Carmen Quiñones Named AHA’s Academic Dean; Francesca Tambone-Puzio, Who Defined the Role, Will Retire Next Month

Carmen Quiñones, a Spanish language teacher at the Academy of the Holy Angels, has been named academic dean. On July 1, Quiñones will take the reins from Francesca Tambone-Puzio, who recently announced that she would be retiring at the end of June. Tambone-Puzio became AHA’s first academic dean in September 2016.

“I am pleased to share with you the news that Mrs. Carmen Quiñones has accepted the position as AHA’s next academic dean,” AHA President Melinda Hanlon wrote in a May 24 announcement. “Carmen has been a member of AHA’s faculty in the world language department for the last 16 years and has served in several leadership roles here at AHA, including as a chair of our Middle States Accreditation Team. After an extended search, the committee agreed that she brings the needed experience and skills to best serve our school community at this time. I welcome Carmen to the AHA Administrative Team and look forward to working with her as we plan for the future of our school.”

President Hanlon wished Tambone-Puzio well, calling her a consummate professional and true Renaissance woman with a great enthusiasm for the arts.

“When she joined Holy Angels, it was like she had always been there. She became an advocate for every student,” Hanlon said, praising Tambone-Puzio’s honest and fair nature.

AHA’s new dean is a graduate of Walton High School in the Bronx. She continued her education at Columbia University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree and the Herman Ausubel History Award. Quiñones later received a master’s in education from Saint Peter’s University. In 1997, she returned to Walton High as a member of the history department’s faculty.

“I realized that I was able to connect with my students and was able to make a difference for many of them,” Quiñones said. “I was able to convince a few students who were not ‘college bound’ to apply to colleges or our local community college. I also helped a handful of bilingual students pass their regents exam in history. That experience had a powerful impact on my life. From that moment, I have had a passion for teaching and improving my craft as an educator.”

When asked to dig deeper into her love for teaching, Quiñones said she appreciates being the architect of a lesson and seeing students get excited about the activities she prepares for them. She added that she enjoys learning about students’ experiences and aspirations, connecting with them in a way that encourages and motivates them, and Karaoke Fridays at AHA.

“I am very familiar with the school and its mission and bring the sum of all of my experiences into the position; as a parent, teacher, Middle States chairperson, IDEAL Council member, etc. This gives me a unique perspective while working with the community to achieve that mission,” she said of her preparedness for her new responsibilities.

Quiñones joined AHA’s faculty in September 2005. In addition to teaching Spanish, she moderates the Spanish National Honor Society and helps coordinate the induction ceremony for the world language honor societies. Quiñones previously served as moderator of the Asian Cultural Society, where she organized an annual international event that showcased students’ cultural backgrounds through music, fashion, and cuisine. For four summers, she sponsored educational excursions to Spain and France. After Hurricane Maria, Quiñones organized a mission trip to Puerto Rico. This outreach led to the creation of Fiesta4Hope, an organization launched by two Angels who took the trip and wanted to continue assisting an organization in Aibonito.

Quiñones also served as chairperson of AHA’s Middle States Planning Committee. Her responsibilities included gathering and interpreting data for the world language goals. Currently, she is a member of the IDEAL Council, which strives to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion at AHA. Her two daughters are AHA alumnae who went on to NYU and Fordham.

Quiñones shared that her first language was Korean.

“My mother is Korean and my father was Puerto Rican and a Vietnam War veteran,” she said. “They married in Korea and I was born there on an American military base. I learned Spanish in Puerto Rico and New York City. I learned English when I was 11, when I went to school in the Bronx. Many people think that Spanish is my native language, but the accent they hear is my Bronx accent.”

Tambone-Puzio was born in Taranto, Italy. At 16, she and her family moved to the U.S. She gained command of the English language while she earned her high school diploma at Pascack Hills. She continued her education at Seton Hall, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in pre-med biology/modern languages, a master’s degree in education, and a master’s in Catholic school leadership and administration.

Her father, Michael, encouraged his children to learn to play a musical instrument. Tambone-Puzio chose the violin. She recently revealed that, when she spoke limited English, she used her music as a universal language to collaborate with other musicians, and evoke emotions.

Tambone-Puzio is involved in multiple aspects of performing arts at AHA, and has been responsible for oversight of the music and theater programs, and the dance teams. She supervises the AHA Office of Academic and College Counseling, the registrar, and school librarian. She has led the international students program, and the Middle States planning and accreditation process. In 2019, she was a key contributor to AHA’s successful Middle States Colloquium. She assists with faculty recruitment, orientation, supervision, and evaluation.

Tambone-Puzio is known for her ability to recognize and foster other people’s gifts.

“Nothing can hold you back except your willingness to move forward,” she says.

In 2022, Tambone-Puzio will be inducted into the Bergen Catholic High School Hall of Fame. She invested 29 years at BC, where she was the first woman to serve as assistant principal. Her roles at that school also included director of the BC Office for International Students, guidance counselor/special services coordinator, world language chair, Spanish and Italian teacher, and tennis and swim coach. She moderated the world language honor societies, student government, and drama club.

Tambone-Puzio and her students from BC developed Students Helping Inspire Everyone’s Leadership Development. SHIELD, a BC Flagship of Achievement, allows student leaders to create and run activities on topics such as goal setting, time management, and decision-making. She earned the Archdiocese of Newark’s Outstanding Educator Award and Service to Youth Ministry Award. She was BC’s Teacher of the Year, had a BC yearbook dedicated to her, and received that school’s Pro Operis award for her first 20 years of service. Tambone-Puzio is a member of Kappa Delta Pi XI Gamma, an international honor society. In addition, she was listed among the country’s top 5% of language teachers. She has examined China’s education system on a College Board trip to Beijing and Hangzhou, and traveled to South Korea for a BC international parent conference. She served on a team that conducted the ACTION Leadership Workshop for the Christian Brother Schools in North and South America. She also served on the Essential Elements Task Force Committee that created a new tool to evaluate how schools live the essential elements: the reason each school can refer to itself as a Christian Brother School.

Founded by the School Sisters of Notre Dame in 1879, the Academy of the Holy Angels is the oldest private girls’ school in Bergen County.