This past July, Ms. Alyse Ruiz-Selsky joined the Dana Hall leadership team as the new Director of the Upper School. So far, Dana students have gotten to know her through her central role in Upper School meetings, announcements, and Conference Period. She is a part of the Dana Hall community past the end of the school day, as she now lives on campus with her husband, Daniel, and her daughter, Dani, who will be turning five soon.
Ms. Ruiz-Selsky has been impressed with Dana students thus far. “I’m just dropping in on classes and seeing students not afraid to raise their hands, take risks, jump into conversation,” she says. “They’re like bold humans in the classroom and outside of the classroom.” On the adult side of things, she enjoys being “part of an environment where the adults are genuinely excited to be around each other; like I felt that immediately, and continue to feel that, which is great.”
Ms. Ruiz Selsky’s primary goal for this year “is just continuing to get to know and build trust with adults and students…and part of what’s wrapped up and in that is continuing to go to classes, and dropping in, and getting to see students and adults in action. That’s been fun.”
“Even though we’re both new this year, Ms. Ruiz-Selsky has made me feel so welcome and supported at Dana Hall,” says Karoline Clausen ‘27, an advisee of Ms. Ruiz-Selsky. “She approaches our talks with humor, wit, and endless kindness—as evidenced by the constantly-refilled bowl of free candy in her office—and I’m so thankful to have her as my advisor.”
Outside of school, Ms. Ruiz-Selsky likes to hang out with her friends and family, citing them as a big part of her life outside of school. She also loves to visit new bookstores and ice cream shops, and read. She also enjoys running.
Before Dana Hall, Ms. Ruiz-Selsky worked at the nearby Concord Academy first as the Director of Student Life, and then as the Director of Studies. Ms. Ruiz-Selsky is a Concord Academy Alumna herself; however, her journey to Concord Academy was unique. She was placed into the school by A Better Chance, a non-profit educational organization that helps “place high-performing students of color in our nation’s best independent and public schools and supports them on their journey,” according to their website. She was introduced to A Better Chance by cousins and uncles who went to boarding school through the program, and grew up hearing stories about how their lives were formed at independent schools in Massachusetts, which imbued her with the dream of following in their footsteps.
“I was accepted into A Better Chance, which means they sort of figure out what’s the right school placement,” Ms. Ruiz-Selsky explains. “I think students just put down the region that they’re interested in. You sort of do the work of figuring out what school is gonna make the most sense,” she says. She attributes her journey into independent schools to her family members. “Otherwise,” she says, “I don’t think I would have known at all. Growing up in Florida…we did not have a boarding school culture, there was not an independent school culture, so that’s how I found out.”
Prior to her professional career at Concord Academy, she held a leadership position as the Dean of Residential Life at CITYterm, a semester program in New York. Ms. Ruiz-Selsky also has a background in teaching, having been an English teacher and Department Co-Chair at Doral Academy Charter School in Florida.
Her educational background includes a B.A. in Urban Studies from Brown University, as well as a M.S. in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University, and she is a first-generation college graduate.