Lida Brooke
Lida Brook serves as School One’s Business and Office Manager, where she juggles phone calls, requests for bandaids, logistics and daily accounting. Lida moved to Providence with her family from the Boston area. She left her career in management to start her own sewing business, designing and creating custom handbags and accessories. Lida studied accounting at the University of Southern Florida. She loves getting to know our families when they walk in the door and staying busy with all of the tasks that keep us running smoothly.
- Studied accounting at the University of Southern Florida
Lizzie Brown
- B.F.A. Film, Animation, and Video, Rhode Island School of Design
Nancy Carreiro
Nancy Carreiro joined the staff at School One in 2021 as math teacher after a career spanning over three decades of teaching high school math in public schools. She took on many roles including math department chair, math team coach, class advisor and SAT teacher. In that time she taught all courses and levels of math but her absolute favorite math course is geometry. She was fortunate to have participated in the Institute for Advanced Studies summer math institute in geometry coordinated by Rhode Island College for two summers in Park City Utah. At School One, Nancy teaches math, provides academic support, and thoroughly enjoys the small class setting and the warm, welcoming atmosphere of the school. Knowing that most of her students don’t like math or find it difficult, Nancy tries to make her classes inviting and enjoyable… interjecting bits of math history and encouragement.
- B.A. Math, Bridgewater State University
- M.A.T. Math, Rhode Island College
Mark Christman
Mark teaches Math and Science at School One. He started college in Biochemistry, but over time transitioned further and further towards mathematics, ultimately earning a Bachelor’s degree in Physics and a Doctorate in Philosophy, specializing in mathematical logic. In that time, he has always cared deeply about teaching, doing so whenever possible – occasionally to the point of supervisors expressing concerns that too much teaching was being done. In the classroom, Mark makes full use of his multidisciplinary background, drawing connections between topics and contextualizing lessons within the broader academic landscape. When not teaching, he can often be found baking, reading, or playing and designing a wide variety of games.
- B.S. Physics, University of Rochester
- B.A. Philosophy, University of Rochester
- Ph.D. Philosophy, Brown University
Diana Champa
Diana Champa is the Director of Literary Engagement at School One where she oversees literary arts programming and community engagement. Diana’s current projects include an inter-generational books club, after-school and evening creative writing programs and the WriteRI short story contest. She also works to foster partnerships with other writing organizations like Grub Street and Goat Hill Writers.
Before coming (back) to School One, Diana worked for Prime Cut Productions and the Van Morrison Rhythm and Blues Foundation in Northern Ireland. Previously, Diana worked as School One’s Director of Development and for several arts organizations in R.I.
She’s native to Rhode Island who makes friends easily. Despite ridicule, she believes in astrology.
- B.A. Liberal Studies, University of Rhode Island
- M.F.A. Creative Writing, Seamus Heaney Centre, Queen's University Belfast
Miles Cook
Miles teaches courses ranging from comics to illustration to digital design. A comic book artist himself, he teaches students to create characters, map out plots, and use visual communication whether on paper or using digital tools. Miles comes to School One from Maine where he attended the Maine College of Art.
- B.F.A. Illustration, Maine College of Art
Rachael Crowley
Rachael is a dedicated graduate student at Concordia University Irvine, currently pursuing her LMHC Licensure. She holds a degree from Grand Canyon University and specializes in a counseling style that is a blend of Person-Centered Therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). With a strong commitment to fostering a supportive and collaborative therapeutic environment, Rachael focuses on validating and normalizing each client’s unique experiences.
Her professional background includes working as a family clinician with families on the Gila River Reservation in Arizona, where she provided culturally sensitive care. Rachael has also worked extensively with children with autism and served as an in-home clinician with families in Rhode Island. She is passionate about working with students, helping them navigate life’s challenges while promoting self-awareness and emotional resilience.
- B.S. Grand Canyon University, Psychology
- M.A. Concordia University, Irvine, Clinical Counseling '25
Siobhan Ritchie Cute
Siobhan grew up rolling her eyes at parents who dragged her along on trips to far-off lands like Turkey, Thailand and Tunisia. Somewhere along the line, she realized her good fortune, falling in love with cultures, places and peoples. She loves teaching languages and fostering the many forms of communication that help people connect to one another. She teaches Spanish and a variety of other classes. Siobhan feels School One is a wonderful place for young people, because “students here get to step into and walk around in adult-sized academic shoes, making decisions about what they learn and what holds meaning in their world.”
- A.B. Sociology, University of Chicago
Natalie Delmar
- B.S. Marketing Management, Virginia Tech
Deb DeMarco
Deb DeMarco teaches ceramics at School One and runs our after-school ceramics studio. Before coming to School One she has done numerous youth arts projects with organizations like City Arts! and the Learning Brooke School. A ceramics artist herself, her work has been shown the South County Art Association, AS220 and Providence City Hall.
- B.A. Art, University of Rhode Island
- Coursework, Rhode Island School of Design
- Coursework, Providence College
Jim Drain
Jim Drain is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work centers around craft-based methods in his sculpture and installation work. Jim received his bachelor’s degree in Sculpture from the Rhode Island School of Design [RISD] in 1998. At School One, Jim teaches Art and sees his instruction as a way to gain visual literacy, find ways to problem-solve and see making as another method of thinking critically. Jim also teaches at RISD and has taught at Lesley University, Sotheby’s School of Art and Haystack School of Arts and Crafts. His work is in a number of private and museum collections including MOMA, the Whitney Museum and Philadelphia Museum of Art, among others.
- B.F.A. Sculpture, Rhode Island School of Design
Erin Egan
Erin began her career at School One as a part-time teacher and began full-time in 2000. Erin specializes in English Medieval History, but has taught courses in U.S. History, Western Civilization, Fashion and Décor, Hollywood History and Shakespeare. She appreciates good, robust debates and encourages them in all of her classes. Erin converts students from “I hate history” to “It’s my favorite class” on a regular basis. She is also a warm and caring advisor who can nonetheless deliver a “look” when students are cutting corners. She draws on her theater background in stage-managing to help organize School One’s unique graduation ceremony.
- B.S. Theatre, Emerson College
- M.A.T. Teaching, Brown University
Michael Gunn
Originally from rural northwestern Pennsylvania, Michael Gunn recently graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design with a degree in Painting. His time at RISD allowed him to function as a community builder, event organizer, curator and teacher through his various leadership and teaching positions. His art practice balances between painting traditions, sculpture, and craft to produce narrative and symbolic images and objects. He was awarded Residency in Scotland by the Royal Drawing School, a fellowship in curating at the RISD Museum, and now works at ODD-KIN gallery in East Providence. Originally learning how to oil paint and draw in a community based intergenerational course himself, Michael’s School One Intergenerational Advanced Drawing Class hopes to forge relationships between adults and teens as they uncover tools to map and depict the world surrounding them and in their imaginations. Michael’s course utilizes still life traditions to give students strategies to depict and practice drawing any type of subject matter or to return to for visual research when making work that is entirely from the imagination.
- B.F.A. Painting (dual minor in Drawing and Theory and History of Art and Design), Rhode Island School of Design
Bill Frey
Bill Frey began tutoring while an undergraduate majoring in mathematics. His teaching career includes eight years at independent schools in Vermont and Maine, college level teaching at the University of Wisconsin and CCRI and volunteer teaching at correctional facilities in Vermont and Rhode Island. He’s held management consulting and senior executive positions in multiple industries and owned a custom millwork business from 2011 until 2018.
Bill brings enthusiasm, curiosity and empathy to his instruction. He seeks to involve technology and connect the material to authentic situations. Past student projects have ranged from cooking, casino nights and designing skate parks to students deriving the result showing the impossibility of angle trisection and stock market simulations. His life is guided by two core values: faith and practice.
- B.S. Pure Mathematics, University of Massachusetts
- M.A. Mathematics, University of Wisconsin
- M.B.A., University of Michigan
Susan Gale
Susan joined School One in September 2023 as the Director of Development where she
oversees fundraising, grants, and events, and is the Parent Laison for current students’ families.
Susan started her career as a journalist before moving to non-profit development and then
corporate marketing and communications. She also opened her own business, Gale Force
Communications, which offered freelance writing as well as operating a website to assist
parents called Kidoinfo.com.
After stints at two of Rhode Island’s largest corporations, Susan knew she wanted to get back to
using her expertise to help people and became Manager of Marketing and Communications for
St. Mary’s Home for Children, where she further developed her skills in marketing, branding,
fundraising, public and media relations, social media, website development, event planning,
and Board and volunteer coordination.
At School One, Susan is continuously learning from her talented co-workers and enjoys the “be
yourself” atmosphere. She is always excited to tell School One’s story and help achieve the
school’s financial goals so it can continue to meet the needs of every student – both today and
into the future.
- B.A. Communications, College of Wooster
- Project Management Certificate, Bryant University
Phil Goldman
In addition to being an Advisor, Phil teaches a wide range of classes at School One, and yet all of them somehow seem interconnected: Eastern Philosophy, Ethics, Psychology and Public Speaking. He also teaches Tai Chi and the Meditation/Stress Reduction Committee. He is devoted to chilling out the entire school.
Phil’s classes demand, from all students, full and thoughtful participation in the often lively discussions as well as meaningful introspection. His technique, at different times, has been described as “not strict but challenging” and “tough love.” Let’s just say it runs a bit of a gamut. When he’s not teaching at School One, Phil teaches Tai Chi and Kung Fu in Cranston.
- B.A. Liberal Studies and Teaching Certificate, Providence College
- Producer/Host, Live Bait: True Stories from Real People, Providence
- Tai Chi Chuan Instructor, Community Tai Chi, Cranston
Adam Hall
Adam is a homeschool parent and a dedicated member of Rhode Island’s vast homeschool community. As such, his education model is to allow students to play, explore, and discover in an unscripted way while offering guidance and support to each unique path. Adam is a practicing ceramist, a hopeful environmentalist, a cat person, and an avid reader of terrible crime fiction.
MFA, Photography, Cranbrook Academy of Art
BA, Studio Art and English, SUNY Oswego
- MFA, Photography, Cranbrook Academy of Art
- BA, Studio Art and English, SUNY Oswego
Christopher Hayes
After finishing his undergraduate history degree in 1988, Christopher began teaching in Vermont at a small junior boarding school for dyslexic boys. It opened his eyes to how students learn differently and led him to Brown and Ted Sizer to earn his MAT in 1992. A decade of teaching history led to independent school administration, supporting teachers in best meeting the needs of their students. He is thrilled to be returning to New England and family. While Christopher is quite tall, no, he was not a very talented basketball player.
- B.A. Williams College, History
- M.A.T. Brown University
Cary Honig
After growing up in New York City, where the kids who beat him up referred to him as “The Professor”, Cary was lured to Brown University. After Brown, he spent a miserable three years in law school and then entered the Master’s in Teaching program at Brown despite his parents’ objections. After teaching in public schools, Cary fell in love with School One students’ willingness to speak up and disagree and with the time and freedom the school granted him to figure out how best to teach students to read, write, punctuate, provide evidence and think for themselves. He also loves being able to evaluate students in a genuine and informative way rather than by comparing students through letter grades. After 30 years at School One, Cary still feels very lucky to be here. In addition to teaching, Cary serves as School One’s college counselor and oversees the school’s curriculum.
- A.B. Classics, Brown University
- J.D., Harvard University
- M.A.T. English, Brown University
Carly McCalla
Born and raised in South Carolina, Carly comes to us from teaching science at Saluda High School for six years after. She has always been passionate about developing an interdisciplinary and collaborative framework when addressing scientific issues such as conservation. My goal is to inspire students to see the “bigger picture” and to make real-world connections to material outside of the classroom and in their own communities. In addition to teaching in the classroom, Carly served as a field instructor for Ecology Project International, where she introduced students to real-world scientific study, engaged them in conservation service projects, and raised their cultural and ecological awareness in the field setting of Yellowstone National Park. Working as a field instructor deepened her interest in continuing to connect students and local communities to scientific research and conservation initiatives through public education and policy outreach. When she is not teaching, she is outside! In fact, Carly stepped off the Appalachian Trail in August 2024 to join us at School One after hiking the full trail from Georgia.
- B.S. Biology, Erskine College
- B.A. Political Science, Erskine College
Allyson Neilan
- B.S. Nursing, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Michaela O’Donnell ’87
Michaela graduated from School One in 1987 and is thrilled to have returned. With degrees in art and education (she’d have earned a degree in travel, as well, if there were one), School One embodies the learning space that Michaela most admires. A huge proponent of progressive education, she feels strongly that School One’s small classes, advisor system, creative curriculum, and student-centered learning is pretty close to perfect. After 25 years of teaching Art and Spanish in some nearby independent schools, Michaela now oversees School One’s admissions office, international student program, our website, and our parent newsletter, while making sure that all our prospective families have a great experience with the admissions process.
- M.Ed. Curriculum Development: Creative Arts in Learning, Lesley University
- B.A. Studio Art: Ceramics, Rhode Island College
- B.S. Art Education, Rhode Island College
Lon Plynton
Lon’s music classes at School One combine ensemble playing with musical concepts and range in style from jazz to rock to blues to classical. Lon is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and performer, often playing with the band Mystic Jammers. He also directs music and performs with Rites and Reason Theater at Brown University.
- B.A. Music and Africana Studies, Brown University
Brittany Proulx, LMHC
Brittany is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, licensed in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts, with a Clinical Psychology Degree obtained from University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth in 2014. While in graduate school, Brittany started her career working with children at Bradley Hospital on the inpatient unit. Once graduated, Brittany continued to work in the emergency service field in both outpatient and inpatient settings, working with individuals across of all ages. However, Brittany’s passion has always been working with children and being able to make a positive impact to enhance a healthy mind and lifestyle. Brittany has experience conducting crisis evaluations, one-on-one therapy sessions, and running psycho-educational therapy groups. Brittany implements a strength-based approach when working with students and pulls skills and tools primarily from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Person Centered Therapy. Brittany is passionate about helping students find their voice and empower them to foster personal growth and change to succeed toward their future goals.
- B.A. Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
- M.A. Clinical Psychology, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
- Registered Yoga Teacher
Megan Roppolo
With a doctorate in materials chemistry, Megan’s scientific background is both deep and broad. At School One, Megan teaches chemistry, forensics and physics. This year, she is also piloting a computer science curriculum developed at the University of Rhode Island. Megan wants students to truly connect to science: “My goal is for every student to find something interesting, relevant and fun in their science courses.” Her previous teaching experience includes SUNY Binghamton as well as Moses Brown. When not working, Megan practices chemistry in her kitchen and is a baking genius (according to her lucky colleagues and students).
- Ph.D. State University of New York at Binghamton
- B.S. St. Lawrence University
Rebecca Siemering
Rebecca Siemering is an artist whose work centers on repurposing found
materials with her methodical style of stitch and needlework into
fiber-based sculpture. Rebecca has honed her craft by learning from
artists in the areas of papermaking, woodworking, broom-making, and
printmaking, as well as receiving a B.F. A. in sculpture. At School
One, Rebecca imparts the value of slow craft, handwork that
takes time, and the skill-building process is just as enjoyable as the
finished product. She believes art to be a whole mind/body experience
that will benefit the student and how they relate to objects in their
world and their community. Rebecca is the Education Manager at the
Handicraft Club in Providence, RI, where she teaches workshops in quilling
and broom-making to adults. Her recycled, paper-based work is in the
collection of Fidelity Investments, and has traveled in multi-museum
shows with the Robert C. Williams Paper Museum, the Fuller Craft
Museum, and Fiber Art International.
To love an object
is to examine fully
the maker’s handwork.
- B.F.A. Sculpture, Washington University in St. Louis
Brandon Soum ’09
- A.A. Fine Arts, Community College of Rhode Island
- B.A. candidate, College Unbound, Organizational Leadership & Change, current
Joe Thibodeau
Joe Thibodeau teaches Academic Support/Resource classes and Math Comp Skills. Joe has always had a desire to teach, and is thrilled to use his multidisciplinary background and varied professional experience to assist students and faculty at School One. After college, Joe was commissioned as a Naval Officer in the Naval Aviation pipeline. Later, Joe worked at Hasbro as a video producer and marketing assistant before earning his MBA from Babson College. Most recently, Joe worked for an automotive consultancy as a pricing and strategy consultant for major automotive and heavy equipment Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in North America and Europe. Joe now owns and operates a yoga studio in Providence (West Side Yoga) with his wife Corey.
- B.A. Engineering Science, University of Rochester
- M.B.A. FW Olin Graduate School of Business, Babson College
Maryann Ullmann
Maryann Ullmann’s expertise spans many disciplines. She teaches Spanish and has lived in Mexico and Argentina for several years. She also teaches U.S. history, Civics, and creative writing courses. In her Civics & Communications course, students participate in Generation Citizen where they research an advocacy issue, develop policy recommendations, and present at Civics Day at the RI Statehouse. As Maryann says, “I love seeing the amazing projects students come up with when they are given the freedom … to follow their passions and curiosities, and all the ways they learn from and support each other.”
Maryann also teaches a wide variety of creative writing classes. She leads School One’s National Novel Writing Month Project every November and runs after-school creative writing classes like Ghost Stories and Lit Lab with School One’s Literary Center.
- Antioch University New England, M.A., Environmental Advocacy and Organizing
- Chatham University, MFA, Creative Writing
- Antioch College, B.A., Cultural and Interdisciplinary Studies
