Written by Juliette Moore

This year, three new math teachers have joined the RCDS Math Department. RCDS welcomes Andrea Gallardo, Charles Worrall, and Tim Derby to our community. They will bring new math teaching styles and perspectives to the classroom. 

Ms. Gallardo is an educator with over 14 years of international teaching experience. She is joining the math department from the Ransom Everglades School in Miami, Florida. At Ransom, she led the annual TEDx event and Volunteer Services Council. Gallardo integrates real-world applications in her teaching and has taught internationally in places such as the American School of Dubai in Dubai, UAE. She is fluent in English and Spanish. This year, she is teaching Precalculus and Calculus classes. 

Mr. Worrall served as Head Math Instructor and chaired the Math Department at Horace Mann. He has taught various classes, such as Pre-Algebra and Advanced Calculus. Worrall integrated historical contexts into the math curriculum in Horace Mann’s programs. He has received many awards for his teaching experience and has been published in Mathematics Teachers, a journal of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. This year, he is teaching Geometry and Calculus classes. 

Mr. Derby will teach in the math department after studying Secondary Education Mathematics in Boston. He has taught in international settings such as Madrid, where he was a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Scholar. He also taught summer precalculus at King School and has coached tennis at Norwalk Grassroots Tennis and Woodway Country Club. Fluent in Spanish and proficient in Russian, Mr. Derby also brings expertise in Python and Matlab coding languages, combining his passions for language and technology. This year, he is teaching Algebra and Geometry classes. 

Rye Country Day is excited to welcome these three teachers into the community. Tia Gueye, the Mathematics Department Chair, says, “We are so excited and happy to have three new math teachers join the US math department. With their unique experiences and innovative perspectives on math education, our department is enjoying sharing best practices and our ongoing conversations about the various approaches to math teaching, learning, and problem-solving – really, we talk a lot about what we can do to make our classrooms even more student-centered and engaging.” The students and faculty can’t wait to see what is in store for the math department in these coming months.