lviv after finishing high school. His formation took him across Europe and to the United States. He was ordained a subdeacon by His Beatitude Lubomyr Husar in February 2004, and his vice rector during those seminary years was then-Father Sviatoslav Shevchuk, now the Father and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. Recommended for further study, he spent about two years in Eichstätt, Germany, reading canon law.
In 2006 he moved to New York City and began teaching at Saint George Elementary and Middle School, where he taught until 2012 before continuing his ministry at Saint George Academy. In 2023 he began the Clinical Pastoral Education program in northern New Jersey; he now serves as a clinical chaplain in two New Jersey hospitals. He was cantor for several years at Saint George Ukrainian Catholic Church in the East Village, and is now cantor at Saint Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church in Ramsey, New Jersey. He was ordained to the diaconate on May 10, 2026, at Saint John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Whippany.
What he values in the classroom is the shaping of young character: helping students set a moral compass, and simply being present for them. His answer to what a student needs on a hard day is characteristically direct — that they can stay exactly who they genuinely are.
He codes new projects in his own time. He has visited some fifty-five countries and speaks several languages, and the place he would most like to go is his own country, Ukraine, now torn by war.
One Trusted Adult
A trusted adult who made a difference in my life: A mentor from my years of formation
He was understanding. The relationship affected me very deeply, very pleasantly, and lastingly.
Ms. Emily Mowdy
Director of Admissions & English Teacher
English, Grades 10–12 · Grade 11 Co-Advisor · Ambassador's Club
Students should come here if they want to be challenged. The expectations are high, and in a small classroom setting, teachers can make sure those expectations are met.
Ms. Mowdy directs Admissions and teaches English in grades ten through twelve. She co-advises the eleventh grade with Ms. Jahn and advises the Ambassador's Club, whose students welcome prospective families, lead campus tours, and serve as student leaders at admissions events — the school as seen through the eyes of the people who already belong to it.
She grew up in Mattituck, on the North Fork of Long Island. She earned a B.S. in psychology at the University of Maryland, returned to complete further undergraduate coursework in education, and went on to an M.S. in TESOL and Secondary Education in English at Molloy University.
She became a teacher because of the relationships she formed with her own high school teachers, and she describes the best part of the job in those same terms: watching students grow over the time she has with them, and the particular feeling when a lesson lands and you can see learning happen in real time. Her classroom is built on the conviction that student voice matters — students do their best work when they are confident that their opinion and their contribution are important and heard.
One of her favorite projects is StoryCorps, in which students interview someone who has been deeply influential in their lives — a teacher, a parent, a friend — and set that conversation alongside literature such as Tuesdays with Morrie. As she puts it, the project gives students the chance to speak with meaning, to listen deeply, and to see how personal stories connect to the texts they study.
Her favorite Saint George memory is Spirit Week before the Christmas break, when the whole school takes part in themed days, traditions, and activities. She calls it the perfect mix of education and life — bonding, fun, and ritual, with everyone coming together not just as classes but as a community of faith. Outside of school she practices yoga, explores new neighborhoods, and tries new restaurants, and students are usually surprised to learn that she is a certified scuba diver.
One Trusted Adult
A trusted adult who made a difference in my life: My English teacher
They treated me with respect and made me feel like I could always come to them.
Rev. Dr. Leslye Noyes is a certified Jungian analyst in private practice in New York City, where she sees individuals and couples and supervises therapists who want to learn to work symbolically. She is with the Saint George community on Wednesdays.
She graduated from Union Theological Seminary and is an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ. She was awarded the Post-M.Div. Mission Fellowship from the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries, which she used to develop visual art as a ministerial tool. She completed training programs at Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy, the Blanton-Peale Institutes for Religion and Mental Health, and the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association.
She is a certified Pastoral Counselor and a Fellow of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors, and currently serves as Dean of Candidates at the Jungian Psychoanalytic Association.
Mr. Logan Oviatt
Teacher & Director of the Center for Science & Sustainability
Science, Grades 9–12 · Logic, Speech & Debate · Chess Club · Poetry Club
The day you stop having wonder about the world around you is the day you become boring.
Mr. Oviatt teaches science, directs the Center for Science & Sustainability, and teaches Logic, Speech & Debate. He grew up in Costa Mesa, California, and holds a B.S. in Earth System Science from the University of California, Irvine, and a Master of Theological Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary.
His coursework spans satellite remote sensing, ocean biogeochemistry, forest ecology and climate modelling on one side, and Biblical Hebrew, Akkadian and the theology of climate change on the other — a combination that shapes both his Earth Systems course and the Center he directs.
He is passionate about making learning exciting, and says what he enjoys most is watching a student have a sudden realization. His classroom rewards curiosity and treats failure as part of learning.
One Trusted Adult
A trusted adult who made a difference in my life: My AP Literature teacher
She listened and asked questions instead of injecting herself into my problems.
Much of the work that keeps a school running happens behind the scenes, and Andriy Petryshyn is an essential part of making sure that Saint George Academy's building and systems work smoothly each day. Whether solving a problem, coordinating logistics, or attending to the countless details most of us never see, he works tirelessly to create an environment where students and faculty can focus on learning.
He grew up in Ternopil, Ukraine, and earned a university degree in agricultural science. While living in Ukraine he also worked with technology and systems, developing an appreciation for how complex systems function and how the many individual pieces must work together. He later lived in Italy, an experience that further developed his love of travel and his interest in different places and cultures.
Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in 2022, he and his wife relocated to the United States. Adjusting to life in a new country has not always been easy, but he is grateful for the opportunities he has found here and particularly enjoys working in a school. He appreciates the energy students bring to the building, and the sense of purpose that comes from helping create a place where they can thrive.
Outside of school he loves music and going to concerts. He is an avid hiker who enjoys spending time outdoors and traveling whenever he has the opportunity. Living in New York has given him a particular appreciation for the extraordinary systems that make a city of this size function — and for all of the work, much of it unseen, that it takes to keep those systems running.
Mr. Jake Petzold
Director of Student Information Systems & School Counselor
I hope every student learns that asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Mr. Petzold serves as Director of Student Information Systems and School Counselor, and advises the ninth grade. He grew up in New Jersey and earned his bachelor's degree in Psychology from James Madison University. He is currently pursuing a master's degree in school counseling at Manhattan University.
He entered education to support students socially and emotionally as well as academically, believing that a caring adult at school can make a meaningful difference in a student's life.
One Trusted Adult
A trusted adult who made a difference in my life: My high school counselor
They always listened without immediately judging me or trying to solve everything.
Mr. Joseph Puliafito
Science Teacher, Center for Science & Sustainability
Anatomy and Physiology · Forensics · Chemistry · Grades 11–12
Here it is more like family. Teachers work together, we respect one another, and we love the students. The students are personable, they give you energy, and that energy makes you want to teach.
Mr. Puliafito has been teaching at Saint George Academy since 1981. Before that he taught with the Marist Brothers at St. Agnes High School. Over more than four decades here he has taught biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, and computers — few teachers anywhere can match the breadth or the longevity.
He is a native New Yorker who grew up on the East Side and still lives in the building he was raised in. He earned his B.S. at St. Francis College in Brooklyn and later an M.S. in educational technology at the New York Institute of Technology. Alongside the classroom, his career has included more than fifty years of curriculum design and teacher training in technology, work that has taken him to St. Francis, NYIT, and Touro College through the UFT.
His vocation began in high school, volunteering at a shelter for children run by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. The needs he encountered there were so much greater than his own, he says, and the experience changed him permanently. The desire to teach, as he puts it, was always in him.
This year he is teaching Anatomy and Physiology, Forensics, and Chemistry. The Anatomy and Physiology course carries a forensic twist — students work through the body's systems, from cells and tissues to organs, by way of the questions a forensic investigator would ask of them. It suits the way he teaches. His classroom is a hands-on one; students do best in it when they are working on experiments rather than reading about them. One of his favorite projects has been developing microchemistry activities with the Lab-Aids program to draw students into science. He has served on Middle States Accreditation committees, and once conducted interviews with engineers in the control room at Three Mile Island after the accident there.
His life outside the classroom has been as varied as the neighborhood. He trained in the Meisner technique at Carnegie Hall and appeared in several films, among them an NYU project that won a summer festival award; he was once up for a role in The Godfather. In the East Village he worked alongside sculptors and artists, building websites for private clients. For decades his standing breakfast was at Kiev, the diner that once stood on the corner. He now divides his time between Manhattan and a house in Fishkill, though his teaching remains rooted in the East Village. Nearer to home, he fishes, swims, and works in forestry.
One Trusted Adult
A trusted adult who made a difference in my life: Sister Pasqualine
She cared about me, and she applauded my art work. She instilled honesty in me and insisted that my relationships be built on it.
Mr. Steve Sayles
Teacher & Director of the Center for Global Studies & Economic Systems
History & English, Grades 9–12 · MYP Personal Project · Student Government Association
Failure is oftentimes more informative than success.
Mr. Sayles teaches History and English and directs the Center for Global Studies & Economic Systems, and coordinates the MYP Personal Project. He grew up in Syracuse, New York, and earned his Bachelor of Arts and Letters in Economics and History from the University of Notre Dame as a member of the Glynn Family Honors Program, returning to Notre Dame for a Master of Education through the Alliance for Catholic Education.
He came to Saint George Academy from La Salle Academy in New York, where he taught Global History, Government, Economics, and English. He holds Social Studies certification for Grades 9–12 and presented “The Communal Classroom: Leveraging Context for Effective Instruction” at the ACE 31 Conference.
He became an educator by watching his mother teach fifth grade for twenty-five years in a tight-knit community, helping those who needed it. What he enjoys most is watching students grow and prepare as they step into college and the wider world. His classes run on discussion — students do their best work talking the material through with him and with each other — and he builds relationships by asking what interests them and learning what drives them.
Outside of school he goes to the movies, takes long walks, and watches football. He values a respectful and welcoming community, and hopes students leave his class knowing that people work better together than by themselves.
One Trusted Adult
A trusted adult who made a difference in my life: My grandmother
She would always listen carefully to what I had to say before she spoke, and she spoke honestly and earnestly. She affirmed my goals while challenging me to get out of my comfort zone when I could. She left me a lifelong appreciation for listening to others and constantly pushing for self-improvement.
A desire to share my love and appreciation for storytelling, and for the meaning we can gain from stories.
Ms. Stanton teaches English to juniors and seniors. She grew up in Portland, Oregon, and studied at Liverpool Hope University and the University of Oxford, where her research examined the meeting point of poetry, philosophy, and music in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. She begins doctoral study at Columbia University this fall.
She became a teacher out of a desire to share her love and appreciation for storytelling — and for the meaning we can gain from stories. What she enjoys most is the banter: she says she learns a great deal from the everyday back and forth of a classroom.
Her seminars reward a particular kind of attention. Students do best when they approach a text not looking for the right answer but genuinely interested in pushing at the boundaries of what can be explored. Her background in theatre is a working one: for seven years she taught and wrote for the Northwest Children's Theater and School in Portland, adapting children's literature into stage scripts for young audiences. She has published on Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, and the Romantics, and has presented her research at Oxford.
Outside of school she reads, makes music, and thinks on the subway.
Bianca Troche
Supporting our work remotely
Manhattan University School Counseling Program
Bianca is a Bronx native whose work in education grows out of a long commitment to supporting young people and widening access to opportunity. An alumna of CitySquash, she returned to the organization as a full-time staff member and eventually served as Director of Elementary School Academics, where she built the academic enrichment curriculum for grades 3–5 and tracked students' progress.
She earned her bachelor's degree at St. Lawrence University, majoring in Psychology with double minors in Gender & Sexuality Studies and Education. She now teaches full-time at Ethical Culture Fieldston School in Riverdale while pursuing her graduate degree in School Counseling at Manhattan University. Having been a student, a teacher, and a counselor-in-training, she is especially attentive to mentorship and to building school communities where young people feel both supported and challenged.
Alyssa Hope Ferrara
On campus
Manhattan University School Counseling Program
Alyssa brings a background in psychology, counseling, and work with young people. She earned her bachelor's degree in Psychology from Manhattan University and is pursuing her master's there in School Counseling and Mental Health Counseling.
She previously served as a Teacher Assistant at the Horizon Juvenile Center in the Bronx, working directly with adolescents, and her graduate training builds on that experience as she prepares for a career supporting students academically, socially, and emotionally. As an undergraduate she was a student photographer, and was active in campus life as a member of Sigma Delta Tau, serving as the organization's Risk Manager.
Caroline Tomlinson
Returning remotely, while she recovers from foot surgery
Manhattan University School Counseling Program
Caroline is a native of Virginia and a graduate student in the School Counseling Program at Manhattan University — and already a familiar face here, having completed her practicum at Saint George in the spring, working with students individually and in groups and helping lead the health program alongside Mr. Iadevaio.
She became known that spring for finding small, meaningful ways to make students feel recognized: at the close of one group she made individual treat bags labeled in English and Ukrainian, and returned the letters students had written to their future selves at the start of the semester. She believes good counseling combines knowledge and skill with empathy, intention, and real human connection. This year she continues with the community remotely.
