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235 Hope Road, Tinton Falls, NJ 07724  /  732.542.4777

Ranney School Announces 2019-20 Faculty and Staff Additions

Ranney School Head of School Dr. John Griffith has announced energetic new educators that will be joining the dedicated and passionate Ranney faculty this year.
 
Upper School
Dr. Rob Cameron will be joining Ranney School after serving as a professor of world languages and Spanish at West Point. Dr. Cameron earned his Ph.D. from Florida State University but has New Jersey roots and is excited to return to the region.
 
Ms. Diane Mantlick will also be joining the World Language Department to teach Spanish. Ms. Mantlick most recently taught at St. Rose for the last five years. She earned her master's degree from Middlebury, arguably the leading world language program in the country. She has extensive travel experience, having studied Spanish abroad in both Buenos Aires, Argentina and Madrid, Spain.
 
Mr. Reed Coots will be joining both the science and math departments. He recently completed a master's in engineering at the University of Michigan and has studied advanced statistics as well. He will help greatly with the recent efforts in STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) and is an ideal educator who embodies the spirit of this interdisciplinary evolution in education.   
 
As Ranney continues to build out its nationally-recognized Robotics program, Mr. Chuck Tappen, President of Plum Crazy Robotics, will teach Upper School Robotics, while Ranney graduate Chip Johnson ’18, who is currently studying Computer Science at Monmouth University, will serve as Assistant Robotics Coach.
 
Middle School
Mrs. Christina Dashkavich will teach 7th grade Pre-Algebra and Algebra I.  She is a graduate of Kean University and comes to Ranney with 18 years of teaching experience.  Her demo lesson featured a variety of strategies and the level of active learning that best suits middle school students.
 
Mrs. Heather Dow joins Ranney as a 6th grade Humanities teacher.  She has six years of experience teaching middle school English and Humanities, holds an undergraduate degree in Education from the State University of New York at Cortland, a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Bethany College, and Advanced New Jersey Certification in English. 
 
Returning to Ranney is Ms. Christine Holl, who served as a substitute teacher in 2015 and was previously a Ranney Summer Camp counselor. She graduated from Ramapo College with a degree in Integrated Science Studies, which focused on the three major sciences, with a concentration in Science, Technology, and Society. In her four years of teaching experience, she has also taught abroad in the Marshall Islands and Australia.
 
Mr. Jason Jennings comes to Ranney from The Kiski School, where he taught World History and International Relations.  He earned his BA in History & Political Science from Montclair State University and his MS in Global Politics from Durham University in England.  Mr. Jennings will teach 8th grade World History. He has also coached the Ranney School Middle School Swim team in the past and is excited to return in this expanded role. 
 
With multiple degrees from Tufts University and Columbia University, Dr. Nicole Kiviat will teach Spanish.  Her experience in Columbia's Center for Teaching and Learning, Innovative Teaching Institute, and Teaching Observation Fellows Program has resulted in a varied skill set that will serve Ranney School students extremely well. 
 
Ms. Katelyn Linney has prior experience at Ranney as a Ranney Summer Institute teacher, a maternity replacement in the Math Department, and the current Varsity Girls' Basketball coach.  She has an undergraduate degree from Fairfield University, is pursuing a degree at Fordham University's Graduate School of Education, and will teach 8th grade Algebra I and Geometry.   
 
Ms. Laurie Pappas has taught Middle School science for 19 years after earning her Bachelors of Science in Anthropology/Biology/Chemistry at Herbert H. Lehman College in New York City. She is passionate about science and has designed field studies of Island Beach State Park as well as cranberry bogs at Lebanon State Park.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lower School
Ms. Ashley Trotta will serve as the Lower School Learning Specialist, a role that will continue to strengthen literacy work, while bringing the ability to support students having a wider range of needs including math, organization, and executive functioning skills. Ms. Trotta comes from the Neighborhood Charter School of Harlem in New York City. She has her BS in Special Education from Syracuse University and an MA in Reading Specialization from Teachers College at Columbia University.

Upper School Art Faculty member Ms. Marilyn Casey will be teaching art to students in Kindergarten, Grades 1, 2 and the Grade 4 Art in the Garden elective, in addition to her Upper School art classes. Ms. Casey has a wealth of experience as an artist and art teacher covering the range of young children through to the college level. She has also worked in the education departments of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Rubin Museum of Art in addition to her role as an Art Teacher in New York City and as a member of the Ranney Visual Arts Department. She earned Her BS in Arts Education from SUNY at New Paltz and holds an MA in Art Education from City College of New York.

Middle School Faculty member Ms. Madeleine McCarthy will be teaching art to students in Grades 3, 4, 5 and the Grade 5 Art in the Garden elective, as well as her Middle School art classes. Ms. McCarthy joined Ranney Middle School in 2012 as a visual arts educator. She holds a BS in Art and Design from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and completed an Advanced Post Baccalaureate in the Teacher Licensure Program at Bridgewater State College, also in MA. Having worked as an architect, Madeleine has also taught Science and Math. Full of energy and enthusiasm, she has extended her work with Ranney Middle School students to the annual Boat Building Project making use of her many talents.
 
With 20 years of experience at Ranney School, Ms. Katie Hunt will be returning to first grade, where she taught for 15 of those years.
 
Administration
Mr. Adam Materasso, who has been part of the Ranney community for 16 years, transitions into a role as the Dean of Enrollment Management and College Counseling, and is joined by Ms. Gwyneth Hecht (Associate Dean of Enrollment Management), Ms. Adrianne Greth (Associate Dean of Enrollment and College Counseling), Ms. Dana Matassino (Associate Dean of College Counseling.).
 
Mr. Chris Landosky is serving in the role of Director of Operations. Mr. Landosky served six years in the USMC as a sergeant and was deployed in support of Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. He spent 23 years at ESF Summer Camps, helping to expand from five locations to more than 14. He also assisted with all of the camp locations for the professional sports teams (Phillies, Union, Eagles, Nationals), which included more than 18 years developing and managing programs for the Phillies. Most recently, he spent almost two years creating and developing two new positions at Berkshire School as Direct of Summer Programs and Director of Campus Safety.
 
“Our passionate and caring faculty and staff members are what make Ranney such a special place for the students, and we are grateful to be adding teachers and roles that can further our mission and culture in all the right ways,” said Dr. Griffith.
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Ranney School

235 Hope Road
Tinton Falls, NJ 07724
Tel. 732.542.4777

Our mission is to know and value every child, nurturing intellectual curiosity and confidence, and inspiring students to lead honorably, think creatively, and contribute meaningfully to society.