Faculty and Staff

Fine and Performing Arts Staff

LeeAnn Sutton, Director [email protected]
Valerie Maio, Coordinator [email protected]
Felicia Fraser, Senior Bookkeeper [email protected]

2024-2025 Fine and Performing Arts Faculty

Broadmeadow Elementary School

Karen Dicenzo	Art
Heather Tryon	Music
Sarah Casados	Music
Mark Smith	Strings
Alex Moy	Music and Strings

Eliot Elementary School

Christine McAllister	Art
George Vallantini	Music
Allison Penn	Music
Sarah Casados	Music
Mark Smith	Strings

Mitchell Elementary School

Alice Rufo	Art
Laura Young	Music
Sarah Casados	Music
Mark Smith	Strings
Alex Moy	Music and Strings

Newman Elementary School

Claudia Carpenter Ramya Varanasi (LTS)	Art
Sabrina Julian	Art
Allison Penn	Music
Sarah Casados	Music
Mark Smith	Strings

Sunita Williams Elementary School

Jennifer Bates	Art
Christine McAllister	Art
Abigail Grote	Music
Sarah Casados	Music
Mark Smith	Strings
Alex Moy	Music and Strings

High Rock School

Marissa Krantz	Art
Catherine Iatesta	Music
Allison Flores	Music
Mark Smith	Music

Pollard Middle School

Merideth Hopkins	Art
Jill Lubie	Art
Sabrina Julian	Art
Holly Kelfer	Art
Steve Heldt	Music
Hannah White-Rivera	Music
Mark Smith	Music
Katherine Jones	Theatre

High School

Robyn Briggs	Art
Kate Jellinghaus	Art
Damon Burnard	Art
Maria Satori	Art
Sofia Koza-Topp	Art
Kate Bergeron Tizanna Rozzo (LTS)	Art
Nicole Burnor	Art
Shireen Yadollahpour	Art
Spencer Parrish	Music
Jonathan VanderWoude	Music
Alex Lee-Clark	Music
Kristen Mazzocchi	Theatre

Faculty Bios
Elementary Music Teachers
Sarah Casados
Majored in flute performance and earned a Bachelor of Arts at California State University, Hayward in 2000. Ms. Casados studied Dalcroze Eurythmics at Longy School of Music and earned her Masters of Music in 2008. She has taught all levels and areas of music in the San Francisco Bay Area before moving to New England for graduate school. She has taught in Needham since 2011.

Abigail Grote
Abby grew up on Long Island and began teaching instrumental music in high school. She moved to Massachusetts to attend Boston University, where she earned her Bachelors of Music in Music Education. She began working at Sunita Williams in 2021. In her free time, Abby reads, plays tennis, and plays bassoon with the Firebird Pops Orchestra.

Alexander Moy
Alex grew up on Long Island, where he started to teach violin and viola during his high school years. He later went on to earn a bachelor's degree in Violin Performance from SUNY Purchase College, and a master's degree in Music Education from Boston University. Alex has taught in several school districts in the Greater Boston area, and is looking forward to working for students in Needham Public Schools.

Allison Penn
Allison grew up in the Missouri suburbs of Kansas City and received her BME from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and her MM in Music Education at Boston University. She taught all levels and areas of music in Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota for before moving to New England, but her favorite thing to teach is elementary band! She began working at Newman in 2014 at the same time she started graduate school. When she’s not sharing her love of music, she enjoys exploring the wonderful creativity and culture in the Boston area with her husband and kids.

Heather Tryon
Started teaching in Needham in the fall of 2000. She majored in voice and choral conducting and earned both her Bachelor of Music and Master of Music degrees from Ithaca College in New York. From 2006-2014, Ms. Tryon conducted two youth choirs in the Handel + Haydn Society Education Program: Singers (grades 3-5) and Youth Chorus (grades 6-8). Now she spends her free time with her husband and two children in Ashland.

George Vallatini
George has been joyously teaching elementary music, band and chorus in Needham since 1997. He has a bachelor’s degree in music education from UMass Lowell and a Master’s degree in music technology from Indiana University. He, his wife and two children have been Needham residents since 2002. https://sites.google.com/a/needham.k12.ma.us/mr-vallatini-s-music/

Laura Young
Laura is a Needham native and attended the Mitchell School, where she teaches now. She attended DePauw University for her Bachelor’s degree and UMASS Lowell for her master’s degree. Her main instrument is flute, but she also plays the piano and enjoys singing in her church choir. She has taught in Needham since 2002.

Elementary Art Teachers
Jennie Bates
Jennie started teaching in Needham in 2000 after receiving her Masters in Art Education at Rochester Institute of Technology and Bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College majoring in studio art. After teaching many years at the middle school level Jennie is teaching elementary art at Hillside school and enjoying working with students in grades one through five. When she is not teaching she is with her three children, husband, and pug and lives on the south shore.

Karen DiCenzo
Karen resides in Walpole, MA and began teaching in Needham in 2015. She holds a bachelor degree from Emmanuel College, Boston, MA and a master’s degree from Norwich University, VT; both degrees are in the field of Art Therapy. She entered the field of art education in 1993 worked for a while, then took 12 years off to raise her family while running an afterschool art program out of her house then returned back to the field of teaching three years ago here at Broadmeadow School.

Christine McAllister
A native of the Chicago area, Christine taught high school art in the Chicago suburbs for several years, before moving to Boston. She has a BFA in Art Education from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and an MA in Digital Imaging. She starting teaching elementary art in Needham in 2013.

Alice Rufo Alice Rufo is a graduate of Needham Public Schools. They have a BFA in Illustration and a Masters in Art teaching - both from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. For the last year Alice has been teaching art to elementary students at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. This is their first year as Mitchell Elementary School's visual art teacher.
Ramya Varanasi
Ramya Varanasi is a digital animation artist from Natick, MA. She holds a computer science degree and a master's in social work from Boston College, and is a graduate of the digital art and 3D animation program at Pixels and Polygons school. When she's not creating art, she enjoys traveling and exploring various creative pursuits with her wonderful husband and two lovely kids. Ramya is always enthusiastic about working with young children and sharing her passion for creativity with them.

Middle School Art Faculty
Marissa Krantz
Marissa is from nearby Westwood, MA and a graduate of Kendall College of Art and Design and Boston University with her Masters’ in Art Education. She has been teaching visual art at High Rock since 2011 where she designed and continues to grow the Arts Integration program. She loves creating art with her students collaborating with other faculty members to create opportunities for students to learn and express themselves creatively. https://sites.google.com/a/needham.k12.ma.us/mkrantz/

Middle School Theatre Faculty
Kate Jones
Kate is a passionate theater educator. She has a Master’s degree in Theater Education from Emerson College, and a Bachelor’s degree in Theater from UMass Amherst. A member of the Pollard staff since 2014, she loves coming to work every day to make art!

Middle School Music Faculty
Steve Heldt
Before moving to Massachusetts, I taught in Aspen, Colorado for five years. Before Colorado, I taught in the Chicagoland area for three years, which is also where I was born, raised, and went to college. I have two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree from Northern Illinois University (BM Trumpet Performance, BM Music Education, MM Individualized Studies in Music). Outside of music, I enjoy photography, woodworking, and cooking.

Mark Smith
Mark brings his love of working with children to string players from grade 3 to grade 9. He currently works at all elementary schools and both middle schools. Mr. Smith grew up in Michigan playing the viola. He started teaching in a Suzuki program in while still in High School. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Indiana University and a Master of Music degree from the New England Conservatory. Both degrees are in Viola Performance. He and his husband Andy have two children who both went through the Needham Public Schools. Teaching has been his goal since he was in High School when he was told that the best way to be a great teacher was to become the best player you can be.

High School Art Faculty
Kate Bergeron
Kate Bergeron grew up in Connecticut, with a connection to music, performance art and fine art from a young age. She graduated from Providence College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography and a minor in Dance, before realizing that it was her dream to share her passion through the education of young people. She attended Tufts University and The School of Museum of Fine Arts, where she received her Masters in Education in 2013. Kate has been teaching Fine Arts in Needham ever since! She is inspired to instill a mindset of creative thinking in all students that come through her classroom, not just those who perceive themselves to be ‘creative’! In her personal time, Kate enjoys being outdoors with her husband and children, making her own artwork, and traveling. She always has her camera at the ready!

Robyn Briggs
Robyn Briggs gained her love of graphic design from the classes she took as a high school student right here in Needham! Going through the graphic design sequence courses as a teenager lead her to the University of Maryland to study graphic design and get her Bachelors in Studio Art with a concentration in Graphic Design. After school she worked as a designer for the Army at the Natick Soldiers System Center. There she realized that there was a lot of bad design out in the world and felt the need to educate people about it. Robyn went back to school and got her Masters of Art Education at Framingham State. Robyn started working at the high school in 2005 where she has taught ceramics, photography, crafts, drawing and painting and graphic design. Now she is in charge of Studio 605, which does all of the design and printing needs for the school and town while teaching her favorite classes - Commercial Design 1, 2, & 3. Robyn lives in Millis with her husband and two children and their dog Pippin.

Damon Burnard
Damon Burnard was the visual arts teacher at Needham’s Broadmeadow School for 15 years, before joining the High School faculty in 2015. He has a BA in Fine Art, Painting, from Bath Academy of Art, England, and a Master of Science in Art Education from MassArt. He has written and illustrated over twenty children’s books in the UK and USA and, when not engaging with students in the artmaking process, is developing his own works on canvas with acrylic paint.

Sofia Koza-Topp
Sofia Koza-Topp has been teaching the ceramics program in the Needham Public Schools since 2003. She started at Pollard Middle School and then has been at the high school since 2010. She grew up overseas in Asia and Europe which is where her appreciation for the arts began. She moved to the United States to attend university where she received her undergraduate degree in studio art from James Madison University in Virginia and her masters degree in art education from Massachusetts College of Art. Sofia spends her time away from teaching with her husband raising their three young children. They enjoy travelling and spending precious time with their families.

Maria Sartori
Maria Sartori graduated from Lesley University College of Art and Design with a B.F.A. in Photography, and earned her Masters of Art Education from Lesley University. She has been a Visual Art Educator at Needham High School since 2017. Her passion for teaching developed from her own inspiring High School Photography teacher, who taught that communication of one’s self does not always need to be verbal. Visual communication and creative problem-solving are two essentials in her teaching philosophy. When Maria is not teaching she is busy at work in her studio. Her medium of choice changes with her concept- her favorite as of now is acrylic paint and ceramic sculpture.

Shireen Agah Yadollahpour
Shireen Agah Yadollahpour graduated from Syracuse University with dual B.F.A. degrees in Art Education and Painting, and earned her Masters of Science in Art Education from Massachusetts College of Art. She taught high school visual art in suburban Chicago before coming to Needham in 2003. She currently teaches full year courses including Art II Honors, Art III Accelerated, and Advanced Placement Studio Art, as well as a few semester electives. As an art educator, her interests include curriculum design based in 21st century skills, parallel concept and craft development, and choice based art education and station work. She is also a passionate advocate for studio practice for art educators, and works primarily in drawing and painting media. Her works are in private collections throughout the United States. She lives in the South Shore with her husband and two children, and also enjoys traveling, running, cooking, and reading.

High School Music Faculty

Alexander Lee-Clark
Alex teaches Guitar 1 & 2, Music Technology and Piano at Needham High School, where he also leads the Contemporary Music Ensemble. He maintains an active career as a performer and band leader, most notably as the co-leader of the BT ALC Big Band
In addition, Alex is the co-founder and artistic director of PopUp Music,
a project that uses live music as a tool to demonstrate active listening and teamwork skills in the workplace. His favorite composer is Duke Ellington, his favorite baseball team is the New York Yankees, and his favorite pizza place near Boston is Pepe's. For more information about Alex, you can visit his website at www.alexleeclark.com.

Spencer Parrish
Spencer Parrish is Director of Bands at Needham High School where he conducts the Concert Band, Symphonic Band, Jazz Ensemble, and Pep Band in addition to teaching Piano and AP Music Theory. Parrish graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education from Berklee College of Music where he was a recipient of the college's North American scholarship and Professional Education Division Achievement Award. He studied jazz piano under Jeff Covell and Kevin Harris and wind band conducting under Dr. Dominick Ferrara. He later earned a Master of Music degree in Music Education from Boston University with special studies in arranging and orchestration. In addition to teaching in Needham, Parrish serves on the faculty of the Berklee College of Music Day Sessions program. Prior to his teaching appointment in Needham, he taught elementary general and instrumental music in the Newton Public Schools. Parrish is a professional pianist, Hammond organist, bandleader, and composer/arranger who has performed, recorded, and collaborated with renowned artists such as Glen David Andrews, Melba Moore, Amanda Shaw, and Denise Morgan. Band Website: needhamhighbands.com

Jonathan VanderWoude
Jonathan VanderWoude directs the Needham High School String Orchestra, Chamber Strings, Chorus, Chorale, Bella Voce, and directs the annual musical. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education in Voice from Gordon College, and a Master of Music in Conducting from Boston University where he studied under the baton of Dr. Ann Howard Jones. Jonathan taught middle school choirs for several years, has presented sessions for the Massachusetts Music Educators Association, published music technology curriculum, and conducted the MMEA Western Junior District festival. He served as choir director for twenty four years at the First Congregational Church in Hamilton and presently sings at Park Street Church in Boston. Jonathan also sings with the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He is currently completing a doctoral degree in music education through Liberty University.

High School Theatre Faculty

Kristen Mazzocchi
Kristen Mazzocchi directs and production manages the theater productions at Needham High School. She is an experienced arts educator, director and production manager. After graduating from Boston College with a BA in Theatre and Economics, she began her career at The Wang Center for the Performing Arts (now the Boch Center) in the Arts Education Department. She went on to work as Production Manager for the Celebrity Series of Boston where she also served as Operations Director of AileyCamp Boston, a summer dance camp for 80 middle school aged students from the Boston Public School system. Kristen’s passion for education inspired her to earn a Master’s degree in Arts Education from Harvard University, and then to take a position as the Director of Educational programs for The Celebrity Series of Boston. Kristen performed as a Mainstage cast member of the Improv Asylum and spent many years as a freelance teaching artist, director and production manager working with many schools and arts organizations including Babson College, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, New England Conservatory of Music, Improv Asylum and Needham Public Schools.