Stephen Orbison

English - West 

Permanent Substitute Teacher - East/West

I am pleased to be joining the staff at Sturgis this year. I will be teaching two 10 th Grade classes at West and serving as permanent substitute teacher at both East and West campuses.

I have taught for many years at international schools in Europe and have been associated with the International Baccalaureate Programme since 1991. I have been an examiner for the English A World Literature component and IB Coordinator at two of my previous schools. While my dissertation was on 19th Century England and Thomas Hardy, I have a strong interest in F Scott Fitzgerald, the Jazz Age, and The Great Gatsby in particular.

I enjoy cooking, gardening and cycling. I have seen four separate stages of Le Tour de France, ridden the Last Gasp (Sandwich to Provincetown) once and the Tour of Barnstable three times. My wife and I live in Centerville with our golden retriever Daisy and cat Nellie and enjoy Dowses Beach as often as possible.

I have a strong connection with Sturgis, particularly the East campus, as I was one of many teachers who founded Sturgis in 1998. It has been rewarding to see how the school has expanded and developed its reputation over the years.

Kaleigh Dumont

Athletic Director - East

Assistant to the Director of Finance and Operations - East/West

My name is Kaleigh Dumont and I am the new Athletic Director at East and Assistant to the Director of Finance and Operations for East and West. I am originally from Cranston, Rhode Island and moved to Massachusetts to attend the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I graduated with a Sports Management degree in 2015. I just finished my masters degree this week from Lasell University in Sports Management, concentrating on Athletic Administration. I moved to Cape Cod in June 2020 in the midst of the pandemic on a generous offer from a family friend and fell in love with the area. I've worked in the education field in a variety of places since college graduation. For four years I worked as a sports coach for a small business, teaching kids ages 1-6 the basics of multiple sports (you would be surprised at what a one year old can do). The last two school years I worked as an administrative assistant and varsity volleyball coach at Mashpee High School. I've coached volleyball in some capacity since 2014, and this will be the first year I am not coaching. 

In my down time I enjoy being at the beach, being active, skiing, and spending time with my husband, 6 month old son, and our two kitties. A little fun fact is that I love puzzles and am pretty good at putting them together.

I am excited to be taking on this new role here at Sturgis! 

Tara Simpson

Psychologist - East/West

Hello everyone! I am thrilled and honored to be a part of The Sturgis Community, as a school psychologist, for both campuses. I grew up in a suburb of Boston and then moved with my family to Upstate New York. I am fond of The Cape since I spent many summers here when I was young and members of my extended family reside in the area. My husband (also a school psychologist!) and I have two boys (7 and 9 yrs. old).

In 2007, I received my doctorate degree in School Psychology from The University of Massachusetts Amherst. My work experience includes: school psychologist for Falmouth Elementary Schools, stay at home mom, school-based counselor for Gosnold, and most recently, school psychologist as an independent contractor (primarily for Sturgis). I have always viewed Sturgis as a warm/welcoming and progressive community. Therefore, when the opportunity arose to be employed by Sturgis, I was beyond ecstatic!

In addition to education and psychology, other interests of mine include travel, theatre, and playing the piano. I have also been known to partake in adventure seeking activities, such as skydiving, parasailing, whitewater rafting, riding roller coasters, going on waterslides and ziplines. I look forward to the upcoming school year!

Frankie Hearne

History/Inclusion Support - East

My name is Frankie. I'm going to teach 9th grade history and do inclusion for the special education department at East this year. I worked in the inclusion department at West last year. I grew up abroad in Singapore and came back to the United States for college. I graduated from Hamilton College in 2019 and have taught in Indiana and Portugal since. I'm a huge baseball fan and was an assistant coach for the West team last year. I spent my summer coaching a Senior Babe Ruth team for Sandwich. 

Tedd Black

Inclusion Support - East

Hello, everyone, and thank you for allowing me the opportunity to join the Sturgis family and to introduce myself! I'll be joining the East Campus Inclusion Support staff after 5 years in Falmouth Public Schools. I was a TA in Special Education at both Teaticket Elementary and at Lawrence Jr. High, the latter being my most recent assignment.

 I grew up in Falmouth and currently live in E. Falmouth with my wife, Kristen, and two of my three kids (the third lives in Delaware), McKenna, 14, a Freshman at UCT and Teddy, 12, a 7th Grader at Lawrence.

 I attended Falmouth Academy ('92), playing both soccer and lacrosse, and Virginia Military Institute ('96) where I majored in History, minored in International Studies and played rugby. After VMI, I joined the United States Marine Corps and served for 5 years in the Infantry, deploying twice.

 I'm looking forward to moving into a culture of learning where the staff and students are motivated and driven to challenge one another in a mutually beneficial manner. Bring on '22-'23!

Tanya Trayer

English Development Support Teacher

I am happy to be joining the Multilingual Learner Department as an English Development Support teacher at Sturgis West. I grew up on Cape Cod in Centerville and graduated from Barnstable High School when the town was a very different place. After graduating, I moved to Boston to attend college at Simmons University and then started my career as an English teacher in Boston where I have lived and worked for the last three decades. During my teaching career, I have taught inclusion and accelerated classes, served as an Instructional Support Coach for the English department at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School, led teacher teams at Boston Collegiate Charter School, and taught and counseled students in a school-to-work program for families living in public housing. In my free time, I volunteer for a domestic rabbit rescue, swim with my youngest niece Samantha, and spend time with my husband, family, and friends.