New Faculty and Staff, Part I

We are pleased to introduce some new additions to St. Bernard’s faculty and staff, which include two new positions that were created this year.  
This is the first article of two in which you will have a chance to learn about each person’s background and interests.  We extend a warm welcome to each of them.

Daniel Jacala, Music and Science Assistant

Daniel Jacala was born and raised in Queens, New York.  He began playing percussion at Louis Pasteur Middle School and continued to play with the Stony Brook University marching band.  It was there he received his bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences, concentrating in Emergency and Critical Care.  While attending, Mr. Jacala earned a Tenor 2 position with the university’s premier, all-male a capella group, “The High C’s,” and is credited with composing several arrangements.  A certified emergency medical technician, he has over seven years of experience working with New York City students, ranging from the pre-kindergarten to collegiate level.  Before joining us at St. Bernard’s, Mr. Jacala worked as a school aide with the Department of Education at The Holliswood School (PS/IS 178).  In his free time, Mr. Jacala enjoys reading, playing chess, and writing and producing music.

Zachary Kahn, Guidance Counselor 

Zachary Kahn grew up in the Bronx, where he attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School from pre-K through high school.  He was graduated from Hamilton College, where he majored in comparative literature and captained the tennis team.  Following a two-year stint as a litigation paralegal at a New York City firm, Dr. Kahn decided to follow his heart’s calling to study and work in the field of psychology.  During this time, Dr. Kahn enrolled in the post baccalaureate psychology program at Columbia University, and helped run a therapeutic after-school program in Harlem.  Dr. Kahn attended the Ph.D. program at the City University of New York’s City College, where he was on the child track, taught child psychopathology to undergraduate students, and saw child, adolescent, and adult patients at the graduate program’s clinic, a local university, and at multiple hospital facilities.  Dr. Kahn completed his pre-doctoral internship year at Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School, where he was on the combined adult/child track.  He most recently completed his Postdoctoral Fellowship at the New Jersey Department of Veteran’s Affairs, where he served as a clinician, supervisor, and teacher.  Dr. Kahn enjoys playing tennis, swimming in the ocean, exploring new neighborhoods, and spending quality time with his six-month old son, Lev.

Anthony Keene, Mathematics
 
Anthony Keene was born and reared in New York where he “survived” Trinity School, graduating with honors.  His undergraduate days were spent studying neuroscience at Columbia University where he somehow again, despite his best efforts to the contrary, managed to graduate with honors.  Originally intent on a career in medicine, Anthony had a “mathematical epiphany” during a lecture in multivariable calculus which set him down a completely different path.  He was admitted to the Ph.D. program in Pure Mathematics at Columbia University where his research was in the area (conversation-killingly) referred to as Noncommutative Differential Geometry.  For the last twenty-five years, Anthony has tutored all levels of math, physics, and chemistry, taught math classes in several of New York’s private schools, has been a managing partner at Practice Perfect, a tutoring company based in the Metro Area, and, most recently, has served as an academic officer and co-founder of Smart Alec, an educational start-up based in New York and the Bay Area in San Francisco.  When not teaching, Anthony spends time with his wife and three boys and can probably be found limping off a tennis court.

John Kitson, Grade VII Teacher
 
John Kitson is a lifetime New Yorker and joins us this year as one of our seventh grade homeroom teachers.  Most recently he taught seventh and eighth graders at the John Cardinal O’Connor School in Irvington, New York.  Prior to this he taught at Columbia Prep and the Cathedral School at St. John the Divine in New York City.
 
John recently completed his graduate studies in education at Manhattan College, earning a M.S.Ed. from the same school where he completed his undergraduate studies thirty-seven years earlier.  Prior to teaching he enjoyed a successful career at companies such as Lotus Development, AT&T, and Seagram’s during which time he also completed his M.B.A. at Fordham University.
 
John, his wife, and their three children live on the Upper West Side and thoroughly enjoy New York City, especially Central Park.

Adam Morelli, Grade IV Teacher
 
Adam Morelli comes to us from Australia.  He grew up in Sydney and was graduated from the University of Technology Sydney with a bachelor’s degree in Primary Education.  During his time at university, Adam undertook a year of study abroad here in New York and attended school at both NYU and SUNY New Paltz.  Before coming to St. Bernard’s, Adam taught Grade VI at The Scots College Preparatory School in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, and also worked towards completing a master’s degree at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.  In his free time, Adam enjoys travelling and exploring new places, playing golf, keeping fit, and snowboarding.        
 
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