Ethel Walker School
Life at The Ethel Walker Middle School is rooted in community — built in and out of the classroom.
Whether waking up on campus or arriving at school at 8:00 a.m. to enjoy breakfast with friends before the first class of the day, Walker’s Middle School students’ days are filled with activities that are both developmental and fun.
Walker’s student life program aims to make students feel safe, supported, and engaged. There are a variety of activities that students engage in the life of the school and with each other, from inclusive lunch options in the dining hall to weekend activities that serve all Middle School students.
Our Middle School student life program pays special attention to the unique developmental needs of young adolescent girls, helping them balance a growing desire for independence with the necessity of adult guidance and supervision.
Every girl is a leader and how she leads should be authentic to who she is and how she engages with the world around her. Here, leadership sometimes happens explicitly, such as when a girl holds an office or is captain of a team. Other times, it’s in less traditional ways such as when a student offers guidance to a classmate when she shares a skill that she has mastered or when she models positive ways to influence her peers. The Ethel Walker Middle School is committed to developing leaders that will act with confidence, courage, conviction, integrity, respect, and a love of learning.
The Middle School student government consists of five leadership roles: President, Vice President, Secretary, Head of Community Partnerships, and beginning in 2020, a 6th Grade Representative. These student leaders, or the Fab Five, are elected by the Middle School student body and work together to promote school unity and spirit, while also listening to and advocating for Middle School student needs. The Fab Five works closely with the Head of Middle School on topics concerning both the Middle School day and boarding communities.
The Ethel Walker Middle School has a number of student-organized clubs. Students who have particular areas of interest can create new clubs by partnering with an interested faculty advisor and setting up regular meetings and activities. Clubs are approved by the Head of the Middle School and they meet during assigned club blocks during the academic day. Clubs run based on student interest and new offerings may be added every school year!
Middle School Clubs from previous years
Every Tuesday, lunch is much more than a meal. It’s a time for the Middle School community to gather in advisory groups to catch up on all the latest news, plan for the upcoming week, and listen to Middle School Fab Five leaders share announcements about birthdays, awards, or shoutouts for a job well done. Every Tuesday students connect here — with each other and with faculty.
Weekend Activities feature events both on-campus, where students deepen their relationship with each other and with on-campus faculty and upper school students, and off-campus, where students connect with the larger middle school community. All Middle School students have an opportunity to have fun and engage socially within and beyond our community where they can discover new passions and pursue pastimes they already enjoy.
Activities are designed with Middle School students in mind. Off-campus weekend activities include trips to the movies, museum visits, and outings to historical sights. There are seasonal offerings too, including winter skiing and tubing, attending a spring flower show, or picking apples and pumpkins in the fall. There is fun to be had on-campus, such as baking with a dorm parent or “dive-in” movies at the Centennial pool. Students also attend social and community service events with other schools, including mini-golf, laser tag, and our Winter Formal.
Middle School Dorm faculty understand that the unique needs of middle school-aged students require nurturing guidance. Through fostering intentional relationships, dorm faculty are able to effectively support students as they develop skills of independence, organization, and collaboration, as well as practicing an empathetic response to all those in our community. A Walker’s Middle School residential experience allows students the space to flourish both academically and socially as they navigate creating a sense of home away from home.
The Ethel Walker Middle School Boarding Program aims to foster the following skills:
Middle school boarding school students are fully immersed into the school’s residential program with dorm faculty dedicated to managing the care of Middle School students.
Under the guidance of our Middle School residential team, seventh and eighth grade boarding students are guided during weekday evenings with managing homework assignments and their involvement in evening activities in order to be prepared for classes the next day and with enough time to get into bed early, refreshed and ready for the school day ahead. On the weekends, students’ are provided with a schedule filled with leisure, engaging outings, and athletic activities. To learn more about Walker’s Middle School boarding program, please contact Associate Director of Admission Elizabeth Foody at efoody@ethelwalker.org or +1-860-408-4207.
Clarissa Basch P'15
Director of College Counseling, Co-Director of Community Partnerships
Clarissa Basch has served as Walker’s Director of College Counseling since February 2004, where she guides students through the process of investigating, applying to, and selecting colleges.
Before joining Walker’s, Clarissa spent 17 years as a college admissions officer at Drexel University, Endicott College, and Hampshire College. She was lured to “the other side of the desk” because of the opportunity to work directly with students on their post-Walker’s plans, and to be part of this vibrant boarding school community. With professional colleagues at colleges and universities all over the country, she loves to welcome them to Walker’s when they come to meet with her students in the fall.
Clarissa is an avid exerciser who swims and helps guard at the Walker’s pool on weekday mornings. She is an active volunteer for numerous organizations in the greater Hartford area and at Walker’s serves as one of the faculty advisors to the Community Partnerships program. Clarissa put her college counseling know-how to use with her daughter (Walker’s Class of 2015), and both survived the experience intact. Following graduation, her daughter enjoyed a wonderful gap year in England as an English-Speaking Union Scholar before enrolling at Susquehanna University, from which she graduated in 2020. Her son graduated from UConn in 2023. Clarissa lives on campus with her husband.
Read Full Profile
Rachel Feldman
Math Faculty
Rachel Feldman is a graduate of Bowling Green State University in Ohio, where she earned her degree in Secondary Mathematics Education (grades 7-12). She then continued her education by earning her Master’s degree in Learning Design from the University of Illinois while also beginning her teaching career in Chicago. She has taught a wide range of students at the middle and high school levels, including courses in Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Geometry, and College Algebra. She loves to teach using hands-on, real world applications that emphasize cooperation and problem-solving. She is excited to have joined such a dedicated and inspiring community at Walker’s!
Read Full Profile
Karim Mabrouk
French Faculty
Karim joins Walker’s faculty on a full-time basis this year as a member of the World Languages faculty specializing in French; previously he served on the faculty on a part-time basis. Karim will teach French 1B, 2, and 4 this academic year. He is fluent in French and Arabic and has focused some of his work on teaching French for diplomacy and international affairs. Previously, Karim was a Graduate Fellow and Visiting Lecturer at Trinity College (Hartford, CT), an instructor at Yale University, and he held various teaching and administrative roles at the University of Connecticut. He is a Ph.D. candidate (ABD) at the University of Connecticut in French Language & Literature. He holds Master of Arts degrees from UConn in both International Studies and French Culture Language & Literature and a Graduate Certificate in Human Rights Studies. Karim earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in both International and French Studies from Iona College. Karim is a JV soccer coach and will coach swimming in the winter.
John Monagan
History Faculty
John Monagan grew up in Waterbury, Connecticut, where he attended Chase Collegiate School from 6th-12th grade. From Waterbury, John headed south to attend Johns Hopkins University, where he majored in history. After four enjoyable years in Baltimore, John’s years in private school led him to The Ethel Walker School, where he taught history and English. John spent his first four years at Walker’s teaching 6th-9th grade history and 6th-7th grade English. He has also spent time running student activities. John earned his Master of Science degree from Drexel University in Sports Management while working at Walker’s. He previously served as Walker’s Athletic Director for nine years and continues to teach in the history department. John is the head coach of the varsity basketball and softball teams and lives on campus with his wife and daughter.
Read Full Profile
Randall Shō Northrop
History Department Chair, History Faculty
Randall joins Walker’s from Beaver Country Day School in Brookline, MA, where he taught Global History and Social Sciences. At Beaver, Randall also served as the grade dean for 9th and 10th grades, facilitated students of color and affinity groups, and coached the BVR Model UN team. Raised in Okinawa, Japan, he is passionate that students see themselves as a part of an interconnected local and global community, full of rich and complex narratives.
Read Full Profile
Mallory Pasquariello
Director of Residential Life and Student Activities
Mallory is a graduate of Roger Williams University with a bachelor’s degree in art history and a triple minor in architecture, business management and English literature. She also has an M.A. in Museum Studies through the distance learning program at the University of Leicester. Previously, Mallory served as teller supervisor and customer service representative for Northwest Community Bank in New Hartford where she has gained a wealth of experience in customer service and organization. Here at Walker’s, Mallory serves as the Director of Residential Life and Student Activities. She is also a housefaculty member in New Dorm.
Read Full Profile
Dr. Suzanne Piela P’22, '28
Science Faculty
Suzanne joined The Ethel Walker School in the fall of 2007 and since then has taught AP Biology, Advanced Biology, Honors Biology, General Biology, Human Anatomy and Physiology, Honors Biochemistry, Equine Science, and an independent study in Microbiology. Suzanne earned her B.S. in Biology at the University of Notre Dame and her D.V.M. at the University of Minnesota. She also did a small animal internship in medicine, surgery, and emergency medicine at Rowley Memorial Animal Hospital in Springfield, MA.
Suzanne practiced as a small animal veterinarian for 10 years before transitioning to teaching. Prior to her role at Walker’s, she worked as a park naturalist and taught ecology at the elementary level, and worked as a middle and high school science and math tutor.
Suzanne is currently the Science Department Chair, coaches JV Tennis, and loves to ride at Walker’s barn when she has time.
Read Full Profile