New faculty orientation continues today on the Ridley campus.  Faculty and staff are eagerly preparing for the beginning of the school year! This year we have a few new faces on campus. Read on to learn a bit more about our new faculty!

The following faculty will be teaching in Upper School:

Mr. Dean Templeman hails from Yorkshire, England where he attended a Sailors school – true story – he says he has the uniform to prove it.  After teaching in Saskatchewan and surviving the prairie winter, he and his family decided to move back to Ontario where he saw his dream job posting at Ridley. He is honoured to be a part of the Ridley community and is most looking forward to rugby and cadets.   He is married and has a 22 month old daughter, Mila who he swears will be the Prime Minister of Canada one day.  Mr. Templeman will be teaching in the Social Sciences department.

Mr. Andrew McNiven was born and raised in Port Dalhousie.  He has a passion for technology and will be teaching in the Social Sciences department.  He can’t wait to get involved in co-curricular activities.  He loves hockey and you may find him occasionally joining in on the cricket games in the Quad.

Ms. Jessica Round will also be teaching in the Social Sciences department.  Ms. Round comes to us from Trafalgar Castle school in Whitby.  She graduated from Queens University and went to high school at Lakefield College – but we won’t hold that against her! She is looking forward to getting to know Ridley students and being involved in sports and school events.

Ms. Suzanne Wilson is teaching Pure and Applied Sciences.  A self proclaimed “science geek” Ms. Wilson is very excited about teaching.  She grew up in St. Catharines and attended Brock University where she also graduated from Teachers College.  She is looking forward to being involved in lots of sports – anything from volleyball to basketball to baseball.

Mr. Jason Dorland is our new Director of Rowing and will be teaching a Media Arts class. He graduated from The Emily Carr University of Art & Design in Vancouver.  Mr. Dorland is an Old Ridleian, so do not try to pull a fast one on him!    He is looking forward to giving back the incredible experience that he had when he went to Ridley.  He says, “it’s surreal being back on campus… every time I hear the chimes it takes me back to when I was a teenager – it brings a smile to my face and I say yes you are here.”

The following faculty will be joining Lower School:

Ms. Marla Dagnon will be teaching Grade 5.  Ms. Dagnon is originally from Kingston and took the Outdoor Education program at Queens University, so she is excited by the prospect of getting involved with Outdoor Ed at Ridley.  She is looking forward to coaching field hockey because it is a sport she used to play. She can’t wait to meet everyone and become a part of the Ridley community.

Ms. Alexandra Lucenti is teaching kindergarten.  She has been teaching for two years and will be a familiar face to Lower School because she has done some supply teaching at the school before.  Ms. Lucenti jumped at the chance to work at Ridley and is looking forward to being involved in the Lower School skating program and musical!

Ms. Dawn Winger will be at Lower School as an Early Childhood Educator. She went to Teacher’s College in Australia and loves to travel!  She is excited to meet students from all over the world and be a part of clubs and activities. She will also be running the after school care program.

Ms. Taylor York-Ireland will be teaching Grade 2.  She is originally from St. Catharines, but has spent the last three years in the United Arab Emirates teaching Grade 2.  She had a fantastic experience teaching and traveling and will surely have some interesting stories about her experiences.  She is looking forward to joining the Ridley community and being a part of a close-knit school (her last school had five Grade 2 classes!)

We also have some new Residence Dons joining us this year: Mr. Joshua Doan for Arthur Bishop West, Mr. Michael Flynn for Dean’s House, Ms. Jessica Charbonneau for Burgoyne House, Ms. Blair Cox for Leonard House and Ms. Stephanie Richard for Gooderham East

The new faculty are all excited to meet the Ridley students!  Be sure to say hello when you see new faces on campus 🙂