Stuart Country Day Names New Head of Upper School, Lower School

Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart in Princeton has named Dr. Trisha Stevenson Medeiros as the new head of upper school and Michelle Dowling as the new head of the lower school. 

Medeiros, comes to Stuart from the Tower Hill School, an independent K-12 school in Delaware where she served many roles, most recently as assistant head of upper school. Before Tower Hill, she was at the Purnell School, an all-girls boarding school in Pottersville, N.J., where she was library director and coordinator of community service. Before that, she spent several years doing college level technology/library work. 

Medeiros holds a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Delaware, a master of information science degree from Rutgers, and an undergraduate degree in earth and environmental science from Kean University.

“Dr. Trisha Medeiros brings to Stuart tremendous experience in educational leadership as well as a strong background in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.” Dr. Patty L. Fagin, Stuart's head of school. “She has been successful in every role she has taken on, building on her innately collaborative nature, strong connection with students, and positive relationships with parents.”

Dowling, was most recently at The Town School, an independent K-8 school in New York City, where she was head of upper school (grades 5-8) and director of placement. Dowling began her career in education as a Spanish teacher at Trinity School, also in New York, and ultimately became middle school assistant principal in just four years.

Dowling is a graduate of Convent of the Sacred Heart on 91st Street in New York, a sister Sacred Heart school to Stuart. She earned a bachelor of arts in psychology from Marymount Manhattan College. She completed coursework for a masters of science in educational leadership from the Bank Street College Graduate School of Education, with a thesis focus on elementary curriculum.

“We are extremely fortunate to have both Trisha Medeiros and Michelle Dowling join our leadership team here at Stuart,” Fagin said. “We are in a unique position to shape Stuart’s future and have found two exceptional women to lead both the upper and lower school divisions into the next phase.”