What have Malvern’s teachers and administrators been doing this summer?

During our August workshop, numerous faculty and staff shared their time to complete interviews with our brand-new reporters, in order to give them an opportunity to practice interviewing skills. They spoke about their summer experiences and their plans for the upcoming school year. Although not all stories were completed, the staff appreciated the experience of practicing interviews.

We chose to publish a few highlights of the summer stories that faculty and staff shared with us here. 

Mrs. Susan Sarafinas

Her summer was full of boardwalks, rollercoasters, good food, and family.

Cole Cherian ’22, Pat Gray ’21

As summer break comes to a close, Administrative Assistant to Counseling Mrs. Susan Sarafinas shared her perspective on food in Ocean City, her time at the beach, and her visit to Knoebels.

Sarafinas will be starting her seventh year at Malvern this fall with the Counseling Department. with the Counseling Department.

“There’s Middle School Counseling, Upper School Counseling, College Counseling and Learning Specialists,” Sarafinas said. “So we cover it all and make sure the needs of every kid on campus are met when it comes to college process or course selection, daily struggles or study skills.”

This summer, Sarafinas enjoyed relaxing down the shore with her family.

“My vacation this year was awesome. It was 14 days in Ocean City, New Jersey with my mom, my husband when he could come down, because he works a lot and he was in and out, and my four kids,” Sarafinas said. “It was terrific.. WWe had sunny, beautiful weather, we had terrific ocean temperatures, and I ate too much food.”

Sarafinas does have a perspective on food in Ocean City.

“My favorite meal at the beach, believe it or not, is spaghetti and meatballs. If I’m going to the boardwalk, I only do Prep’s Pizza,” Sarafinas said. “If it’s a seafood meal, I like to go with Mike’s Seafood and have takeout. But at home, after a beach day, if I’m just relaxing and sitting on the deck, I like spaghetti and meatballs. Going out for breakfast at the beach is also one of my favorite things. I usually go to Varsity on 8th Street. You can’t miss Uncle Bill’s Pancakes.”

She said that she has been going to the beach all of her life and to Ocean City for the last three decades. When she is there, she keeps busy with her family.
“My oldest daughter is at college, my son is a senior this year, I have another daughter that is a sophomore in high school, and an eighth grader. So, they keep me really busy and we had a lot of family fun,” she said.

Sarafinas said it is hard to disconnect from work when she is not here.

“I tend to sometimes think about Malvern when I’m not at Malvern,” Sarafinas said. Sarafinas said. “With my role here, I have to make sure that I pay attention on the email and the phone calls that come in, because people start to think of things that they might need in the fall or things they didn’t get at the end of the school year. It wasn’t a struggle, and it wasn’t a worry.”

In addition to the shore, In addition to the shore, Sarafinas and her family enjoyed time at Knoebels Amusement Park.

“We took a day trip to Knoebels Amusement Park. You gotta love Knoebels. No matter how old you are, all day to be there, it’s terrific,” she said. “My favorite ride hands down is the Phoenix. It’s the wood one, and and it’s probably the best ride in the park.”

Although she and her family did enjoy a lot of time together, Sarafinas said it is hard to get the family together as the kids grow older.

“I love having a big family. But it’s hard when you notice when someone’s not there,” Sarafinas said.

She said she does have more time to adjust back to school than most.

“I’m ready. I have to come in a little bit earlier than the students and faculty to get things all set up and ready to go,” Sarafinas said. “When that happens, it gives me time to set up and my staff time to set up, and by the time that happens and the kids get here, I’m ready to go.”

Ms. Shay Quigley

Education Technology Specialist never planned on working at Malvern, but loves her role helping teachers with technology.

Jack Donohue ’20, Katie Scaggs ’20

Working in the technology office, Education Technology Specialist Ms. Shay Quigley specializes in bridging the gap between the Technology Department and the teachers. She spent much of her summer preparing for new technology changes to Malvern for the upcoming school year.

“If there’s some kind of new technology we are using this year,” Quigley said, “I’m the one who works in the technology department to understand how it works myself so that I can then explain it to the teachers myself.”

Quigley got into technology at a young age and has been pursuing it ever since.

“When I was little,” she said, “I used to spend my weekends with my dad building websites. So when I was little I used to love playing with technology.”

Quigley earned her bachelors in Communication and Media Studies from East Carolina University and her graduate degree in Educational Technology from St. Joseph’s University.

When thinking about a career path, Quigley thought to put two of her greatest interests together. “I was thinking about what I want to do,” Quigley said, “I thought, ‘I love technology and I love education so let’s put them together.’”

Quigley noted that she comes from a long line of teachers in this area. When she wondered where she would apply her training, she never expected to end up at Malvern.

“I grew up in West Chester, so Malvern was always a really awesome school we would always hear about,” she said. “I never planned on working here, but I was working for another company and I was contracted here, and I love it here.”

Whenever Ms. Quigley isn’t working in the technology department, she likes to go on runs in the woods. “I run a lot,” Quigley said, “and one of my favorite types of running is trail running, so this is a great time of year for that.”

She still resides in West Chester, and makes a daily commute out to Malvern to continue doing what she loves. “We all fit together really well in this department,” Quigley said. “I really do enjoy it here.”

Mrs. Christine Leonard

Academy Coordinator loves helping students—and listening to classic rock.

Rohan Jhunjhunwala ’18, Rowan Cabahug-Almonte ’20

Upper School Academy Coordinator Mrs. Christine Leonard has worked at Malvern for ten years, first as the Assistant to the Dean of Students and last year as the Assistant to the Upper School Head. She is now seeing her role shift into becoming the Academy Coordinator for the Upper School.

In her new role, she will work to support the efforts of the Academy Leaders for each grade in the Upper School.

“We have Academy Leaders for ninth grade, tenth grade, eleventh grade, and twelfth grade, and also in the Middle School,” Leonard said. “My role would be to support them and coordinate their efforts.”

Leonard is not fully sure how the Academy system will continue to play out. “It’s a little different. Until we see it all play out it’s hard to grasp,” she said.

Leonard said that while she loves her ability to get to know the students and her coworkers, she finds the job stressful at times.

“Sometimes the pace can get very very hectic,” she said. “Actually, I work better in that environment. The higher the stakes and the more pressure there is, I seem to perform better and be more organized because I don’t have time to put it off or anything.”

Outside of her work at Malvern, Leonard enjoys spending time with her four children, ages between 18 and 31. “I try to spend as much time with my children as I can,” she said.

To relax, Leonard also enjoys listening to a variety of music at home.

“I love classic rock. I like pop. I’m just starting to dabble in country a little bit, and I like any kind [of music]. I don’t mind,” she said. “I love Bruce Springsteen. I love Dire Straits.”

She said that it will take time for her to adjust to her new role.

“It’s a role that’s evolving right now, so there’s a lot of unknowns,” she said. “But I’m looking forward to the challenge and the newness of it all.”

Mr. Ron Algeo

Starting in the 2017-2018 school year, Algeo will be the new Assistant Head of School for Student Leadership, which will benefit the students on a daily basis.

Caroline McDonald ’19, Stowe Milhous ’19

In March of 2017 former Head of the Upper School Mr. Ron Algeo was announced for his new role as Assistant Head of School for Student Leadership. This change occurred after multiple meetings during Fr. Reilly’s visits to Malvern in the winter and spring of the previous school year. During these meetings Mr. Algeo, Assistant Head of School for Academics Mr. Patrick Sillup, and Head of School Fr. Don Reilly discussed many ideas and listened to the concerns of the Malvern community, and eventually came up with the idea for a leadership team.

According to Algeo, the students were the main reason for his role change.

“We’re here to serve our students,” Mr. Algeo said. “That’s the top priority.”

Algeo also talked about how Fr. Reilly definitely played a part in his role change. He said that both of them agreed that by divvying up the roles, the students would receive more help and support and his work could be a lot more focused.

“As Head of the Upper School, I was looking at academics, and the activities, and the athletics, and the Dean of Students, and all that kind of stuff,” Algeo said. “But if you really thought about it, it got to be so, I would say, almost diluted.”

“Now I have a more specific role, rather than being pulled in different directions,” he said.

Algeo knows that the Malvern experience goes beyond the classroom, and this is where students may do the most growing in these influential years in their lives. Algeo will be the one to oversee this growth. He will have a more specific role and will now be able to focus on the character of the student and their overall development.

“Anything that the student does outside the classroom is just as important.” Algeo said. “If you’re looking at all of these products outside the classroom, who’s going to oversee that?”

Algeo will miss some parts of his old job, however he’s looking forward to the upcoming school year.

“There’s parts I’m really going to miss,” Algeo said.

Mrs. Neha Morrison

Director of Human Resources discusses her summer, the new upper school academy model, and the upcoming school year.

Ben Murphy ’19, Chris Ayres ’21

After a summer of preparation and travel with family, Director of Human Resources Mrs. Neha Morrison is ready for the new school year.

Morrison currently works on the top floor of Austin Hall, and has many responsibilities during both the academic year and during the summer.

“One of the reasons I love my job is there’s a variety of things I’m responsible for,” Morrison said. “Some of them are policy development, training, benefits in administration, employee relations, so there’s a wide variety of things that I handle.”

She has also been involved in preparation for the new academy model for the upper school.

“I would say, probably we started getting the faculty ready for the new model back in May,” Morrison said. “And then just us progressively, throughout the summer, training the academy leaders and answering questions.”

Even though Malvern has a new head of school, Fr. Don Reilly, her job and responsibilities haven’t changed much.

“I don’t anticipate anything major coming out,” Morrison said. “But, we always make changes based on things that we feel are positive, not only for our faculty and staff, but our students as well.”

Mrs. Morrison feels that she and the rest of the staff are ready to start the year.

“Personally, I’m ready. We’ve spent the summer getting ready for the school year, so I’m actually excited for the new year to start,” Morrison said.

Although planning for the new academy model did happen over the summer, Morrison was still able to spend some time on vacation with her family.

“[We] went down to Colonial Williamsburg for about a week which was fun. We’ve never been there, so we got to see the historical area, and do some fun things like the Busch Gardens and the waterpark so that was kind of different for us. It was a nice getaway,” Morrison said.

Fr. Don Reilly 

Excited to start a new school year, Fr. Don Reilly has made the move to Malvern’s campus

John McGlinn ’18, Sean Oates ’18, Asja Abron ’19

This summer Fr. Reilly has been not only busy physically moving to Malvern’s campus, but also getting acclimated with the environment and people of Malvern. Fr. Reilly has had to spend time this summer moving his belongings from South Jersey to his new home and office on Malvern’s campus.

As of late, Fr. Reilly has been focusing on getting to know Malvern’s board members.

“What I did was set up breakfasts or lunches with members of the board,” Reilly said “I want to sit down… with all 34 members. We have our first meeting September 13, so by the time I probably will have spent time with each board member individually.”

Fr. Reilly gave us a brief summary of the strategic plan he recently received from the Board. He said there were three major aspects of the plan.

“Strengthening the Augustinian community, who we are with one another, the culture and community life which is unique to Malvern,” Reilly said. “Then, academics, because…the academy model will be moving from the Lower School to Upper School, and it is very important to monitor that. Then sustainability, … those are the three things that will probably take me and the leadership team through these next three years. This coming year what I would like to do is just get to know the campus, and get to know the people,” Reilly said.

Fr. Reilly is very eager to explore campus and get to know every person. He is currently looking into a way he can create an open-door policy with students and faculty.

Though many believe the new change in dress code stemmed from Fr. Reilly, he says he “came in at the eleventh hour”. Reilly told us there was a conversation between leaders of the Middle School and Upper School where they came to a consensus over what the dress code should be. It was important to them that the Middle and Upper Schools shared the same dress code.

With a new Head of School coming in, many students are wondering what some of the major differences from last year will be. Fr. Reilly believes the biggest thing students may notice will simply be himself.

“[I] will be presiding at masses. I enjoy athletics and extracurricular activities… I’m looking forward to participating and being in the stands. It’s another opportunity for me to see students in a setting where I’m not typically seeing them. I think that might be different.”

Fr. Reilly seems excited to begin his first year as Malvern’s new Head of School, as the rest of the school should be.

Mr. Kevin Moore

Math Teacher

Alex Vu ’21, Henry Hague ’19

Math teacher Mr. Kevin Moore has had an eventful summer, including vacations and teaching workshops. However, he is ready and looking forward to teaching new classes this upcoming school year.

Moore’s summer began the day after senior graduation, and started off with a trip down to Colorado where he and a number of other Malvern teachers presented at a teaching workshop.

“The workshop was about experiential learning, and the conference was called Traverse,” Moore said.

After that, he proceeded to a family vacation in Palm Beach, California. After spending his time golfing and running in Palm Beach, he went on another vacation with his family down to Bethany Beach.

“I love heading out to run in the morning. It’s always warm as soon as you wake up and you have some good sights,” Moore said.

As much fun as summer may have been for him, Moore is excited to go back to school. He is excited to teach some new classes this year. He is switching from teaching AP Calculus AB to Algebra I and Geometry.

He said that he is looking forward to sharing a room with fellow Math teacher Mr. Michael Rawlings this year.

Moore is also looking forward to teaching freshmen and sophomores rather than juniors and seniors primarily.

“I think it will help me to get to know some of the earlier guys at Malvern, and I think it will help to make me a better teacher,” Moore said.

He does see this shift as challenging, but he thinks it will be a great year.

“I think there is a lot of potential with seeing what the upcoming grades have and seeing Father Don Reilly on campus,” Moore said.

Moore’s focus for the year is on the students.

“I want to make sure that when new students come into class they feel welcome to the school and they acclimate nicely and feel part of a community,” Moore said.