Welcome, new Groton faculty!

Please join Groton School in welcoming the following new faculty members.

Honor Clements is joining Groton’s History and Social Science Department, teaching Foundations of Global History and Modern Global History. Ms. Clements graduated from Columbia University in 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Latin American and Caribbean Studies with a specialization in language migration in the Caribbean. While at Columbia, she was a four-year member of the Columbia/Barnard women’s rowing team and led the team as captain during her senior year. After graduating college, Ms. Clements worked as a teaching fellow at the Taft School and worked toward her master’s degree in education through the Independent School Teaching Residency Program at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. In her master’s degree capstone project, Ms. Clements used practitioner inquiry to study the relationship between student reflection and the development of students’ critical consciousness. While at Taft, she taught in the History and Global Studies and Service departments, coached soccer, weight lifting, and rowing, and served as a faculty advisor to the LGBTQIA+ affinity group. Outside of teaching, Ms. Clements loves travel, reading, and spending time with friends and family.

Claudia Dolan joins us as the assistant director of Academic Skills. She holds a master’s degree from Boston College in Applied Developmental and Educational Psychology. She received her bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College (MA), where she majored in Psychology, minored in Education, and played lacrosse and soccer. Prior to joining Groton, Ms. Dolan taught her native language of Spanish for twenty years at Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School (DC), Scarborough High School (ME), Dedham Country Day School (MA), and most recently Newton Country Day School (MA). Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, her family relocated to Needham, MA, when she was a toddler. In 2023, she and her immediate family—which includes her husband, who is a cardiologist, and their two children—moved to nearby Westford. 

Desmond Goodwin teaches Foundations of Global History and Modern Global History. She joins Groton’s History Department after completing her master’s degree in World History and Cultures at King’s College London. Her dissertation examined the intersection of race and gender during the United States’ eugenics movement. Before graduate school, Ms. Goodwin worked for a tech company specializing in fitness and health monitoring, and volunteered as a court-appointed special advocate for youth in the Massachusetts foster care system. Born in Spokane, Washington, Desmond left the Pacific Northwest to attend St. Mark’s School. Desmond earned her bachelor’s degree in History with a minor in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia Studies from Harvard University. While at Harvard, she was a four-year member of the women’s varsity heavyweight rowing team and served as captain her senior year. During the summer, Ms. Goodwin leads international rowing camps with Sparks Rowing. She enjoys running, cycling, and reading historical fiction. 

Jay Herlihy became Groton School’s chief financial officer in November 2023. He joined Groton with twenty-seven years of higher education experience at Tufts University and Harvard University. For the prior ten years, Mr. Herlihy served as the associate dean for finance for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard. He is a certified public accountant and holds two master’s degrees, one in Accounting and another in Business Administration. Mr. Herlihy attended Tufts University and received his bachelor’s degree in Economics. He lives on campus with his wife, Sarah. They are the parents of three children, Linda, Jake, and Julia. The Herlihys relocated from Belmont, MA, where they lived for twenty-eight years and where Mr. Herlihy was active in the community, coaching his children’s basketball, baseball and soccer teams.  

Ryan Holmes is an assistant director of admission. He joined the Groton community in 2020 as the girls varsity tennis coach and later joined the Admission Office in 2022 as the visits coordinator. He is an Upper School dorm head. Mr. Holmes, a New England native, graduated from Roger Williams University with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Political Science. He is an avid tennis and golf player, a devout Boston sports fan, and an aspiring cinephile. He enjoys playing any and all games and also watching Groton’s teams compete. During the summer, Mr. Holmes is the director of the Nike Tennis Camp at Mount Holyoke College.

Alex Jordon will teach Third Form Biology. After earning a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, Molecular, and Cellular Biology with a minor in Spanish from the University of New Hampshire, Mr. Jordon traveled to South America, where he worked on farms, taught English, and explored Andean cultural heritage sites. Upon returning to the U.S., he joined a research group at the National Cancer Institute’s Fort Detrick campus, where he contributed to developing a repository of patient-derived tumor models for preclinical drug studies. Before enrolling in the Pathobiology PhD program at Brown University, Mr. Jordon helped launch a coffee shop in Providence, RI—a venture he found both joyous and fortunate, as the PhD journey demands grit, dedication, and quality caffeine. He completed his PhD with a focus on cancer immunology in 2024.

Julia Rowland—administrator at large and head coach of the girls’ varsity lacrosse and basketball teams—has joined the faculty after a year as part of the Groton staff. Prior to Groton, Ms. Rowland spent time coaching collegiate lacrosse at both the Division I and III levels. Ms. Rowland attended Hamilton College, where she was a member of the varsity lacrosse, basketball, and soccer teams while receiving her bachelor’s degree in Public Policy and minoring in Music. She obtained her master’s degree in Sport Journalism from St. Bonaventure University in 2023. In addition to her work in Groton’s athletics department, Ms. Rowland works in the Global Education Department, helping to provide experiences for our students to travel to countries all over the world to learn and grow. She grew up in nearby Acton, MA, and enjoys skiing in Vermont during the winter months. Ms. Rowland lives on campus with her dog, Porter.

Also joining the faculty are three teaching fellows, who will work under the supervision of experienced faculty members. 

Maeve Harrington is a Latin teaching fellow this year at Groton. A native of Rhode Island, Ms. Harrington graduated from Hamilton College in 2024, majoring in Classical Studies and minoring in Archaeology. While at Hamilton, she played four years of varsity field hockey and captained the team for her latter two years. She also played on the school’s club ice hockey team. During the spring of her junior year, she studied abroad in Rome, where she immersed herself in Italian culture and ancient Roman history. Ms. Harrington looks forward to sharing her love of athletics as she joins the Groton coaching staff for the field hockey, ice hockey, and lacrosse teams. 

Maximo Fernandez Scheinowitz is one of the incoming mathematics teaching fellows at Groton. He graduated from the University of Central Florida in 2024, majoring in Mathematics and minoring in Computer Science. While at UCF, Mr. Scheinowitz wrote an undergraduate honors thesis on Mathematical Physics, participated in UCF’s Research Experience for Undergraduates in Applied and Computational Mathematics, and was a software developer/research assistant for the Technology and Aging Lab in UCF's Psychology Department. Mr. Scheinowitz’s academic interests include differential geometry, algebraic topology, and dynamical systems. Outside the classroom, he enjoys reading, working on programming projects, and supporting Argentina’s soccer team.

Luke Tichi joins Groton this year as a mathematics teaching fellow, where he will be teaching sections of AP Calculus AB and AP Computer Science. A 2024 graduate of Williams College with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Mr. Tichi is excited to return to Massachusetts, despite originally hailing from Durango, CO. During his time at Williams, he served as a teaching assistant for Computational Linear Algebra and worked as a software engineer for an agricultural technology firm. A former collegiate runner, Mr. Tichi will coach cross country and track at Groton. In his free time, he enjoys running, playing golf, and exploring the New England area. Recently, he has taken up tennis, where his enthusiasm is matched by his need for practice.