Faculty & Staff Bios

Elizabeth (Beth) joined the staff during the second year of the school. She has worked at Rhode Island Youth Guidance center where she was placed at Central Falls High School as a Behavior Specialist working with at-risk students. Previous to that she worked at Somerset High in Massachusetts as a Conflict Resolution Coordinator and at Bradley Hospital as a Milieu Therapist. Beth received her undergraduate degree at UMass Dartmouth and her MA in Educational Psychology from Rhode Island College. She has certificates in School Social Work, Social Studies, Mediation, and Critical Incident Debriefing. In addition to her duties as a counselor at BACS, she has taught senior seminar, and Community Improvement Projects including Literacy leaders, Elderly Outreach, Service-to-Service, Student Summit, and Events Planning.

Maria is the Special Services Coordinator and arranges parent programs and other student and family gatherings. She also organizes discipline, advises the Event Committee and is an advisor.

Gilbert Rodriguez, Student Support Counselor, Outreach Coordinator and Advisor helped with the start of Blackstone in 2002. He had worked for six years as an Outreach Coordinator for RI Youth Guidance Center where he coordinated career counseling and attendance outreach for at-risk students in Pawtucket high schools. A certified mediator and emergency medical technician, Gilbert coordinates our wellness efforts and camping program. He is an EMT and certified advanced first aid trainer.

Dr. Matthew Bowen is a clinical child psychologist who has been providing consultation and evaluations at Blackstone Academy since the school opened. He holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University. He has been working in RI since 1993 and was a staff psychologist at RI Youth Guidance Center in Pawtucket for over 10 years. In addition to regular school consultation, he maintains a private practice in Providence.

Becky Minard is an attorney turned clinical social worker. She is a co-founder of the Providence Mediation Center and an active mediator. She has served on many non-profit boards. Becky is here as a part-time social worker / counselor.

Elsa is a retired math teacher from the Cranston School District. She provides math support to students who need it.

Anna Wood joined the Blackstone Academy team in February, 2018 as a Math Specialist.  She previously taught high school math for ten years at Mount Hope High School in Bristol, RI and seven years in Michigan.  She also served as a middle school Math Interventionist for a year and a half in Fall River, MA.  She is a graduate of Wittenberg University in Springfield, OH where she earned her B.A. in Mathematics and minor in Education.  She earned her Master's Degree in Educational Leadership from IPFW (Indiana/Purdue University, Fort Wayne, IN).  In addition to Blackstone, she instructs at Mathnasium in Portsmouth, RI, tutors, and works retail.  In her free time she enjoys running road races.

Rhonda joined BACS in 2014 and is our Career Exploration Instructor. She works with grades 9-12 on career exploration tools such as: Career Assessments, Job Shadows, Internships, Service Learning Projects, Senior Projects and also coordinates Career Fairs, Industry Panels and a Job Fair.  She is our "Business Development" specialist and often connects local organizations to our school for external learning.  She taught our "Non-Profit Academy" and "Workplace Skills" Community Improvement classes her first year at BACS.  Rhonda is the former Executive Director of the Career Partnership Program in Meredith, NH, a Non-Profit, where she also linked community businesses to high school students for career experiences.  She has served and continues to serve on various local committees centered around volunteerism, external learning and career fair planning.  Rhonda and her husband are knowledgeable on how a business operates as they are currently running their second successful business.  Rhonda's background is Business Development, Real Estate (she currently holds her NH Real Estate License), and Retail Management.

Diego has a multi dimensional role at BACS - Program Director for the SPIRIT Educational Program and after-school programs at BACS. He is also an advisor.

Glenda is a retired teacher from Providence where she worked as a special education teacher and administrator. She has coordinated the Special Ed. hotline at RIDE and consulted to school districts in New York and Rhode Island.

Al “Doc” Augusta was born and brought up in the Fox Point neighborhood of Providence where he taught at Vartan Gregorian School for 28 years. A founding teacher in the SPIRIT program, Doc now coordinates the program year-round and tutors students at Blackstone Academy. Doc graduated from Rhode Island College and gained advanced degrees and certificates from Providence College and Brown University.

Heather is a social worker at BACS, who provides clinical supervision and is involved in research/evaluation projects. She has a Phd in Sociology/Social Work from Boston University, an MSW from RIC, and an MTS from Harvard. She also teaches in the Social Work Department at RIC.

Alan provides academic support (including math) to Blackstone Academy students who need extra help.