Jeff Suzik brings more than twenty years of teaching and educational administrative experience to his role as Director of the Fanny Edel Falk Laboratory School, including a recent post as Head of School at Mounds Park Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota, a five-year tenure as Assistant Head of School/Chief Academic Officer at Mary Institute & St. Louis Country Day School in St. Louis, Missouri, and nearly a decade at Pittsburgh’s own Shady Side Academy as teacher, chair of the history department, director of the residential life program, and dean of students. Early on in his career, Suzik taught English as a Second Language in immediate post-communist Poland and spent one year as lead teacher in a four and five-year-old preschool classroom in Madison, Wisconsin. His academic speciality is the history of 20th-century youth and adolescence, with a particular emphasis on the education, training, and transition into adulthood of working-class teenaged boys during the Great Depression. In his free time, Suzik enjoys cooking, hiking, architecture, spin classes, supporting Pittsburgh sports teams, and travel.
Eileen Marie Coughlin began her teaching career when she entered the Professional Year program in Secondary Science Education at the University of Pittsburgh. She completed her student teaching requirement at Falk during the 1996-1997 school year. From there, she obtained a permanent substitute position as an 8th grade science teacher at Gateway Middle School. In August, 1997, she was hired at Falk when her mentor, Dr. Cathy O’Farrell, moved to sunny Florida. In 1998, she decided to go back to school to obtain her M.Ed. in Secondary Science Education. In addition to teaching science in the middle school, Eileen serves as chair of the Science Curriculum Committee. She also acts as a committee member for the Falk Woods, and admissions. She coordinates the annual school picture day, as well as the 8th grade Cedar Point trip planning and fundraising. In her spare time, Eileen enjoys spending time with her husband and two kids, taking kids to Irish dance lessons & competitions, Gaelic football, gymnastics, and baseball games. She volunteers on Chatham University's Falk School of Sustainability's K-12 Advisory Group, the adult team for her church youth group and the concessions committee for 14th Ward Baseball Association.
Diana Dimitrovski is one of the Kindergarten teachers on our Primary team. She is also the Primary Team Leader. She has been a part of the Falk School community for many years. She began her time at Falk as a university student who worked in our Afterschool Program. From there she went on to complete her internship in the Kindergarten classroom. Shortly after completing her studies she joined the Primary team and has been teaching Kindergarten for 13 years now. She enjoys working with this age group for many reasons, but mostly because of the joy they bring to school with them each day. She is actively involved in the school in a variety of ways. She works closely with the admissions office giving prospective parents tours of our school as well as working with the Kindergarten admissions process. She is part of the Science Curriculum Committee, Aesthetics Committee and Social Committee. She is also actively involved in the International Association of Laboratory Schools (IALS) organization as she serves on the Endowment Board. Teaching is something that Diana is very passionate about. She enjoys working with her students in the classroom, working with pre-service graduate students and sharing her knowledge when presenting to teachers at various conferences and workshops.
Jackie Metcalf began her career at Falk School as the Director of the After School program and substitute teacher in 1998. She spent three years in this capacity and also served as a resource teacher to the primary and middle school teams. In 2001 she became a 4th/5th grade classroom teacher. She partners with Ms. Katie Sukenik. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her two active children, her husband and their dog.
After living in both Washington, DC and Maine, Joanna Newlin returned to her hometown of Pittsburgh to raise her family. She spent the first part of her career as an elementary Montessori teacher in both Pittsburgh and Maine. The majority of that time was spent teaching all subjects in mixed-age classrooms with students in fourth-through-sixth grade. While her own children were young, Joanna spent two years working from home as a Behavioral Specialist Consultant for children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders and their families. In 2012, she moved to Falk as a Learning Specialist working primarily with the Middle School team. Joanna took on the additional role of Coordinator of Student Services beginning in 2016. Upon coming to Falk, she found herself in the ideal place to combine her passions around inquiry-based learning, inclusive practices, and lifelong learning. Joanna lives in Glenshaw where she spends the majority of her free time with her husband, two boys, and two dogs.
When Michael is not reading, playing sports, spending time with family, or pretending he can sing, he is thinking about mathematics. He has always loved this incredible subject and has found a comfortable home at Falk School as K-5 Mathematics Specialist, middle school teacher, and co-chair of the department. As a former Falk intern, he grew to love this school’s atmosphere and philosophy. His dream came true when he was officially hired. Mr. Yalch enjoys his daily interactions with Falk’s students and colleagues, as well as furthering his own knowledge and education about this beautiful vocation of teaching at Falk School.
