HAMILTON HIGH SCHOOL
MEET THE FACULTY
Eileen Ragone
Biology Teacher
Certified and experienced Biology and Chemistry teacher with 19 years of teaching AP Biology, and grade-level and honors-level courses. Her students consistently achieve high scores on AP exams and state tests due to my ability to explain challenging concepts in clear, understandable ways. With a deep level of expertise and a wide range of learning and practice resources, she provides the tools and support students need to succeed in mastering biology and chemistry.
Helene Wilhelm
Math Teacher
Ms. Wilhelm is a certified math teacher and has been teaching Middle and High School math for 22 years including Pre-algebra, Algebra, and Geometry. She is passionate about breaking down complex problems into clear steps so that they are easily understood. She has helped hundreds of students gain skills and confidence in math. Her goal is to unlock student’s potential and enable them to achieve their best grade. She also helped many students prepare for standardized tests. She has rich online resources to help students reach their full potential. With Ms. Wilhelm’s help, many students have improved their grades to an “A”.
James Kovalcin
Physics/SP Physics Teacher
Mr. Kovalcin, a physics enthusiast, has coached many students on the US Olympiad team and has even helped write a Physics textbook. He has been teaching physics for over 36 years at various institutions, including Monmouth County Science and Engineering Center at Manalapan High School. Mr. Kovalcin has gained many experiences with students by teaching AP Physics I, II, C Mechanics and E&M, Honor Physics, and Olympiad Physics, as well as coaching the Manalapan High School Physics team in the National Science League to first place. Mr. Kovalcin’s classes are also filled with exciting laboratory experiments that enhance the classroom environment. He clearly explains difficult concepts to students and specifically, the origins and applications of the laws of physics.
Konstantinos Koutsothodoros
Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Teacher
Mr. Koutsothodoros is a professional teacher of Mathematics with a Master’s degree and a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. He has over 15 years of teaching experience on Math, Physics, and Computer Science, including SAT/ACT Math, AP Calculus AB, AP Calculus BC, AP Statistics, Precalculus, Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Honor Physics, and AP Physics C (Mechanics and E&M), AP Physics I & II, and AP Computer Science A. He emphasizes on teaching the fundamentals so that students can build a solid foundation on both the subject and problem-solving skills required to excel on exams and applications of concepts in the real world. Being extremely familiar with the structure and style of questions, Mr. Koutsothodoros has helped hundreds of students achieve high and perfect scores.
Kerry Pross
Chemistry Teacher
Ms. Pross has been teaching AP Chemistry at West Windsor Plainsboro High School for over 10 years, and she has over 20 years of experience teaching Honors Chemistry and AP Chemistry. She has a master’s degree and has also been an AP CollegeBoard exam free response reader/grader for the last 6 years. She has helped countless students during her tenure to achieve the highest possible level of understanding in all chemistry concepts and those on the AP Chemistry exam. This past year, her students have had a 95% passing rate with the majority of the passing students scoring a 5. In addition to her role as a teacher, she is also the Science Olympiad and Science Bowl Coach who has taken her teams to multiple state and national championships.
Leonard Hwang
Math Teacher
Mr. Hwang is a certified math teacher who graduated from Brown University with a Master’s degree in Mathematics. He has been teaching various levels of high school math for over 15 years, including SAT Math, Precalculus, Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, Trigonometry, and AP Statistics. Mr. Hwang is a true “Math Guru” and he teaches the fundamentals of mathematics to help students, and his main goal is not only for students to excel on exams, but also to build a solid foundation in mathematics used to solve real world problems and future advancement.
Michael Rutkowski
SAT English, AP Language, AP US History Teacher
Mr. Rutkowski is the best SAT teacher you can find. He is a world class teacher who is certified with over 20 years of experience on SAT/ACT, AP English and AP US History. Mr. Rutkowski knows SAT in and out. He knows the most difficult questions on the SAT English section, and he is well-versed in teaching students the proper methods to attain top scores. He discusses key SAT questions on vocabulary, writing, sentence correction, and reading comprehension, in addition to the fundamentals of grammar, critical reading, essay writing, and test-taking skills. He focuses on evidence-based reading, words in context, grammatical writing, passage analysis, and many other necessary skills. Furthermore, students are frequently evaluated on their reading/writing capabilities. Numerous tests, reviews, and homework assignments are standard for his classes. Mr. Rutkowski’s SAT students have shown significant improvements, and sometimes as much as 300 to 400 point increases.
Paul Simpson
English Teacher
Mr. Simpson has a Master’s degree from Harvard University Graduate School of Education and over 19 years of experience teaching students of all levels and SAT/ACT classes. At Harvard, he designed his own curriculum, conducting unique research focused on standardized test instruction and achievement. He has helped thousands of students achieve their testing goals using his test methods and strategies, and hundreds of his students have achieved perfect scores. Mr. Simpson has also written ten test-prep books on the SAT and PSAT. Mr. Simpson is very much liked by all students he taught. He has a unique way of motivating students to learn and making learning more fun.
Samuel Richardson
Economics Teacher
Dr. Richardson has a Harvard University Ph.D. and over 10 years of experience teaching at various institutions including Harvard University, Boston College, and high schools. He focuses his curriculum on helping students develop a deep understanding of fundamental economics and has a proven track record for improving students’ confidence and helping them achieve high and perfect scores on AP exams. His focus is not on memorization, but rather on helping students answer the question of “why” behind economic, mathematical, and statistical techniques and results.
Sarah Gross
English Teacher
Ms. Gross teaches English at one of the nation’s top high schools, High Technology High School in Lincroft, New Jersey. She teaches English for students in 9th through 12th grades, and has 15 years of experience teaching SAT English (and in fact, Ms. Gross herself scored an 800 on the SAT English exam when she was a high school student.) Ms. Gross is knowledgeable in all components of the SAT English section and is exceptionally skilled at imparting knowledge to her students. Ms. Gross has helped many Marlboro Learning Center students achieve top scores, including 1600’s, for the most recent SAT examinations. Many of her students have gone on to pursue further education at Harvard, Yale, Princeton, UPenn, and other reputed universities.
Travis Black
Chemistry/AP Chemistry Teacher
Mr. Black is a certified teacher with over 17 year experience on teaching AP Chemistry, Pre-AP Chemistry, Honor Chemistry and General Chemistry. He helped students bridge the gap between what notes to take in high school and having to find the information and research on their own in college. He designed State Science Exams. He knows how to handle a small group class with students at different levels In his tenure of teaching Chemistry, he has helped hundreds of students achieved perfect scores in AP and improving school grades.
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