The Pennington School has welcomed six new faculty members and 10 new staff this fall.
Those faculty members are Deneé Dill, Willian Dingee, Sonja Karp, Adrián López-Denis, Lizabel Mónica, and Ryan Totaro.
Joining the school’s staff in Pennington this year are Bushra Aamer, Deborah Beaver, Joseph Brunell, Brittany Forrester, Lindsey Goldenbaum, Melissa Halpin, Katherine Jurakhan, Christopher Kopits, Darin Repasy Jr., and Elizabeth Rossiter.
The school is an independent coeducational school with a college preparatory curriculum for students in grades 6 through 12, in both day and boarding programs, according to The Pennington School.
Aamer has joined the staff as the student account coordinator. Born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan, she has a bachelor’s degree from Lahore University in political science and journalism.
Before joining Pennington, she worked as an account supervisor at Colonial Club of Princeton.
Beaver joins the staff as campaign manager with 10 years of advancement experience at the collegiate level, most recently at The College of New Jersey. She also held positions at La Salle University and Susquehanna University.
Prior to her work in advancement, she worked in the classroom as a teacher and one-on-one aide. Beaver holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Susquehanna University and a graduate level teacher certificate from Rider University.
Brunell will be serving as a grounds/maintenance worker at the school. Most recently, he was a warehouse shipping and receiving manager in Newtown, Pa.
Dill joins the Pennington community as the assistant director of the Cervone Center for Learning. Dill has a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from SUNY Oneonta and a master’s degree in reading and literacy from Walden University.
She is a certified Orton-Gillingham practitioner and has worked at several educational institutions and was most recently the director of academics at Chapin School in Princeton.
Dingee joins the faculty as a teacher of Latin. Dingee has earned a bachelor’s degree in classics from Harvard University, a Master of Studies in Greek and Latin language and literature from Oxford University, and a Ph.D. in classics from Princeton University.
He recently taught Latin at Bard High School Early College and Peddie School.
Forrester joins the staff as assistant director of development for events after 13 years as the director of communications at the Harmony Schools in Princeton.
Prior to joining the Harmony Schools, Forrester served in a variety of roles at the Four Seasons Hotel and the Pierre Hotel in New York City.
A graduate of the Peddie School, she holds a Master of Science in hospitality industry studies, customer relationship management from New York University, and a Bachelor of Arts in English and communications from Villanova University.
Goldenbaum is the administrative assistant to the dean of faculty and dean of academic affairs. She has a bachelor’s degree in social work from Bloomsburg University, and was previously an executive assistant for Valley Day School, as well as an English teacher and tutor in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Halpin joins the advancement team as the director of leadership giving. Halpin has a Master of Science in public relations from Ohio University, and before joining Pennington she worked for the Rutgers University Foundation for 11 years.
Jurakhan has joined the staff as an assistant in the Health Center. She earned a bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration from Independence University and most recently worked as a dental assistant supervisor with Eastern Dental.
Karp is a new day faculty member who will be teaching French. She has a Bachelor of Arts in business studies and French from University of Hull in England, and previously worked in multiple roles for Bristol Myers Squibb both in the United Kingdom and the United States.
Kopits, Pennington School Class of 2019, joins Pennington as assistant director of alumni relations. A 2023 graduate of St. Olaf’s College, he has spent the past four years working in the development office as a student development officer and supervisor.
López-Denis joins the residential faculty community as a teacher of Upper School history. He has earned two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Havana in Cuba: one in biology and one in library science.
He also has a master’s degree from the University of Havana in Latin American studies, as well as one from Carleton University in economics.
López-Denis has a Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles in history. Before joining Pennington, he taught at a number of higher education institutions, has been published in numerous publications, and presented at several seminars and workshops on his topics of expertise.
Mónica is a new residential faculty member who will be teaching Spanish.
She completed her bachelor’s degree in history with postgraduate studies in Caribbean literature at the University of Havana, before earning her Ph.D. from the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Latin American Studies Program at Princeton University.
Her work has been included in numerous academic and creative publications, and she has won several literary awards. Most recently, she spent five years teaching at The Lawrenceville School.
Repasy has joined the staff as lead journeyman electrician. He earned an electrician diploma from Thompson Institute, and has worked for numerous companies, most recently MGH Electrical Contractors as a commercial electrician.
Rossiter has joined the Health Center staff as a school nurse. She has a Bachelor of Science in nursing from The College of New Jersey. Before joining the Pennington community, she worked at Temple Health and Penn Medicine, and most recently Sutter Health Comprehensive Cancer Center in Berkeley, Calif.
Totaro, a Pennington Class of 2018 graduate, has returned to campus as a teacher of Upper School history.
After Pennington, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Haverford College, and most recently worked as an instructor of arts and associate administrator at Community High School of Arts and Academics in Roanoke, Va.