Distinguished Faculty & Staff

Celebrating 25 Years of Service

Nina Basinet, Head of Upper Elementary School

Nina Basinet embodies the GCDS Mission, not only for the students in her care, but for her colleagues as well—she sets a shining example of what it means to be kind, to be enthusiastic, and to be caring, thus making sure everyone in her orbit can discover and develop what is finest in themselves.

Nina came to GCDS as a Grade 6 humanities teacher, and almost immediately and organically fell into the role of peer coach, leading faculty workshops on new technology and best practices in teaching and learning.

As an educator, Nina’s singular focus is on providing the best possible learning experience for students, whether she is planning a classroom lesson, coaching colleagues, or as Head of the Upper Elementary School. Her colleagues describe her as having a true kind of grace in working with children, an ability to use her intellect and vision to help others be the best they can be, and the compassion and humility to be an accessible leader Service and formidable change maker. She creates an atmosphere where people are eager to both share ideas and reflect on how they could approach the work differently, all in an effort to forge a deeper sense of community and a shared love for the pedagogy.

Nina shares that it is her colleagues that are her champions—that push her to share her expertise, support her ideas, and to realize her dreams. She is beyond grateful for the Country Day community, as they have quite literally been an extended family. GCDS has been the place where she and her husband Matt (Middle School math teacher) have raised their two children—Jack and Anna—as true GCDS lifers, from the Carriage House to graduation.

The Country Day community is grateful for Nina’s strength of character, her compassion, openness, and good humor, and her unwavering commitment to our school.

“I have enjoyed a quarter of a century greeting students first thing in the morning with a handshake, high five, or hug, as they walk into school. It’s my favorite time of the day . . . I’ve learned that relationships—with our students, with our teachers, with our families—are at the heart of everything.” — Nina Basinet

Michele Ross, Assistant Director of Carriage House

For 25 years, Michele Ross has been Assistant Director for the Carriage House, caring for our youngest Tigers, the children of our faculty and staff ages eight weeks to three years old. She came to GCDS with the experience and expertise of an early childhood educator and has helped to expand the program as the school has grown. She has been instrumental in creating the program’s theme-based activities to support development in socialization, sensory, self-help, and motor skills. In 2018, she took on the additional role of the Director of Beansprouts, the afterschool program for faculty and staff children in Nursery through Grade 2.

Her colleagues note that Michele is a natural educator and caregiver for the children in her programs, with an innate ability to assess where a child is developmentally and then plan appropriate activities. They share that Michele has a song for every occasion or situation, a soothing and joyful enhancement to the warm and nurturing environment. Her ability to smile in the face of challenge and bounce back with a sense of humor and quick wit is inspiring and infectious. She is empathetic, caring, and thoughtful as she guides the children in her care and new parents as well. Faculty and staff are grateful for Michele and her colleagues, since knowing their own children are so well loved and taken care of allows them to be fully present during the school day for GCDS students.

Michele loves witnessing and celebrating each of the many milestones that happen in the earliest years of infancy and childhood. She experiences each moment with the joy she felt when watching her own daughter Mackenzie—a GCDS lifer, Class of 2022—achieve each developmental feat. What stands out most for Michele is the deep love and support she feels from the GCDS community. As she has faced the ups and downs of life, her GCDS friends have been there supporting her through it all.

“Greenwich Country Day is more than a place to work—it’s a place where you live, raise your family, and lean on each other in good times and in bad. . . Thank you Greenwich Country Day School for allowing me to have 25 great years! ‘And if the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you. . . ’” — Michele Ross

Sarah Sepot, Nursery Teacher

Picture the Greenwich Country Day School logo—children joyfully running to school—and know that any one of Sarah Sepot’s students could have been the model for that vision.

By all accounts, Sarah creates a loving, nurturing, and joyful learning environment, one that her students are eager to get to every day. As a Nursery teacher in the Lower Elementary School, she turned the “fishbowl” into a welcoming, magical spot, bringing creativity and humor each and every day to our youngest students. Many of her students have been the children of our own administrators, faculty, and staff, who are grateful for the opportunity to watch their children grow and thrive under Sarah’s guidance. She relates to her students on their level and as individuals, adjusting her approach and instruction to each child’s background, personality, and interests, meeting them where they are rather than trying to make them fit or conform.

Sarah enjoys the opportunity to watch her students grow, not only in the time spent in her classroom, but in each successive year at Country Day. She recalls one student who wouldn’t leave her lap for the Nursery performance take incremental steps each year until they had a solo in the Grade 3 musical. Knowing and loving each student so they feel safe to take risks in their learning begins in Nursery, and Sarah provides her students with that sense of comfort and belonging.

Her colleagues describe Sarah as someone who values tradition, while also embracing positive progress, and going the extra mile to advocate for her students and her team. They value her creative brilliance, her mischievous sense of humor, and her collaborative, team-building approach to everything she does. As a coach for lacrosse and many other sports over the years, Sarah embraces working as a member of a team to achieve a goal.

Sarah is grateful for the Country Day community, where her own children were educated and cared for as if they were part of a large family.

“I always knew that I wanted to work with young children. Few experiences compare to witnessing the pure delight and excitement on the face of a child as they uncover their own newfound abilities . . . I am beyond grateful over these past two decades to be part of a faculty, a family, that has had each other’s backs.” — Sarah Sepot