Meet the Team

After three decades in education, Adam has seen it from every angle: classroom teacher, administrator, and Head of School. He's worked up and down the East Coast at day and boarding schools, but his real education came during a research sabbatical when he visited hundreds of schools across six continents. The lesson? Recognizing that excellent schools come in wildly different forms and that most hiring gets it backwards. Standard interviews ask standard questions and find standard candidates. He co-founded Magister Placement to do it differently: find the real person behind the resume and figure out what schools truly need versus what they think they need. The goal is chemistry, not checkboxes.

Father to two adult children who navigated independent schools with ADHD and dyslexia, which taught him more about education than any degree program. New England roots, Bard BA, UNH M.Ed. Collects antique cameras, nineteenth century prints and owns a ridiculous number of cookbooks. Obsessed with how we think about intelligence and personality. Reads everything except fiction, which he finds impossible to stick with. Believes the best educators are rarely the most conventional ones.

As Co-Founder and Principal Consultant of Magister Placement, Mike Kowalchick has boarding school in his DNA. Literally raised on The Hill School campus by educator parents, he learned early that great teaching happens everywhere, including over dinner when you're just trying to eat your vegetables in peace. Turns out that upbringing was excellent preparation for a 20+ year career holding nearly every position a school has to offer: teacher, coach, dorm parent, athletic director, multiple deanships, and associate head of school. Mike's edge comes from understanding that authentic school matches require more than checking boxes. They need someone who can blend positivity with candor, experience with fresh thinking, and institutional needs with genuine values. He excels at building trust quickly, speaking directly without creating unnecessary friction, and keeping everyone focused on what actually matters: finding the right person for the right school at the right moment.

These days Mike calls Litchfield, CT home, where he lives with his wife, two teenagers educated in both day and boarding schools, and dogs named Ajax and Gordie. He's deeply involved with The Oliver Wolcott Library, the Susan B. Anthony Project, and White Memorial. His idea of a perfect day involves dog walks, garden puttering, family euchre tournaments, or old timer hockey games where everyone's knees hurt but nobody admits it. Still can't handle scary movies but will gladly lose an evening to any documentary ever made and has an inexplicable excitement about the annual NAIS Trendbook that his family finds both endearing and concerning.

Jaime spent fifteen years in education as a classroom teacher, admissions counselor, and Director of Admissions before joining Magister Placement. She got into this work because of the value she places on relationships: loving literature meant studying human connections through text, and attending an all-girl's boarding school in Connecticut meant forming fierce friendships that have lasted decades. Those experiences taught her that schools aren't just about curriculum; they're living communities where everything connects. The admissions team, the teachers, the advancement office, the leadership, when they're all rowing in the same direction, that's when the magic happens. She specializes in building those connections, matching candidates with schools where they'll actually fit, not just fill a role.

Jaime holds a BA in English Literature from NYU, M.Ed. from Columbia Teachers College. She’s the mother of an almost-three-year-old who provides daily crash courses in patience, empathy, and the many non-academic skills that turn out to matter most. Jaime is a firm believer that fiction makes us more compassionate humans—especially time-travel novels, which she loves almost as much as dabbling in needlework, singing in the car, and cooking for her family. Unsurprisingly, these passions reflect how she approaches her work: with care, intention, and a deep appreciation for getting things just right.

Maryellen has spent fifteen years as a clinical psychologist working everywhere from schools to residential treatment centers to private practice, and now brings that perspective to Magister Placement. She started as a business major until a psychology professor handed back her final paper with a change of major form attached: best redirect of her life. What she learned across all those settings: learning doesn't need to be forced, but motivation and fit matter enormously. Schools are made up of countless micro relationships between students and their environment, and getting those small details right can change everything. Her approach is holistic, human centered, and grounded in reality. She's seen recommendations live or die in students' daily lives, and she knows what actually works.

Doctorate in Clinical Psychology with a neuropsychology concentration, Master's in Forensic Psychology, undergrad in psychology and philosophy. Long Island roots, mysteriously accent free. Mom to kids aged six, five, and two attending both public and independent schools. Her most demanding dependent is a 100 pound yellow lab still in early childhood (dog years). Her two year old pointing gleefully at the moon reminds her to protect every child's natural sense of wonder. Convinced she can handle any home improvement project herself (she probably can't). Amateur gardener perpetually optimistic about her perennials. Weekly movie nights with her kids (blanket forts, Transformers, Pixar, mountains of snacks) are her favorite tradition. If not a psychologist, definitely an interior designer, though she's likely better at understanding minds than matching throw pillows.

Meredith has spent 20 years in education doing what she does best: helping students carve paths that are the right fit for them. She joined Magister Placement to continue the work she loves, work she first recognized as her calling during a graduate internship, when she saw the transformative impact of individualized support, understanding, and advocacy. In her role as Director of College Counseling, Meredith learned that student journeys are rarely linear; there are ups, downs, setbacks, and many in-between moments where real growth happens, even if it never appears on a transcript. She views schools as living ecosystems where every interaction matters, with relationships at the heart of success. Her approach is warm, thoughtful, and deeply client-centered: she listens carefully to understand the whole person, not just the résumé. Grounded in both research and lived experience, she offers clarity, structure, and thoughtful guidance, helping clients feel understood, empowered, and confident as they move forward.

Meredith earned her B.S. in Psychology from Iona College and two graduate degrees (MEd, MS) from Columbia University’s Teachers College. She then spent 17 years at a boarding school for neurodivergent students. Born and raised in the northwest hills of Connecticut, she lives with her husband and two young children, who constantly make her laugh, challenge her thinking, and show her the value of every perspective, revealing new ways to see the world every day. Fueled by coffee (and sometimes chocolate), meditation, and fresh-cut flowers, Meredith’s superpower is uncovering strengths and possibilities that often go unnoticed.

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