Directory

Before coming to Rivers, Arturo Bagley taught world history and U.S. history at the Tower Hill School in Wilmington, DE. Arturo earned a BA from Emory University, a JD from Yale Law School, and an MA in U.S. history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At Rivers, he teaches AP U.S. history, honors U.S. history, and a strand of senior electives, and he serves as one of the faculty advisors for the Model U.N. club. Outside of the classroom, Arturo has served as a reader for the AP U.S. history exam for several years.

Juliet Bailey P’23 joined the Rivers faculty in 1997 and currently teaches English and drama, directs Upper School plays, and advises eleventh and twelfth graders. She received the Mida van Zuylen Dunn award for teaching excellence in 2005. Before coming to Rivers, Juliet taught and directed at Millbrook School and Wyoming Seminary and earned a Fulbright Teaching Exchange Fellowship, which took her to Budapest, Hungary, for a year. A graduate of Bates College, Juliet holds an MA from the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College.

Jeff teaches eighth-grade humanities and coaches flag football and Middle School boys lacrosse. He holds an MFA in poetry from the University of California, San Diego, and a BA in philosophy from Pitzer College.

Zaidi Barreto has a BA in classics and an MAT in Latin and classical humanities from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has taught beginning and intermediate Latin to University of Massachusetts undergraduate students, as well as a practicum at Amherst Regional High School. Zaidi teaches Upper School Spanish and serves as an advisor in the Upper School. Zaidi has also taught English to refugee minors in Athens, Greece.

Nikki Bartlett, current parent and former Rivers teacher (2000-2006), returns to Rivers this year to teach Middle School Spanish. Previously at Rivers, Nikki taught Upper and Middle School French and Spanish, served as an Upper School advisor, organized and led the student trip to Quebec, and coached Middle School Field Hockey and Girls Tennis. In addition, Nikki served as a Spanish Teaching Fellow at Boston College; taught and coached at the Frances C. Richmond School in Hanover, New Hampshire; and worked at King & Low-Heywood Thomas School in Stamford, Connecticut, where she received the McDermott Faculty Award for professional development.

Nikki is a graduate of The Middlesex School and holds a Master of Arts in French Language and Culture, with honors, from Boston College and a Bachelor of Arts in French, Magna Cum Laude, from St. Lawrence University.

Jean joined the Rivers community in 2024. She teaches Upper School mathematics and serves as the assistant coach for the JV girls’ ice hockey team. She has a B.A. in mathematics from Hamilton College and an M.Ed. in secondary school mathematics from Boston University. Before moving to Boston to earn her master’s degree, Jean taught mathematics and coached at New Canaan Country School in Connecticut. While at Hamilton, Jean was a member of the varsity squash team. She enjoys reading, cooking, skiing, and being outdoors.

Daniel Berenson holds a BA in classics, with an emphasis in classical languages, and an MAT in  Latin and classical humanities, both from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. While pursuing his master’s degree, Daniel was a Latin instructor and teaching assistant for beginning and intermediate undergraduate Latin classes. Daniel also taught Latin at the high school level as part of his training. He is passionate about teaching Latin across all levels.

Betty Bloch has a BA in biochemistry and Japanese from Middlebury College and a PhD in chemistry/biochemistry from Lehigh University. Before joining Rivers, Betty taught honors chemistry and designed and taught an advanced biochemistry course at the Pomfret School. She brings a deep passion for teaching science in a student-centered manner and is an innovative teacher. Betty is part of the team teaching biology and chemistry, serves as a freshman advisor, and coaches volleyball.

Caroline Boston holds a B.A. in history and English from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She began her teaching career at German International School and has also worked as an apprentice teacher at Shady Hill School in Cambridge, where she created history and literature units for fifth and eighth grade students.

Prior to his time at Rivers, Tom Bourdeau served as athletic director at Marian High School in Framingham. Before that, Tom coached football at the college level, serving as head assistant coach at Stonehill College for five years, during which time he managed the recruiting process for the football program and ran various components of on-field play. He has also served as a graduate assistant in the football program at Boston College and helped run the BC summer high school football camps. A self-described “kid-first” educator, Tom brings his brand of connection to our football program as head coach. Tom earned a BA in administrative studies from Colby College and an MA from Boston College.

John Bower joined the faculty in 2008 and has served as head of the Middle School since 2020. During his time at Rivers, John has taught Middle School and Upper School French and Middle School chorus and music-directed the Middle School and Upper School musicals. He also served as the school's director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from 2009 until 2019. In 2017, he received the Walter Family Community Award recognizing his "commitment to cultivating a caring community through extraordinary contributions to the school." John holds a BA in music theory & composition, with a minor in French language, from Haverford College.

Mary Brown is an Upper School Spanish language teacher. She holds a BA in Spanish literature from Regis College and an MA in Spanish literature from Middlebury College, as well as an MA in English as a second language from the University of Massachusetts in Boston. She taught for three decades at Wayland High School, serving as language department chair and an AP Spanish exam reader.

Meghan Brown completed her undergraduate studies at Cornell University and received a doctorate in English literature from the University of Connecticut. She served as a teaching assistant and lead instructor for a variety of college-level courses at UConn and taught sophomore English at Boston University Academy before coming to Rivers. Meghan is an avid runner and singer outside of school.

Eve Budnick serves as the voice department chair as well as a pianist for RSC.  She is the artistic director and co-founder of Opera del West, the resident opera company for the past 10 years at The Center for Arts in Natick. In this capacity, she provides music direction for fully staged operas in March and August each year. Eve has taught vocal diction and vocal literature at Boston University, University of Connecticut, and New England Conservatory’s continuing ed department.  Eve received a BA in music history from Princeton University, an MA in accompaniment from Boston University, and a graduate diploma in collaborative piano from New England Conservatory.

Melanie Stier Burke earned a B.A. in biology from Amherst College and an M.A. in teaching and teaching leadership from Mt. Holyoke College. During her time at Amherst, she was a four-year varsity soccer player and spent a semester abroad in Turks and Caicos at the School for Field Studies, studying marine science. Mel worked at Governor’s Academy for four years, teaching biology and marine science and coaching varsity soccer and softball; she has also taught and coached at the Charlotte (North Carolina) Latin School. In her free time, she enjoys spending time at the beach, running, and traveling.

Scott Butchart teaches both French and Spanish in the Upper School and also serves as an advisor. A veteran educator with more than 40 years of experience teaching French and Spanish at Brookline High School, he also served as dean of students at Brookline High and chair of the scholarship committee. Scott earned a BA in French and Spanish at Colby College and an MA in French from Middlebury College.