Cheverus Stories

The Jesuit Educator* should be the sort of person whom the student

trusts because of his learning and practice, 

understands because of his skillful fluency in teaching,

loves for his enthusiasm and diligence, 

respects for the integrity of his life, 

and, when the occasion arises, feels he can approach freely for advice because of their humanity and personal warmth.
 

Benet Perera, S.J.
1536 - 1610

*original translation is teacher

We are thrilled to welcome new and familiar faces to the Cheverus community as we start the 2023-2024 school year. 

Steve Dalvet ’80 returns to Cheverus and resumes his teaching duties as a member of our English department. Having spent the past five years teaching at King’s Academy in Jordan, Mr. Dalvet is returning to the States and to Ocean Avenue where he spent the first 26 years of his career. He holds degrees from Yale and Middlebury College, and is also a dual citizen of the U.S. and France with “near fluency” in French.

Eliza Gleason joins the Cheverus community as the director of college advising. Though she began her career on the college side of the admissions process at Trinity College in Hartford, Ms. Gleason has spent the majority of her career in college advising in private schools such as Suffield Academy in Connecticut, The Rivers School in Massachusetts, and Lincoln Academy in Newcastle. She has earned degrees from both St. Lawrence University and George Washington University.

Julie Niejadlik (pronounced “knee-ad-lik”) has joined our school counseling department and will work with families whose last names begin with L-Z. Ms. Niejadlik holds degrees in communications from Penn State and in School Counseling from USM. She spent five years as a counselor at Thornton Academy, and most recently she’s been a substitute teacher at St. Brigid School.

A native of Maine, Rhonda Barker has spent the past decade in France - the majority of it teaching at a private Catholic school near Paris. Prior to her time abroad Ms. Barker taught French at North Yarmouth Academy for five years and at the Language Exchange in Portland. With her Bachelor’s degree from Smith College and Master’s from Middlebury, she will be teaching French in our world languages department.

Abigail Rzucidlo joins Cheverus as a member of the Jesuit Volunteer Corps working in our campus ministry department. Ms. Rzucidlo earned her Bachelor’s degree in computer science at the University of Scranton where she was also a member of their Division III volleyball team and active in their service programs. Abigail will lead our service immersion programs locally and nationally, and will be coaching our volleyball team.  

Sean Sova joins our admissions department as the assistant director of admissions. Previously, Mr. Sova served as a Jesuit Volunteer working as a K-8 education specialist in Nashville, TN. He has a Bachelor’s degree from Holy Cross with a double major in theater and architectural studies. While at Holy Cross, Sova worked in the admissions department.

Michael Wilcox joined the Cheverus community this past spring as a member of our boys lacrosse coaching staff, a role he plans to continue now that he is a member of our English and technology departments. Mr. Wilcox has been a varsity lacrosse head coach and most recently worked for the education software company Lessonly by Seismic. He is a graduate of DeSmet Jesuit High School in St. Louis, Manhattan College, and George Washington University.

Angie Horler will be working part time in the Main Office, covering the sub-on-call scheduling, and serving as a substitute teacher.

Janet Tinker is our new athletic department administrative assistant and will handle much of the scheduling, communications, and bussing details of the athletic office. Ms. Tinker has served in a similar role at Mt. Ararat High School and for Casco Bay Hockey.

Kelsey Currier is our new assistant athletic director and will work with Mrs. Ashley on game setup and management. Ms. Currier served in a similar role at Messalonskee High School and her alma mater Thomas College. Ms. Currier  has coached softball and girls basketball and been involved with Special Olympics and summer camps.

We are pleased to welcome Bryon Williams to our English department to cover Ms. Nelson’s classes until she returns from her leave. Mr. Williams has a Ph.D. in English from Duquesne University as well as degrees from Stanford and the Univeristy of North Texas. He has taught extensively at both the college and secondary school levels - most recently at the Academy at Penguin Hall in Massachusetts.

Long-time Cheverus science teacher and track coach Ken Swanberg will be back in the building during the first quarter to cover a section of AP Physics while Ms. Ambrose is on leave.