Mr. Cibelli joins the Belmont Hill faculty from the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey. Mr. Cibelli will work in the History department, teaching Middle East and China, 20th Century World History, and Native American Studies. He is a Form IV advisor and will coach the Varsity hockey and baseball teams. Colton Jacobs ’27, one of Mr. Cibelli’s 20th Century World History students explained how excited he is to have the new teacher: “His energy and enthusiasm make me love history class.”
Mr. Cibelli grew up with two older brothers in Syracuse, New York, where he attended two years of public high school and two more at Frederick Gunn School in Washington, Connecticut. At Frederick Gunn, he was a three-sport varsity athlete, playing soccer, hockey, and baseball. Mr. Cibelli was also the school newspaper’s Editor-in-Chief. His primary sport was hockey, which he continued to play at Skidmore College. He was the team leader in points in his sophomore season, tallying 22 total. Mr. Cibelli again led the team in points as an assistant captain in his junior year, notching 30. Cibelli was named team captain as a senior, and he again led the team with 12 assists and four goals. He was named to the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) Third Team and was named to the NEHC All-Academic Team three times. At Skidmore, Mr. Cibelli majored in Political Science and minored in history and education.
After receiving his Masters in Arts and Liberal Studies from Wesleyan University, he began his teaching career at the Millbrook School in New York, where he taught for five years. He subsequently spent two years teaching at the Lawrenceville School. Mr. Cibelli expressed he started teaching because of “the relationships he built with teachers in his own experiences at boarding school.”
Mr. Cibelli hopes to create these bonds with his new students at Belmont Hill. Mr. Cibelli knew Mr. Phinney through his hockey network, and experienced Belmont Hill’s prowess on the ice through his coaching at Lawrenceville and Millbrook; his brother also teaches at Thayer Academy.
The Panel is very excited for Mr. Cibelli to join the Belmont Hill community and make an impact in so many ways!
