Faculty and Staff

For Cecelia, science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking and viewing the world. Skills taught in a science class can be used to analyze and make decisions for a person’s entire life. She is particularly passionate about encouraging females in science.

Cecelia has been teaching biological sciences at Brimmer since 1996 and has served as Department Chair since 1997. As Director of Educational Initiatives, Cecelia oversees the Scholar Society and is the Chair of the NEASC accreditation process. Cecelia served as the Director of Hiring for several years and is now the Co-Director of Faculty Recruitment and Mentoring, where she oversees hiring of faculty PK-12 and also manages the School’s mentor program for new faculty and staff. Cecelia also serves on the Global Studies Board.

 

She loves being able to be creative in her classroom at Brimmer. Cecelia believes that the best part of teaching is letting students learn a concept, then deciding whether to teach that lesson again, and, if so, how to change it. She appreciates that she is encouraged to take risks and try new lessons, classes, and topics and loves to use her students’ curiosity to learn about scientific principles.

Cecelia is a member of the National Association of Biology Teachers and the National Science Teachers Association. She volunteers for Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary (a Mass Audubon site) and the March for Science in Boston. A Maine native, she still loves to spend time on the lake with her family and view the wonderful wildlife.

Benjamin DiNardo was born on the luckiest, or most convenient, day of the year 7/11; though it was unlucky for his brother who was born on the same day three years previous. The earliest portions of his life were spent engaged in activities of Americana: chasing armadillos in the Great Texas Desert, contemplating the great plunge at Niagara Falls, while being buried under the Buffalo Blizzards, and blimp watching in Ohio.

Ben taught and was director of the Upper School for the last 23 years at The Birch Wathen Lenox School, a K-12 independent school on Manhattan's Upper Eastside. His courses included Chemistry, Physics, Meteorology, Geology, Astronomy, and Science & Science Fiction. He loves working with students to discover how the universe works.

When he is not teaching, Ben enjoys writing and has had some small pieces and a novel published. He also loves exploring Boston with his wife, and scuba diving with his daughter, who is finishing up a degree in Marine Biology at Northeastern.

Born in Colorado, but raised in San Diego, the first thing that Nia wanted to be was an Archaeologist thanks to a wonderful Kindergarten teacher who set up an amazing archeological dig in the playground. Ultimately she received a Bachelor of Arts in Biology with a minor in Psychology from Swarthmore College, but she never forgot that sense of wonder and discovery that she found in that classroom. Nia is committed to the same hands-on engagement in learning in the classroom. She strives to provide students with an integrative, project-based, and collaborative learning experience in the classroom, where students meaningfully construct knowledge about a topic and not just learn facts from a textbook. 

Prior to joining the faculty and staff at Brimmer, Nia taught high school STEAM and Chemistry at Saint Joseph Prep and worked in informal science education in museums and non-profits in both Boston and San Diego.

Outside of work, Nia is an avid traveler, a lover of board games and escape rooms, and a clandestine archaeology and history scholar.

As a Science Teacher in the Upper School, Chris’ teaching philosophy emphasizes making and doing, hands-on investigative science in the lab, and analyzing data to make connections.

Born and raised in the north of England, Chris started his career in education in London, where he taught physics and chemistry and coached soccer for four years. While looking for a change of scenery, Chris was offered a job at Brimmer starting in 2002. He deeply values the relationships throughout the Brimmer community and still keeps in touch with students he taught in his first year at Brimmer.

Chris is a member of the National Science Teachers Association, the National Association of Independent Schools, and the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

In his spare time, he loves traveling the world and being in the outdoors mountain biking, sea kayaking, and snowboarding, as well as spending time with his wife and two kids.