e-mail directory

Administrative Staff

Lisa Yates is the Executive Director of Our Sisters' School. Prior to joining Our Sisters' School, Lisa spent five years at the New Bedford Global Learning Charter Public School as a consultant for curriculum, assessment and professional development, and as a 6^th- and 8^th- grade classroom teacher. Before moving to New Bedford, Lisa worked at educational nonprofits in the Boston area, including the Education Development Center and Playing for Keeps. Lisa received a B.A. in Humanities and Massachusetts teaching licensure at Wheelock College. She completed her Master's degree in Education at Lesley University and the Leading for Learning Principal's Licensure program at UMass Dartmouth. Lisa is also a Board member of the New Bedford Historical Society, a member of the New Bedford Economic Development Council, and an Advisory Board member for the School Leaders Network at the Center for University, School and Community Partnerships at UMass Dartmouth and the Women’s’ Fund of Southeastern MA.

Esperanza Alejandro-Berube is the Assistant Director for Our Sisters’ School. Esperanza was the Early Education and Care Coordinator at Child Development and Education for the New Bedford region. She also served as the Family Services/Home Visiting Coordinator for 13 years on Department of Education initiatives and coordinated a family support initiative with the Children’s Trust Fund for Latino families. More recently, she was the Director of the Family Based Services Program for Seven Hills Behavioral Health in the New Bedford area. She is a certified trainer in Diversity for the Anti-Defamation League and the Family Development Credentialing Program developed by Cornell University.

Barbara Forbes Hickey is the Director of Development at our Sisters’ School. She started her career in New York and became the Promotion Director at Redbook Magazine before she returned to Boston to service Volkswagen, North America at Arnold Communications. She left Arnold as a V.P. Management Supervisor to become a full-time mother to three children. Barbara has spent time in the New Bedford area for her entire life and initially volunteered at Our Sisters’ School assisting the marketing and communications efforts.

Hillary Parker is the part-time Administrative Assistant and Volunteer Coordinator for Our Sisters’ School. In addition to her work with Our Sisters’ School, Hillary is a company member at 2^nd Story Theatre in Warren, RI as well as The Toe Jam Puppet Band – a children’s interactive music group that performs all over New England.  She has also been a part-time teacher in theatre arts for children ages  4-12 at the All Children’s Theatre in Pawtucket ,RI. She has a BFA in Performing Arts from Emerson College. She has experience in office administration from her work as the Office Manager for Wild Planet Toys Inc., in San Francisco, CA as well as the Executive Assistant to the President of PGR Media in Providence, RI.

AmeriCorps Volunteer Classroom Teachers

Joe Accardi is from Haverhill, MA. He received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. He joined OSS in 2008 because he wants to “help build a foundation for a school that will give young girls a great education and a better future,” and returns in 2009 as the sixth grade math and science teacher.

Mallory Cohn, originally from Galion, Ohio, graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 2008, where she first heard about Our Sisters’ School. Mallory majored in English and minored in history, and will spend her second year at OSS teaching English and social studies to the seventh-grade class. She enjoys reading and traveling. Reflections (PDF)

Stephanie Cosantino is from Hamilton Square, NJ. She graduated from Wellesley College in 2009 with a double major in English and Studio Art. Stephanie brings her experiences as captain of her university’s ultimate Frisbee team and as a summer camp instructor in Istanbul, Turkey to OSS as the new seventh-grade math and science teacher.

Marla Feldman, originally from Woodcliff Lake, NJ, graduated from Union College in 2009 where she majored in English and minored in Spanish. She has served as a volunteer in a variety of areas, including the Face AIDS campaign, the ROAR literacy program, Project Sunshine and Prevent Child Abuse America. Marla is the new sixth grade English and social- studies teacher.

Jill Howard is originally from Easton, MA. Jill attended UMass Dartmouth, where she majored in political science and was on the lacrosse team. Joining OSS in 2008, she will again teach fifth grade math and science this year. Jill thinks OSS is “a great opportunity for the young girls as well as for the community at large” and she is very grateful to be a part of it.

Margaret McSweeny is from Marion, MA. She went to Tabor Academy for high school and then to the University of Puget Sound, from which she graduated in 2008. She has a B.A. in religion, politics and government. Margaret loves to sail and loves to read. She returns to OSS to continue teaching fifth grade ELA, social studies.

Lead Teachers

Priscilla Kennedy is from Philadelphia, PA. She attended an all-girls school there, and later graduated from Vassar College, an all-girls college in Poughkeepsie, NY. She received her master’s degree in education from the State University of New York at New Paltz. She is interested in education and literacy, fly fishing, daylilies, and sports for girls and women. 

June M. Pina is a native New Bedford resident who has been educated by the New Bedford School System. She attended college at Southeastern Massachusetts University in Dartmouth, MA, majoring in English and Elementary Education. June retired in June 2007 after having a fulfilling career as a grade 1 teacher for 35 years at Carney Academy. June is very pleased to be affiliated with OSS as a lead teacher and a Big Sister to all our girls.

Elizabeth White graduated from Vassar College and received a M.Ed. and a CAGS in Reading from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Elizabeth trained at MA General to become a certified member of Orton Gillingham. She has taught for over 20 years and feels very strongly about education, especially math and English literacy. Her other interests include sailing, gardening and swimming.

Art Teachers

Megan Thomas is an art teacher as well as the Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator for Our Sisters’ School. After finishing a Multidisciplinary Degree at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth in textile design and technology and feeling the need to continue to live near the sea, she settled here with her spouse to try her hand as a studio artist. She has worked over the last decade in the South Coast region and Rhode Island. Often finding herself in the position of connecting people with places and things, she heard the mission of Our Sisters’ School and understood how the development of the OSS Visual and Performing Arts program fell into that area of her experience. She is very excited to contribute to building an outstanding Arts program for these young women in New Bedford.

Mary Wayss is our Visual Arts teacher. She received a Master’s degree in Art Education, Creative Arts and Learning from Lesley University. Mary earned a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, with a major concentration in photography. She resides in Rhode Island and is certified to teach in both RI and MA. Mary was an Operations Director for six years at a large arts consulting firm in Boston. She was looking for an opportunity to instruct students in many different types of media, technologies and materials at a school – like Our Sisters’ School – where the arts are central to the curriculum and considered to be an integral part of a child’s overall education.

145 Brownell Avenue, New Bedford, MA 02740  Phone: 508.994.1255  Fax: 508.994.1355   info@oursistersschool.org