Department: Admissions

Frances Leslie

Coaching field hockey at Milton Academy last fall reminded Frances of her own positive independent school experience at North Yarmouth Academy and subsequently led her to Middlesex, which she was introduced to back when her sister Genevieve ’03 was a student. Since graduating from Bates College with a B.A. in art history, Frances has worked in marketing, development, and customer…

Catherine Reilly

Catherine brings a deep understanding of independent schools to her admissions work at Middlesex, having owned and operated Missoula Valley Montessori in Montana for 13 years. Prior to that venture, she taught at several schools, including Garden City Montessori, Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich Academy, and Wooster School in Connecticut. A graduate of Hathaway Brown School, Catherine earned a…

Starry Xiaowei Zhu

A globally minded educator and diversity practitioner, Starry worked and lived for five years at St. Mark’s School before joining the Middlesex faculty in 2022. At St. Mark’s, she served as the associate director of community and equity affairs and an assistant director of admission, as well as the international student advisor and the faculty advisor for the Asian Student…

Samuel Maher

Sam is a graduate of Berkshire School, where he returned to begin his career as an educator in 2018. During his four years on the faculty, he gained a wide range of experience, from working as an admissions officer and director of student activities to teaching history, coaching boys’ crew, and heading a dormitory. Sam also served as an advisor,…

Briana Mastel

After wrapping up two years of playing defense for the Boston Pride in the National Women’s Hockey League, Briana joined the Middlesex Admissions Office in 2021. While playing hockey professionally, she also served as an assistant coach for the East Coast Wizards Hockey Club. Briana earned an A.B. in psychology with a minor in Spanish at Harvard University, where she…

Alexander Fernández

As a recruitment officer and then assistant director of admissions at Oliver Scholars in New York City for three years, Alex identified, guided, and supported high-achieving elementary and middle school students seeking greater educational opportunities in independent schools. An alumnus of Oliver Scholars, he is a graduate of Concord Academy and Dickinson College, where he earned a B.A. in sociology.…

William "Chip" Vigne

Chip is a graduate of Bowdoin College, where he earned a B.A. in history and government. He taught history for five years at Northwood School in Lake Placid, New York, and for three years at Berwick Academy in South Berwick, Maine. Before joining the Middlesex faculty in 1992, Chip was a history teacher and assistant director of athletics at Lawrence…