Meet Slate School’s Collaborative Upper School Team
Julie Mountcastle, Head of School & Chief Innovator
Grade 7 Teacher
In addition to serving as Slate School’s Head of School, Julie Mountcastle continues to shape curiosity-driven education by teaching full time in the Grade 7 classroom. She is an experienced educator who joined Slate School's team as Head of School early during its founding. Throughout the course of a more than 20-year career as an educator, she has taught at nearly every elementary grade level, in both traditional and project-based classrooms in public schools and at Slate School. She developed and leads Slate School's innovative curiosity-driven curriculum that is both developmentally appropriate and academically rigorous. She designed a school which trusts each child in their learning, and which responds to each child’s wonderings and creativity. She leads Slate School’s ability to dive deep into recognizing and maximizing opportunities for discovery toward realizing a student's potential, and she creates a framework that allows for authentic assessment in all aspects of the classroom. Julie also builds, mentors, and supports the exceptional talent of Slate School's faculty. At Slate School, in addition to being Founding Head of School, Julie has taught Grades K/1, 1/2, 2/3, and Grade 5. During the 2024-2025 school year, she will be a Grade 7 teacher.
Slate School is a unique model for exceptional education that has drawn local, national, and international interest and recognition. Slate School is working to change the landscape of education, and Julie mentors other schools and educators through workshops, expert panels, and other educational forums. She frequently gives presentations at large conferences, including at TEDx, as well as at smaller events and in courses. She speaks about a variety of topics, including curiosity-driven education, being a founding Head of School of a unique K-12 school, the art of listening, the career journey, leadership, finding your passion and purpose, and collaboration. Her work has been profiled in Wendy Ostroff's book Empowering Young Children: How to Nourish Deep, Transformative Learning for Social Justice. Additionally, Julie has had 1-hour in-depth conversations with more than 120 respected experts and thought leaders in 40 Education Idea Labs, and these recordings have been viewed more than 160,000 times across the world.
Before becoming a teacher, Julie was a professional actress and appeared in plays and musicals on Broadway, on London’s West End, and in regional theatre across the country. She has also produced and directed many original theatre works with student performers ranging from elementary school to high school. She continues to sing and perform locally, while also integrating the arts throughout every day at Slate School.
Julie received her BFA from Florida Atlantic University and a Teaching Certificate from Fairleigh Dickinson University. She is also an alumna of Columbia Teacher’s College Summer Institute.
Emily Roller
Grade 7 Teacher
Emily Roller is an educator, professional writer, and entrepreneur. Over the course of seven years, she has taught middle and high school English in public schools and private schools in Connecticut and in Maryland. She holds a Connecticut Teaching Certificate in English for Grades 7-12.
In addition to her commitment to middle and high school education, Emily is also Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer for Midnight Oil Collective. Inspired by powerful startup accelerators like Y-combinator and Techstars, Midnight Oil Collective uses a cohort-based system to bring artists together, create collaborative communities, and drive innovation. Previously, Emily was a Teaching Artist for Metropolitan Opera, where she designed and implemented an opera-writing workshop series for 4th and 5th graders in Brooklyn, which led to 18 student-written and performed mini operas. She also led arts-based learning professional development for NYC public school teachers.
Emily is a Student Venture Adviser at the Tsai Center for Innovation at Yale, and a Facilitator for the Arts Council of New Haven Artist Corps. Emily holds a BA in English from Yale University, an MA in Writing from Johns Hopkins University, and an MFA in Musical Theatre Writing from New York University.
Jocelyne Argüelles
Grade 7 Associate Teacher
Jocelyne Argüelles studied Ethnicity, Race, and Migration and Education Studies at Yale University. She grew up in Denver, Colorado, where she participated in numerous children and youth programs throughout her K-12 education. When she began taking Education Studies courses and studying alternative pedagogies and educational models, she realized that her experiences in those programs were some of the most impactful in her life. These programs inspired her to pursue teaching after receiving her undergraduate degree. Jocelyne joined Slate School’s community in Fall 2023 and looks forward to continuing to learn and grow alongside Slate’s learners.
Jennifer Staple-Clark
Founder & Executive Director
For nearly 25 years, Jennifer Staple-Clark has been a leader in nonprofit innovation, and she currently leads two nonprofit organizations: Unite For Sight and Slate School. At Slate School, Jennifer draws on her science, medical, anthropology, and public health backgrounds to integrate curiosity-driven chemistry, biology, physics, and mathematics into the Upper Elementary and Upper School classrooms. She is closely involved in the Upper School interdisciplinary curriculum development.
A cum laude graduate of Yale University, Jennifer received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Anthropology as well as in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. Early in her career, Jennifer taught high school chemistry and environmental science, where she brought project-based learning to the independent school where she was teaching. She received a national educator award for her work from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the College Board. After dedicating herself to being a high school educator, Jennifer completed two years of medical school at Stanford University School of Medicine before shifting to pursue her passionate interest in global health and eliminating patient barriers to care through building Unite For Sight into an organizational leader in the field.
In 2000, Jennifer, who was then a sophomore at Yale University, founded Unite For Sight in her dorm room. Unite For Sight is now a leader both in global health education and in providing cost-effective care to the world's poorest people. She has been featured twice in Nicholas D. Kristof's columns in The New York Times, and cited in A Path Appears by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. Jennifer was also featured weekly on CNN International in 2007 and 2008. After more than a decade dedicated solely to Unite For Sight, in 2017, Jennifer founded Slate School, an innovative 501(c)3 nonprofit K-12 curiosity-driven and nature-based school in Connecticut. Slate School is unique in many ways, including eliminating barriers to exceptional curiosity-driven education for its students.
Jennifer is the author of journal articles and book chapters about social entrepreneurship, global health, and community eye health. Among her published writing, she wrote a foreword for the book Transforming Ethnographic Knowledge, published by University of Wisconsin Press. Jennifer has conducted and published research in public health and medical anthropology, and she also mentored more than one hundred undergraduate and graduate students in public health research that they pursued in developing countries through Unite For Sight. Many of those studies have contributed to important global health knowledge through publication in leading science journals. Additionally, she has served as a judge in social entrepreneurship competitions, including the Yale InnovateHealth Competition and the Canadian Government's Grand Challenges in Health.
Jennifer is the recipient of the John F. Kennedy New Frontier Award, presented by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation and the Institute of Politics at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government to "an individual whose contributions in the realm of community service, advocacy or grassroots activism have elevated the debate or changed the landscape with respect to a public issue or issues." Middlebury College's Center for Social Entrepreneurship presented Jennifer with the Vision Award "to recognize leadership and vision in the world of social entrepreneurship." She is also the recipient of the Yale School of Public Health's Centennial Leadership Innovation Award as well as the Praxis Award in Professional Ethics from Villanova University. Jennifer also received the American Institute of Public Service's National Jefferson Award For Public Service, which is regarded as the "Nobel Prize" for public service. She was also awarded a BRICK Award, which honors and funds change-makers who identify problems and work to change the world.
Jennifer was a member of the Yale University President's Council on International Activities, and was on the Operating Board of the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute. Jennifer has given many presentations and keynote addresses about social entrepreneurship, responsible innovation, and global health.
Corey Bennett
Upper School Coordinator
Corey Bennett is a passionate educator with over 15 years of experience cultivating experiential learning and fostering relationships with students, educators, administration, and the community. She joins our team in Fall 2024 as Upper School Coordinator. Most recently, Corey has been Associate Professor and Faculty Advisor at Albertus Magnus College, where she taught a variety of courses, including Social Entrepreneurship, Marketing, and Personal Finance. She also served as the interim Co-Chair and member of the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Action Committee. In previous roles at Albertus Magnus over the past nearly 20 years, she has been Director of Career Services, Director of Academic Advising & Student Success, as well as Assistant Director of Admission. She has also served as Registrar at Yale University, where she supported over 35 Microbiology PhD candidates, focusing on individualized support and retention, especially among underrepresented minorities.
She holds a Master of Business Administration from Albertus Magnus College as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Gettysburg College. She is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Education from Endicott College.
Katy Kessler-Rinck
Curator
Katy Kessler-Rinck studied Spanish Literature at Barnard College in New York City, allowing her to combine two of her passions: the Spanish language and books. She earned her Master’s in Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education, where she could fully explore her enthusiasm for child-centered, progressive education. She taught in mixed-age classrooms for nearly a decade and facilitated emergent curricula based on students’ interests and principles of child development. Katy joined Slate School’s faculty in Fall 2018 and has cultivated Slate School’s book collection, artifacts, and children’s curiosities from the start.
Grace Kenney
Environmentalist
After graduating from Bates College with a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies and a minor in Geology, Grace Kenney served as a teacher-naturalist with the Connecticut Audubon Society in Glastonbury. There, she taught and developed inquiry-based outdoor science and conservation programs that highlight the ecosystems along the Connecticut River. Additionally, Grace has spent over three years working with Swords Into Plowshares, a commercial beekeeping business in New Haven County that tends to hundreds of honey-bee colonies for pollination and honey production. Grace joined Slate School’s faculty as Environmentalist and Educator in Fall 2018. She most recently was the Head Grade 3/4 Teacher, after serving as the Assistant Teacher in Grades 1/2 for several years. Starting in Fall 2022, Grace dedicated her full-time work to serving as Slate School’s Environmentalist, working with students in all of the grades.
Rana Bates
Horticulturalist and Facilities Manager
Rana has a degree in Horticulture and a Certificate in Organic Land Care, and she is passionate about landscape design, plants, beneficial insect species, and soil types and properties. She brings a wide range of management and technical expertise to Slate School, including guiding our campus landscape design, contributing her horticulturalist expertise to our classrooms, and coordinating all campus-wide maintenance, upkeep, and development. She maintains Slate School as one of the most environmentally friendly schools in the country. She also leads Nature Conservancy Tours and campus volunteer work for our families, neighbors, and community. She builds materials and furniture from bamboo and wood for our school, and engages often with our students to support their creating and nature-based learning.