After serving Belmont Day School as director of development since January 2025, Stacy will be departing Belmont Day at the conclusion of this school year.

During her time at Belmont Day, Stacy played an important role in supporting the school’s advancement efforts, working closely with the Advancement Committee of the Board of Trustees and the school’s Campaign Leadership Committee to help strengthen philanthropic engagement and community support for the school’s future. She also helped guide the Belmont Day Annual Fund and supported the early implementation of a planned giving program at the school. Throughout her work, Stacy brought energy and enthusiasm to relationship-building across the Belmont Day community.

In addition to her work in development, Stacy brought tremendous care and attention to the beauty of our campus grounds. Through planting, weeding, and tending to the gardens and outdoor spaces around campus, she helped create welcoming environments enjoyed by students, families, faculty, and visitors alike.

We are grateful for Stacy’s contributions to Belmont Day during her time at the school and wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

After four years of dedicated service to the school, Tania departed Belmont Day School earlier this spring.

During her time at BDS, Tania played a vital role in strengthening community engagement and supporting the school’s advancement efforts through her leadership of development events. She oversaw the planning and execution of numerous events that brought together families, alumni, trustees, and friends of the school, including the Belmont Day Baaash. Through her thoughtful planning, creativity, and attention to detail, Tania helped create meaningful opportunities for connection and celebration across the Belmont Day community.

Tania was also instrumental in helping lay the foundation for Belmont Day’s Centennial celebration. Her contributions to the early planning process helped shape what promises to be a memorable milestone year for the school and its community.

We are grateful for Tania’s many contributions to Belmont Day over the past four years and wish her all the best in her future endeavors.

We are sad to bid farewell to Julia after this school year. Julia has decided to spend more time closer to home on the South Shore.

Julia joined our faculty two years ago and has made a lasting impact during her short tenure. During her time here, she has brought a particular expertise in teaching reading. She used assessments and data to guide instructional goals and structured classroom time to meet every child’s needs. She crafted and revised various aspects of the first grade curriculum, such as revamping the nutrition unit, and worked with her grade-level team to reimagine the annual curriculum showcase to highlight poetry and coding. In addition, Julia enthusiastically piloted a new social-emotional learning curriculum this year with her grade-level team. One of her first-grade students’ fondest memories was when Julia introduced them to needlepoint. Beyond classroom teaching duties, Julia also served at Belmont Day as an associate teacher mentor and tennis coach.

We will miss Julia and wish her the best beyond BDS!

We are delighted to welcome Pati Fernandez back to Belmont Day School as director of development.

Pati previously served in this role from 2019 to 2022, guiding the school’s development efforts during the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout her tenure, she partnered closely with school leadership, volunteers, and donors to sustain philanthropic support for Belmont Day and strengthen the school’s culture of giving during a period of significant uncertainty.

Most recently, Pati served as chief development officer at Esperanza Academy, where she provided strategic leadership for the school’s advancement program and further deepened her experience in fundraising, donor engagement, and institutional advancement.

As Belmont Day prepares to celebrate its Centennial in 2027, we are especially pleased to welcome Pati back to the community. She brings valuable institutional knowledge, deep relationships within the Belmont Day community, and a proven track record of advancement leadership. We look forward to the experience, energy, and perspective she will bring as we embark on this historic milestone year together.

We are excited to announce that Dan will join us in the fall as our new grade 6 science teacher and advisor. Dan comes to Belmont Day from Arlington Catholic High School, where he has been teaching science to grades 9-12, including biology, chemistry, physics, engineering, and forensic science, for the past 14 years. In addition, Dan served as a faculty advisor on several student clubs and activities, including the Student Diversity Council and the Best Buddies Club, as well as faculty committees, including the National Honor Society and the NEASC (New England Association of Schools and Colleges) reaccreditation team chair, among others. He has also coached soccer and lacrosse over the years. Dan holds a B.A. in biology from Hofstra University.

Please join us in welcoming Dan to BDS in September!

We are thrilled to announce that our new first grade teacher is a familiar face to many in the Belmont Day community. Amy will be teaching first grade alongside Geoffrey Fox starting in the 2026-27 school year. Amy was a long-term substitute for Geoffrey in first grade during his parental leave this past fall and winter, and also served as our science specialist at the Belmont Day Summer Camp. Amy will continue to be a member of the camp staff this summer, taking on the role of a specialty camp unit leader.

After departing BDS in January, Amy took on a leave position in the Watertown Public Schools in a fifth grade classroom. Before her time at BDS, Amy was a math interventionist and summer math teacher for the Watertown Public Schools as well as a math tutor at Shady Hill. Amy also previously taught kindergarten and first grade in Hawaii and was a teacher at the Preschool of the Arts in Cambridge before the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of you may also see Amy around town on the fields as she is a K-2 girls’ lacrosse coach in Belmont. 

We are delighted that Amy will be returning to Belmont Day and will now have a permanent home here. Welcome back, Amy!

We are excited to announce that Tasha will be joining the Belmont Day School community as our new physical education teacher and middle school athletics coach in the fall.

Tasha currently serves as a long-term substitute physical education teacher at Watertown Middle School. In addition to her teaching experience, Tasha brings an extensive athletic and coaching background. She played collegiate soccer at Simmons College and continues to compete in the Eastern Mass Women’s Soccer League while also representing Maccabi USA internationally. She previously served as the head coach of the girls’ varsity soccer program at Maimonides High School.

Additionally, Tasha holds a United States Soccer Federation C Coaching License and is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer, bringing valuable expertise in player development, fitness, and overall athletic performance.  

Throughout the interview process, Tasha stood out not only for her experience and knowledge but also for her energy, warmth, and passion for working with students. Please join us in welcoming her to BDS!

We are thrilled to announce that Jennifer will be our new fifth grade humanities teacher starting in the fall. Jennifer comes to Belmont Day after a long tenure at Milton Academy, which began in 2007. At Milton, Jennifer has taught a variety of subjects in fourth and fifth grades, including reading, writing, social studies, United States history and geography, science, and math, all with a focus and emphasis on social justice and anti-bias education.

In addition, Jennifer has been a long-standing faculty member at The Saturday Course at Milton, a weekend enrichment program for public school students in grades 4-8. Jennifer received both her M.Ed. in elementary education and a B.A. in history from Boston University. 

Please join us in welcoming Jennifer to the Belmont Day community!

As we announced earlier this year, Kristen Faubert will be going on parental leave in the fall. After a thorough search, we are pleased to announce that Jenifer will be covering for Kristen until she returns in February 2027. Jenifer is a familiar face at Belmont Day, having served as a substitute teacher here since early March. A flexible and seasoned educator, Jenifer has subbed in almost every grade at BDS these last few months, but she admits that her sweet spot is definitely in early childhood. Beyond BDS, Jenifer has taught in pre-k-to-grade 2 for almost two decades at several local independent schools, including Acera, Shady Hill, and the Park School. She has also served as director and head of school at various other preschool and elementary schools. Jenifer is well-versed in the Montessori, Waldorf, and Reggio Emilia educational approaches.

Besides being familiar with the BDS culture, Jenifer has previously co-taught with Lisa Wilson, our other lead kindergarten teacher during their tenure at Acera. Jenifer received her B.A. from Simmons College and her M.A.T. in child development, early literacy, and curriculum design from Tufts University. We look forward to having Jenifer on board in a full-time capacity for the first half of the upcoming academic year.