Faculty & Staff

List of 10 members.

• 

  Aaron Cooper 

  Head of School

  Bio

  Aaron Cooper has dedicated his career to pre-k through grade 9 independent school education. He has been a teacher, coach, advisor, and administrator for the last 22 years. Aaron Cooper joined New Canaan Country School in July 2018.  

  Aaron earned an Ed.M. in Private School Leadership and an M.A. in Educational Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University; he received his B.A. in the Growth and Structure of Cities from Haverford College, and a diploma from Groton School.
  
  

  Prior to joining NCCS, Aaron was the Head of Elisabeth Morrow School in Englewood, N.J. for six years. During his 15 years at EMS, Aaron also served as Assistant Head and Dean of Students. Previously, Aaron worked at the Peck School (NJ), Germantown Friends School (PA), and with the A Better Chance (NY) organization.
  
  

  Mr. Cooper has served on five re-accreditation visiting committees and is a member of the Elementary School Heads Association. Currently, he serves on the boards of the New Canaan Community Foundation and Westover School
  
  Aaron and his wife, Kara, have two daughters, Julia ‘21 and Charlotte ‘23.
• 

  Jeannie Bean 

  Director of Early Childhood

  Bio

  Jeannie has been a valued member of the Early Childhood team for the last 15 years. An alumna of Country School’s Class of 1983, Jeannie returned to NCCS in the Beginners program in 2008 as an Assistant Teacher, and in 2011 moved into her current role as a Lead Teacher. 
  
  

  In 2015 Jeannie was awarded the Williams Family Faculty Chair which recognizes exceptional full-time faculty who demonstrate a commitment to engaging and inspiring students, creating curriculum to reach all learners, and seeking ongoing professional development. In presenting this award, it was noted, “With her openness, flexibility and thoughtfulness, Jeannie is a force of positivity and light for all those fortunate to travel in her midst. A masterful teacher Jeannie artfully weaves her deep understanding of child development with a commitment to meeting every child exactly where they are and supporting and stretching each child to become more vividly themselves. Colleagues admire Jeannie for her intentionality and perspective, for her understanding of the larger arc of child development, for her curiosity and desire to learn more about educating children, and for her daily practice in the classroom.”

  
  

  Jeannie is deeply committed to the Country School mission and community and as a trusted colleague served as Co-Chair of the English department from 2014-16. During her two year tenure, Jeannie led conversations with her Early Childhood and Lower School colleagues to establish a rubric and learning progression in writing for each grade level that reflects our priorities and best practices. Additionally, Jeannie was one of four faculty members chosen to travel to Finland in 2015 to learn more about the renowned Nordic educational system, and she has held various workshops for colleagues throughout her career. Additionally, she currently serves as one of two faculty representatives to the Board of Trustees, for which she was selected by her peers.

   

  She has been an avid admissions ambassador allowing her to share her deep love of Country School. The classrooms and fields run deep for Jeannie; as our mission has shaped and influenced not only Jeannie’s four siblings in the late ’70s into the mid ’80s, but her own family as well, including her husband, Chris, also a member of the Class of 1983 and her three children, Bella '14, Anna '15 and Finley '17.

  
  

  Prior to joining NCCS, she was a Pre-K lead teacher and Assistant Director of Admissions for Putnam Indian Field School. She received a B.S. in Education from the University of Vermont, a M.S. in Reading from College of New Rochelle and was trained in the Orton-Gillingham method at the Windward Teacher Training Institute.
• 

  Mark Macrides 

  Director of Community Engagement / Visual Arts Teacher

  Bio

  Mark Macrides has been working at New Canaan Country School for the past 37 years. After graduating from Rhode Island School of Design in 1985, he came to Country School where he pursued and received a MAT from Manhattanville College. He currently serves as Event Manager, Archivist and Chair of the Visual Arts Department as well as teaching art in several grades. The process-oriented Kindergarten Art Program he designed has been a model for other schools and he has presented the program at workshops both nationally and internationally. For many years, he assisted with facilities related projects including project managing for major construction projects, renovations to school facilities, managing employee housing and working on master and strategic planning committees. Mark is an accomplished artist who has exhibited his work nationally. He served for several years on the Board of Directors of the New Canaan Society of the Arts and currently serves as Executive Director of the Loft Artists Association in Stamford, CT.
• 

  Meaghan Mallin 

  Head of Early Childhood and Lower School

  Bio

  Meaghan Mallin became the Head of Lower School in 2016. Previously, Meaghan spent 14 years at The Stanwich School in Greenwich, CT, most recently as Associate Head of School for Grades PreK-12 and Head of Lower School, for Grades PreK through 6. Though she has served as a school administrator for the past 11 years, Meaghan’s background also includes classroom experience ranging in age from early childhood through Grade 4 at both Stanwich and Brunswick School.  She earned her B.S. in Accounting from Boston College Carroll School of Management and her M.A. in Teaching from Manhattanville College.  Meaghan and her husband, Zack, have two children, Connor '25 and Rose '29.
• 

  Beth O'Brien 

  Director of Enrollment Management and Financial Aid

  Bio

  Beth O’Brien began her educational career at New Canaan Country School as an apprentice teacher in the Lower School from 1992-1994. She worked as an elementary teacher in the Seattle, Wash. area teaching in a first, second and third grade multi-age classroom, and then returned to Country School in 2000 as a Beginners Assistant. From 2002-2008, she served as the Beginners Program Coordinator and as a Lead Teacher in the Beginners Program. Pursuing an interest in literacy and language development, she studied and worked at the Windward School in White Plains in 2008-2009. Beth returned to Country School in 2010 to serve as our Associate Director of Admission and in 2012, became the Head of Early Childhood. Beth has a B.A. from Bucknell University, an Elementary Certification from Center for Montessori Education and has done graduate work at Bank Street College. She also completed the Leadership Institute at Teachers College, Columbia University. 
• 

  Reshan Richards 

  Director of Studies

  Bio

  Dr. Reshan Richards became Director of Studies in July 2019. Prior to that, he was Chief Executive Officer of Explain Everything, Inc., a software company app which he co-founded in 2011. Reshan previously served as Director of Educational Technology at Montclair Kimberley Academy in Montclair, NJ and Assistant Director of Technology for the Town School in New York, NY, where he also taught 5th-8th grade math. He is an associate faculty member at the Columbia University School of Professional Studies and Adjunct Assistant Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University. He serves on the boards of Montclair Kimberley Academy & Global Online Academy and is the co-author of Blending Leadership and Make Yourself Clear, both published by Wiley. Reshan holds an Ed.D. in Instruction Technology and Media from Teachers College, Columbia University, an M.Ed. in Learning and Teaching from Harvard University School of Education and a B.A. in Music from Columbia University.
• 

  Kirsten Rosolen 

  Head of Middle and Upper School

  Bio

  Kirsten Rosolen has been Head of Middle School since 2005. She started her teaching career at Country School as a Grade 5 apprentice and then became a Grade 5 homeroom teacher. An alumna of Choate Rosemary Hall, she returned there for many summers to teach and work as the Director for the CONNECT Math and Science Program for Middle School Girls.  Kirsten earned a B.A. in Biology from Bucknell University and an M.A. in Teaching, with a focus on Middle School Education and Administration, from Sacred Heart University.  In addition, she was a fellow in Vanderbilt’s Peabody Professional Institute for Independent School Leadership.  Recently, she presented on Mission Skills at the annual National Association of Independent Schools and co-authored the article, “Building Character: How Can Independent Schools Ensure They Teach What They Profess?”  Kirsten has also served on the Board’s Advancement Committee and Master Planning Committees. Kirsten is active in the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) and the Fairchester Middle School Heads groups and was a member of a school accreditation team. She enjoys playing pickle ball and cooking. Kirsten and her husband, Matt, have two children.
• 

  Anne Marie Schettini-Lynch 

  Chief Financial and Operations Officer

  Bio

  For the past nine years, Anne Marie was the Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration at Iona College. As a senior leader and Officer of the College she was responsible for leading more than 100 employees in the areas of Finance, Student Financial Services and business services. She holds a Masters of Business Administration degree from St. John’s University and a B.A. in Accounting and Information Systems from Queens College. 
• 

  Katherine Kaneko 

  Director of Equity and Inclusion
• 

  Holly (Donaldson) Casella 

  Director of Advancement