FA ACADEMICS
Welcome New Faculty & Staff, 2023-24! DAWN GALE ’81 DIRECTOR OF ADVANCEMENT & ALUMNI RELATIONS
The 2023-24 school year brings a talented group of new faculty and staff to our community. We extend a warm and enthusiastic welcome to our newest team members. Nicki Chewning rejoined the Academy community this summer as director of residential life. Nicki spent five years here as a biology teacher, dorm parent, and coach prior to leaving in 2004 and spending twelve years at Memorial Hospital as an imaging technologist. She returned to FA in 2012 to establish and direct the Outlook Program through 2018. At that time, Nicki moved into school administration in SAU 9 as director of the Mount Washington Valley Academy and Eagle Academy programs;
in 2022, she became Kennett High School’s dean of students. Nicki’s undergraduate degrees in Science are from UNH and SMCC; she also has an M.S. in Education from USM and has done advanced studies there in Educational Leadership. In June, the Office of Advancement and Alumni Relations expanded its team to include alumna Keri Apt Montague ’00 as an associate director. Keri has primary responsibility for the Academy Fund, our school’s annual fundraising campaign, and alongside Dawn and Lakyn, she is a key steward for FA’s alumni body. Keri received a B.S. in Sports and Recreation Management from New England College, after which she embarked on a career focused on parks and recreation administration in South Windsor, CT. In 2021, Keri and her family moved back to Fryeburg; she most recently worked for the town of Bridgton as deputy director of community development. FA’s Business Office has welcomed office associate Belle Stafford, who is responsible for accounts receivable billing, purchasing, and the daily operation of our campus store. Belle has a B.A. in German from Middlebury College and a breadth of experience in business and office bookkeeping and management, most recently serving as business manager at the Northeast Woodland Chartered Public School in Conway—Belle—the mother of FA alum Wells Stafford ’19.
Back row, l to r: Michael Holtgrefe, Dwyer Grimes, Keri Apt Montague ’00, Caitlin Johnson, Ian Factor; Front row, l to r: David Shepard, Dang Tran, Matt Freniere, Nicki Chewning, Emily Endor, and Jeannie Woodward 10
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