The Timeless COMPETITION Continues!
Let’s rally together in support of girls education, Walker’s exceptional faculty, and this generation of Suns and Dials! EVERY gift May 6-16 will be matched and the spirit club with the most gifts will be victorious. Show your spirit!
Ethel Walker School
Welcome to Walker’s! Here you will find information, forms, and documents to help you prepare for the 2023-2024 school year. The deadline for each document as well as the intended group are listed below.
Items with an asterisk indicate that they are required for that group.
Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. We are here to guide you through this transition to Walker’s!
*Required
| Group | Form or Document | Deadline |
| All New Students | Math and World Languages Placement Tests* | May 31, 2023 |
| New Upper School Students | Upper School Art Course Registration* | May 31, 2023 |
| New Upper School Students | Upper School Co-Curricular Registration* | May 31, 2023 |
| New Middle School Students | Middle School World Language Preference and Co-Curricular Registration* | May 31, 2023 |
| All New Students | Upload ID Photo* | May 31, 2023 |
| All New Parents/Guardians | Magnus Health Forms* | June 30, 2023 |
| New Parents/Guardians For Students Without U.S. Health Insurance | Supplemental Health Insurance | June 30, 2023 |
| All New Parents/Guardians | Student Activities Waiver* | June 30, 2023 |
| New Boarding Parents/Guardians | Boarding Student Local Guardian Designation Form* | June 30, 2023 |
| New Boarding Parents/Guardians | Upper School and Middle School Boarder Permissions Form* | June 30, 2023 |
| New Senior Day Student Parents/Guardians | Senior Day Student Driver Permissions Form | June 30, 2023 |
| New Boarding Students | New Student Roommate Questionnaire* | June 30, 2023 |
| New Athletes Interested in Preseason | Preseason Registration | August 14, 2023 |
| New Parents/Guardians Interested in a School Store Account | Diddle’s Depot New Account Setup | August 30, 2023 |
| Group | Document or Webpage |
| All New Families | 2023-2024 Academic Calendar Also found on our Important Dates webpage |
| All New Families | Student Technology Requirements |
| All New Families | 2023-2024 Dress Code |
| All New Families | Summer Reading Brochure |
| New Boarding Families | Boarding Student Packing List |
Equestrian forms should be downloaded, completed, and emailed to Equestrian Administrative Manager Tanya Szuluk at tszuluk@ethelwalker.org or mailed to:
Tanya Szuluk
The Ethel Walker School
230 Bushy Hill Road
Simsbury, CT 06070
*Required for any rider or student planning to ride
| Group | Form or Document | Deadline (If Applicable) |
| All New Parents/Guardians of Riders or Students Planning to Ride | Walker’s Equestrian Manual | |
| All New Parents/Guardians of Riders or Students Planning to Ride | Riding Program Waiver* | June 30, 2023 |
| New Parents/Guardians of Riders or Students Planning to Take Lessons | Riding Lesson Fees | |
| New Parents/Guardians of Riders Planning to Board or Lease a Horse | Boarding and Leasing a Horse | |
| New Parents/Guardians of Riders Planning to Board or Lease a Horse | Boarding Agreement | June 30, 2023 |
| New Parents/Guardians of Riders Planning to Participate in Horse Shows | Horse Show Participation |
Brett Benzio
Director of Athletics
Brett Benzio
Brett Benzio hails from sunny South Florida where she was a multi-sport athlete in high school. In her four years at Jensen Beach High School, Brett was a state champion in basketball and volleyball – winning the State Tournament MVP in volleyball and Player of the Year in both basketball and volleyball as a senior. JBHS inducted Brett into their hall of fame in 2013. Brett chose to pursue basketball in college and was a four-year starter at Tulane University. During her time in New Orleans, Brett solidified her impact on the program in the record books and most impressively as the second woman in school history to score at least 1,000 points and pull down at least 1,000 rebounds. After completing her collegiate career, Brett continued playing professionally for MB Slovenka in the Czech Republic and DJK Brose in Germany.
As an athletic professional, Brett has both collegiate and prep school experience. As the director of operations for the Harvard women’s basketball team, Brett was instrumental in managing the program’s travel, events, and day-to-day operations. Brett gained more collegiate experience as an assistant coach for the women’s basketball program at the University of Vermont, where she was the compliance liaison, marketing director, and academic advisor for athletes in the program. With a combined seven years of experience at the New Hampton School and Lawrence Academy, Brett has had the opportunity to familiarize herself with operations within NEPSAC.
Brett holds a BS degree from Tulane University in Management and a MBA from Lynn University in Athletic Administration and Media & Marketing Management.
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Paul D. Breault
Controller
Paul D. Breault
Paul joined Walker’s in November 2022 as the School’s Controller. Previously, he served as the Director of Finance and Operations at The Greenwood School (Putney, VT) and the Chief Financial Officer at The Academy at Charlemont (Charlemont, MA). He holds an M.B.A. from Bay Path University and a B.S. in Business Management from Westfield State University.
Isabel Ceballos P'29
Head of the Middle School
Isabel Ceballos P'29
Isabel Ceballos was born in Medellin, Colombia, and raised in Connecticut. She earned her B.A. and M.A. in Modern Languages with a concentration in Spanish Language, Literature & Culture from Central Connecticut State University. She is currently working on her Ed.D. in Leadership and Learning in Organizations from Peabody College Vanderbilt University. Isabel Ceballos has been a member of Walker’s Language Department since 2013, and is the founding executive director of Horizons at The Ethel Walker School, the first all-girls Horizons program in the country.
Named one of Hartford Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40 in 2016, and a recipient of The Thelma Ellis Dickerson Community Bridge Builder Award, Isabel is an active member in the community. She serves on the Board of The Aurora Women & Girls Foundation, and is a member of the United Way Community Engagement Committee.
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Elisa Del Valle
Assistant Head for Student Life, Director of Social Justice and Inclusion
Elisa Del Valle
Elisa Del Valle is a transformational educator and deep believer of young people. She was raised in East New York, Brooklyn and molded by resilient ancestors: strong women who, despite hardship, yielded joy, and her own children who remind her each day that she is here to be taught by them. It is from these wisdom guides that she has learned the most about unconditional love and the power of sisterhood.
Elisa’s relationship to justice work is an embodied practice rooted in her own liberation and the liberation of others. She defines her work not by what she is against, but by what she is for and the world she wants to be part of. She moves in the world as a complex human with the understanding that she became this way because she was simultaneously harmed and loved by family and strangers alike. She models vulnerability, radical love, transparency, curiosity, and accountability for the young people she works with. They are her greatest motivator for this work and they are who keep her spirit light.
At Walker’s Elisa serves as the Assistant Head for Student Life and Director of Social Justice and Inclusion. Prior to her arrival at Walker’s in 2016, she spent 12 years working in higher education in residential life, student activities, leadership development, and new student orientation at Mount Holyoke College and Wesleyan University. While at Mount Holyoke, Elisa utilized her passion and graduate degree in Social Justice Education to design a more inclusive curriculum for the residential student experience. At Wesleyan, she pursued her passion for justice work on the Presidential Task Force for Equity and Inclusion and was an active voice on issues of Equity and Inclusion amongst her student affairs professionals.
Elisa attended an all-girls high school in New York City before attending Smith College in Northampton, MA. As a first-generation college student, she majored in Government and minored in Spanish. While working full-time at Mount Holyoke College, Elisa also attended graduate school full-time at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where she graduated with a Master’s in Social Justice Education.
Elisa is currently the Chair of the Commission on Diversity in Independent Schools (CODIS) through Connecticut’s Association of Independent Schools (CAIS).
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Sarah Edwards
Financial Aid Specialist
Sarah Edwards
Sarah Edwards joined Walker’s in the fall of 2022 in the role of Financial Aid Specialist. Sarah has held leadership roles in secondary school admission and financial aid for the past 23 years. In 2009, Sarah founded a consulting firm to support independent schools implement mission-aligned financial aid policies. She served as Director of Admission and Financial Aid at The Derryfield School in Manchester, New Hampshire and previously led the Admission and Financial Aid Department for Boston University Academy in Boston, Massachusetts. After graduating from Phillips Exeter Academy, Sarah earned a B.A. from Syracuse University, magna cum laude. She has taught English in Fukuyama, Japan before beginning her career in independent schools. Sarah just completed her term on the SAU 16 public school board in Exeter, New Hampshire. Sarah lives with her husband, Adam, and two teenage sons in Exeter, New Hampshire, where she enjoys mountain biking and other outdoor adventures.
Nishette Isaac
Dean of Students, Dean of Middle School Digital Library Services
Nishette Isaac
Nishette joined Walker’s in 2016 from the Collegiate School in New York where she served as the school’s librarian for three years. She earned her B.A. in anthropology from Hofstra University, her M.S. in teaching from Fordham University, and her M.L.S. from Pratt Institute. Nishette began her career as a librarian for the New York City Department of Education where she served for four years at PS 305 and PS 256. There, she ran the library while being frequently called upon to perform classroom teaching duties. In 2011, she joined Dalton School as a volunteer librarian and spent the 2012-2013 year as a maternity leave replacement librarian at both Chapin School and Brearley School. Nishette was born in Saint Lucia and moved to the United States when she was 10. She is an active member of the Shelflives Book Club and has served as vice president of the Hudson Valley Librarian Association for the past three years.
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Laurie MacAlpine P'08
Music Department Chair
Laurie MacAlpine P'08
Laurie MacAlpine came to Walker’s in 1998 and has expanded the music program to address the needs of a growing student body. She earned her bachelor’s degree in science with a minor in vocal music from Ladycliff College and went on to receive her master’s in music composition from The Hartt School, University of Hartford. An accomplished musician, she studied composition and theory with Arnold Franchetti, classical guitar with Janet Marlowe, and piano with Bridget de Moura Castro. Before coming to Walker’s, Laurie owned her own piano and classical guitar studio for 10 years and started four independent music programs for home school associations in Connecticut. She has conducted several children’s choirs in churches throughout Hartford and is currently the cantor at Our Lady of Sorrows Church. At Walker’s, she has expanded the music program to include a gospel choir and a chamber choir (Voce Felice), Upper and Middle School orchestra, a handbell choir, and chamber ensembles. In October 2006, she was awarded The Natalie Galbraith Mitchell Chair in the Humanities for her work at the school. She is currently a member of Simsbury Town Band in the clarinet section.
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Mallory Pasquariello
Director of Residential Life and Student Activities
Mallory Pasquariello
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.
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Hannah Reid
Registrar
Hannah Reid
Hannah joined the Walker’s community in 2023 as the school registrar. She is familiar with the boarding school world, having worked at both Northfield Mount Hermon and the Fay School, and also as a graduate of nearby Suffield Academy. Hannah began her career working in the admissions office at NMH before returning to school at Harvard where she earned an Ed.M in Mind, Brain, and Education. After graduate school, Hannah worked as a learning specialist at Fay and returned to NMH several years later as an academic coach. Since relocating back to Connecticut in 2019, Hannah has tutored students at Westminster in addition to teaching a group of remote 5th graders at Renbrook during the pandemic. Hannah lives in Simsbury with her husband, three sons, and a plethora of pets.
Pamela Safford '81
Assistant Head for Admission and Enrollment
Pamela Safford '81
Pamela holds a B.A. in Sociology and Anthropology from Carleton College and an M.S. from the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, she was the Director of Enrollment Management and Financial Aid at The Country School in New Canaan. Pamela has also been employed as Dean of Admission and Financial Aid at Deerfield Academy; Associate Head for Communications, Enrollment and Planning at Concord Academy; and Director of Admission at Northfield Mount Hermon School. Pamela is a founding trustee and former chair of the board for the Association of Independent School Admission Professionals (AISAP) and she currently serves on the board of the Enrollment Management Association (EMA). Committed to supporting professional development among her peers, Pamela regularly presents at various national conferences including IECA, NAIS, SSATB, and TABS.
Magnus Health
service@magnushealthportal.com
877-461-6831 (US)
919-502-7689 (out of US callers)
Technology Help Desk
helpdesk@ethelwalker.org
