Faculty & Staff

Before joining Westminster as part of the art department, Bella worked as a program counselor at Philmont Scout Ranch in the mountains of New Mexico for two summers. The work included teaching a lot of high school age groups about outdoor activities like camping, hiking and nature in general. She was a gallery attendant at the Wadsworth Atheneum, and worked as a yoga teacher. She has shown her artwork in galleries, and has an interest in women in the history of art and book illustration. Other interests include practicing yoga, hiking, cooking and reading.

Tom served as the band director at Farmington High School for 36 years, where he grew the program from 50 band students to nearly 200 in five band ensembles. He organized national and international music trips, managed and chaired many regional and All-State bands, was a trained mentor music educator, organized districtwide band festivals, was the pit conductor for musicals, and was named in 2011 the Connecticut Music Educators High School Music Teacher of the Year. Before that, he was the band teacher at Irving Robbins Middle School for two years, where he oversaw a band program with 130 members.

 

Tom holds bachelor’s degrees in music education and saxophone performance and master’s degrees in music education and educational technology. He lives in Farmington with his wife Wendy. His son, Ben, graduated from the University of Maryland and is working for a defense contractor in northern Virginia. Tom performs in a concert band, a jazz band, and a saxophone ensemble called Brown Paper Sax. He is a board member of the Nutmeg Symphony Orchestra and has raised money for the ALS Association of Connecticut since 2005. Tom also teaches flute, clarinet, and saxophone to students in person and online. Tom is passionate about fitness, UConn Basketball, the Red Sox, and is a lover of dogs. Both Tom and his wife Wendy volunteer with the nonprofit Healing Meals out of Simsbury.

A graduate of the Class of 2011, Andrew’s passion for theater blossomed at Westminster and a good percentage of his four years on the Hill were spent working both as a technician, actor, and once as a puppeteer, on the school’s Dramat productions. He was a two-time recipient of the Frances Laurel Hopkins Award for Theater, a Williams Hill Player, and served as Dramat President during his senior year.

 

Following his graduation from Westminster, Andrew attended Connecticut College, where he earned a B.A. in theater and music, and studied Shakespeare abroad at the British-American Drama Academy. Early in his career, Andrew worked in amateur theatrical licensing and customer service at both Concord Theatricals and Dramatists Play Service, working with schools and community organizations nationwide to support their theatrical seasons. He also worked as a freelance music copyist (essentially a graphic designer for sheet music) on several professional theatrical productions.

 

As an educator, Andrew has previously taught at the Fessenden School, Ghostlight Theater Camp and Hyde School. Andrew returned to Westminster in 2021, working in the advancement office for two years before returning to the classroom.

 

Andrew and his wife, Collins, live in Edge House with their Maine Coon cat, Lazenby. In his free time, Andrew enjoys cycling, spending time in Maine, and writing music and plays. 

While growing up in Houston, Texas, Rachel trained as a professional ballet dancer and attend the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts until moving to Hartford to attend The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, for her BFA. Before coming to Westminster, Rachel danced with Ballet Hartford and ran her professional photography business, Rachel A. Photography. In recent years, Rachel’s photographic work has been published in both “Dance Magazine” and “Hartford Style.” In the fall of 2021, she started working as a dance teacher and choreographer at Westminster before being named a faculty member for the 2022-2023 academic year. 

 

As of Fall 2024, Rachel is the Director of Dance. She teaches dance as an academic class as well as coordinate the Dance Afternoon Program. As a member of the visual arts faculty, Rachel teaches Introduction to Photography, Advanced Photography, AP 2D Art & Design (Photography). 

 

In her free time, Rachel enjoys playing with her doodle Maisie, hiking, biking, [Solidcore] (a type of Pilates) classes, and traveling — always with a camera in hand!

Rebeccah brings experience serving eight years as an adjunct professor of architecture at the University of Hartford to her teaching responsibilities at Westminster. While at the University of Hartford, she founded the Department of Architecture’s design/build program; expanded and managed the 3D printing, digital fabrication and laser lab; and curated accreditation gallery exhibits. In 2013, she received the university’s Sustained Excellence in Teaching Award. She has also been the managing partner of Rebeccah Tuscano-Moss Design/Build in East Haddam, Conn., for 20 years, where she is responsible for the design and production of custom housing projects. Prior to that, she was the managing partner with Tuscano-Moss and Abate LLC in New Britain, Conn., for three years, where she managed the design and production of custom-designed projects. She has served as job captain with Barry Svigals and Associates, Herbert Newman and Partners, both of New Haven, Conn., and the Maguire Group of New Britain. 
 
In the last several years, Rebeccah has traveled extensively, delivering papers and lecturing on her continued research and writing in the areas of “beginning design,” the pedagogy of how young architecture students process artistic concepts and the significance of “design build” education in the architectural studio.