Welcome, New Faculty and Staff
Part of Roxbury Latin’s continuity is that we are always welcoming new people to our ranks—students, faculty, and staff. This year, a record eleven new members of the faculty and staff will join RL as teachers and administrators, coaches and advisors.
Alec Bleday joins the Alumni and Development Office as a Major Gifts Officer. A seasoned development professional, Mr. Bleday has served The Pantry, Xaverian Brothers High School, the Celebrity Series of Boston, as well as the Salvation Army in various fundraising roles, including directing annual giving and major gifts. He also founded ECH Outreach, which served through podcasts to share information about cancer research. Mr. Bleday graduated from Xaverian Brothers High school where he was a cross country and track standout. His coaches included faculty members Bryan Dunn and Chris Heaton. Mr. Bleday went on to the University of Pennsylvania from which he received a BA in Classical Studies and competed for the track and field team. He earned his MBA from Babson in 2016. In addition to his development work, Mr. Bleday will teach a section of Latin and assist with freshman soccer.
Jack Colavita ’17 had an outstanding career as a Roxbury Latin student. Elected president of both his junior and senior classes, Mr. Colavita also served as editor-in-chief of the Yearbook, as well as captain of the varsity soccer team. A superb student, he extended himself on behalf of the varsity lacrosse team as well, and earned both the publications prize and the Berenberg Prize at graduation. He was known for his talent, leadership, and ability to galvanize members of whatever community he was serving. Mr. Colavita went on to Georgetown from which he graduated in 2021 with a degree in Classics. He was a student assistant in the Classics Department, a writer for the student newspaper The Hoya, and co-founded a record label that featured two score student musicians. Over his college summers, Mr. Colavita worked at Fidelity Investments. During this past year, he worked as a lead tutor for SoFlo SAT Tutoring, helping to train fellow tutors, and expanded the training skills to several communities that might not otherwise afford such test preparation. Mr. Colavita is one of two new Penn Fellows this year—teaching, coaching, and advising while also earning a master’s in education from the University of Pennsylvania. He will teach English 7, as well as a section of Latin 1. He will also serve as head freshman soccer coach, and assist with junior varsity lacrosse.
Kristen Gibbons began her new career this summer as Assistant to the Headmaster. Mrs. Gibbons boasts similar connections to RL as her two predecessors: Both Mrs. Joan Regan, and, most recently, Mrs. Elaine Driscoll, had boys who attended the school. So, too, have Mrs. Gibbons’s boys, Brendan ’19, and Aidan ’23 been RL students. Like Mrs. Driscoll, Mrs. Gibbons is married to an RL alumnus (Paul ’86), and with her husband served as a co-president of the Parents’ Auxiliary. She knows Roxbury Latin well, and from various angles. Mrs. Gibbons is a Milton native and earned her degree in economics at Holy Cross. She had an early career with Fidelity Investments at which she served in customer service, as well as in marketing, and investment resources. Her family spent 13 years in Chicago where she was active as a school volunteer and helped as both a fundraiser and a liaison for parents. Mrs. Gibbons has worked similarly on behalf of the Dover-Sherborn School District and the Dover Education Fund. Most recently, she has run her own successful floral business.
Matthew Golden joins the faculty after a successful stint at another boys’ school, Trinity-Pawling, in downstate New York. Mr. Golden graduated from Bates College in 2020. He was a sociology major and educational studies minor. Mr. Golden was also the quarterback and captain of the varsity football team. He was named to the NESCAC All-Academic Team and received the Harward Center Award for community volunteerism and leadership. Mr. Golden was also famous as the public address announcer for various other sports. He attended Bishop Stang High School in Dartmouth, Massachusetts, and was elected by his classmates as their class president three years running. He played three varsity sports: football, basketball, and track and field. He captained the football team which was the conference champion, as well as the basketball team which won the state championship. Mr. Golden was a three-time Eastern Athletic Conference All-Star. He has had various jobs in schools and camps, and has extensive experience connecting the Lewiston Middle School with Bates students. At RL, Mr. Golden will serve as Assistant Director of Athletics, teach in the Health and Wellness program, assist with the junior varsity basketball team, and lead the football program as the head varsity coach.
A native of Pakistan, Wasib Hayat joins RL as Director of Information Services. A graduate of Lahore American School, Mr. Hayat came to Boston to study at Northeastern, from which he received his bachelor’s in computer engineering technology. That launched a career in systems, programming, and leadership in various companies, including Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Hocoma North America, and, most recently, Atos at which he was the Information Technology Manager. Mr. Hayat has capitalized on his broad experience and talent by enrolling in the Harvard Master’s in Information Systems program; he will receive his advanced degree in 2024. At RL, Mr. Hayat will supervise all technological features of our instructional and administrative programs and serve as a worthy collaborator to colleagues who will be advancing technology to enhance and to help us realize our evolving, more modern mission.
Rachel Korotkin joins RL as a teacher of visual arts and Chair of the Arts Department. A Michigan native, Ms. Korotkin earned her BFA in photography and lighting design for theater from the University of Miami; she minored in art history. Her career began with various stints working in museums as a curator and educator. She began her teaching pursuit in earnest at Hamlin School in the Chicago area, at which she taught all types of art as well as social studies. Most recently, Ms. Korotkin has served as the art teacher at one of the area’s foremost charter schools, the Match Charter School. Ms. Korotkin attended the Tufts University/Museum of Fine Arts program and earned her MAT in art education in 2017. She has worked in various settings, including camps, and has an eclectic repertoire in ceramics, drawing, glass blowing, graphic design, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. She has also worked for various theaters as chief lighting designer. Ms. Korotkin will teach art across the grades and will also serve as the chief lighting designer for our Smith Theater. She will work closely with Mr. Nelson on all productions and train a cadre of boys to design and execute theatrical lighting. In part, her new course as part of the Arts 10 electives on theater tech will launch them.
Alex Pellegrini ’10, one of the most respected and beloved members of his Roxbury Latin class, returns to Alma Mater to take on a newly created position. (He was an RL boy after all, and, therefore, taking on responsibilities that are challenging and varied is nothing new for him.) Mr. Pellegrini will serve as Assistant Director of Admission, Assistant Director of Alumni Affairs, teach two sections of graphic design to members of Classes VI and V, coach hockey and baseball, and help as an advisor. Mr. Pellegrini comes to us most recently from a promising career as a graphic designer. He worked both in-house and as a consultant for a handful of forward-leaning companies in Boston as well as Colorado. He currently runs his own company, Grayfield LLC. Mr. Pellegrini helped us out over the past year as a teaching assistant and also coached hockey and track at Park School. A committed scholar and three sport varsity athlete (football, hockey, baseball) during his time as a student, Mr. Pellegrini also sang in the Glee Club and helped lead Tripod as its business manager. One Founder’s Day, we were serenaded into the festivities by Mr. Pellegrini playing the bagpipes—a remarkable cross-cultural achievement! He was also the inaugural member of an exchange with Scotch College in Melbourne, Australia. Mr. Pellegrini also went on school-sponsored trips to France and Peru. He graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a degree in creative advertising and a minor in economics.
David Smith joins Roxbury Latin as Dean of Students, teacher of English, history, and health and wellness, and coach. A seasoned school person, Mr. Smith hails from Northern Virginia. He graduated from the College of William and Mary with a degree in religious studies; he earned high honors for his thesis. Subsequently, he earned a master’s in theological studies at the Harvard Divinity School, and has completed all the course work for a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Virginia. Mr. Smith taught for five years at Virginia’s St. Anne’s Belfield School, then headed by RL alumnus David Lourie ’89. At St. Anne’s, Mr. Smith taught all types of history courses, including American and European as well as an innovative, interdisciplinary American studies course to juniors. He was a grade level dean and served as both the assistant varsity and head jv lacrosse coach. As Dean of Students, he was responsible for designing and running various leadership programs as well as overseeing the advisor program. Over the past year, Mr. Smith taught, coached, and ran a boys’ dormitory at Virginia’s fine boys’ boarding school, Woodberry Forest School. He also helped run the outdoor program there. Building on his experience and training, Mr. Smith will serve as RL’s Dean of Students, teach English 11, offer a new semester course for seniors called Creating A Common Good, help run and teach the Health and Wellness program for younger boys, run our student leadership program, and serve as the head coach of jv lacrosse.
Geoff Theobald is a giant among Greater Boston independent school educators. For thirty years, he has held critical positions at two prominent brother schools and helped to shape the destinies of those institutions, their faculties, and their students. Mr. Theobald began his teaching career by returning to his Alma Mater, Milton Academy, where he was a “lifer,” having spent 13 years there as a student. In addition to teaching math at all levels, Mr. Theobald, at one time or other, served as Director of Admission, Dean of Students, Director of Community Service, and Academic Dean. In 2010, he became the Upper School Director at BB&N. With more than 500 students in that division, BB&N looked to Mr. Theobald to shape that program and lead the more than 100 adults who taught those students. He also taught math and was the girls’ varsity soccer coach. For six summers, he was the head of Exploration School’s senior program at Yale, serving almost 1,500 domestic and international high school students. Mr. Theobald earned his BA in history cum laude as a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina, to be followed by his earning his master’s of social work, also from UNC. Mr. Theobald will teach two math courses, Math 7 and Advanced Algebra. We will look forward to his seasoned approach and valued contribution.
Eric Tran, our second Penn Fellow, will teach, coach, and advise at RL while taking courses toward a master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania. A native of Claremont, California, Mr. Tran graduated with distinction from the local public high school at which he stood out as captain of the varsity wrestling team. On Mr. Tran went to Williams College from which he graduated this spring with a BA in Classics and math. Proficient in Vietnamese, Italian, and Spanish, Mr. Tran served as a teaching assistant for the multivariable calculus course as well as a research assistant in the chemistry department. He was a member of the math colloquium and spent this past spring in Rome as part of the Intercollegiate Center for Classical Studies. Given this dual expertise and passion, it’s no surprise that Mr. Tran will be teaching both AP Calculus and a Latin 1 section. He will also help coach soccer and wrestling.
Monika Wilkinson has known RL for many years as the mother of John ’21, Luke ’23, and Paul ’25. She has been a faithful, effective volunteer on behalf of the school, and now she joins us as an interim teacher of English. Mrs. Wilkinson will cover Mrs. Demers’s classes while she is out on maternity leave. A seasoned educator, Mrs. Wilkinson most recently worked for the past seven years at BB&N, at which she taught English and history, provided academic support, led the Writing Center, as well as served on behalf of the admission efforts and community service. Mrs. Wilkinson’s teaching experience has included stints at Westwood’s Thurston Middle School and in Sudbury’s and Palm Bay, Florida’s middle schools. In addition to being a celebrated practitioner, Mrs. Wilkinson has consistently taught fledgling teachers about the art and craft of teaching as an adjunct professor at Stonehill College, the University of Pittsburgh, and Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. She holds a bachelor’s from Florida State University, and a master’s in learning and teaching from Harvard. Mrs. Wilkinson will teach Mrs. Demers’s English 7 and English 9 classes.