Staff Directory

Mr. Gault is a seasoned educator and school administrator.  He was born in Scotland, immigrated to
Vancouver, Canada with his family and immigrated to the United States to pursue university studies. His
degrees from Saint John’s University include a Bachelor of Arts with a major in Theology and Philosophy and
Master of Science in School Building Leadership.  Mr. Gault also graduated from the Brothers of The Christian
Schools Buttimer Institute, Lasallian Leadership Institute and CIL.  He spent thirty years in high school settings
ministering in a variety of positions and served for two years as the Executive Director of a school for special
needs children.  Mr. Gault began his service at The De La Salle School in 2015 and became the second
Executive Director in its history on 1 July 2016.

Mrs. Roxanna De Peña-Elder recently completed her 25th year in education. She started her
educational career in the Diocese of Brooklyn as a teacher, where she saw the significant and
lasting impact she had on the lives of the students. After teaching for 10 years, she
realized that she could impact an entire school as an Assistant Principal, which she did for 5
years. She then took on the responsibility of her own school, serving as Principal for 5 years.
Seeing the impact that she could have and the change that she could bring about as a Principal,
eventually fueled her desire to do so on a larger scale, so she became a District Superintendent,
where she was responsible for thirty three schools located throughout Brooklyn, New York. She
served as District Superintendent for 5 years, leaving that role to join The De La Salle School.

Mrs. De Peña-Elder earned her Bachelors of Arts from Bernard Baruch College, her Masters of
Science in Administration of Education from Saint John’s University and holds New York State
certification in School Building Leadership. The driving force in Mrs. De Peña-Elder’s life is
her belief in the importance of creating opportunities for students to achieve their full potential
and she is excited for the opportunity to join the leadership team of The De La Salle School to
further this belief.

Mrs. Jeanmarie Becker is entering her sixth year as principal of The De La Salle School which is experiencing
strong growth under her innovative vision. Working collaboratively with faculty and administrators, Mrs.
Becker has spearheaded the implementation of numerous programs and organizational changes that enhance
the educational programming provided by the school; the performance and experience of its students and the
overall engagement of the students’ parents/guardians.

Prior to joining The De La Salle School, Mrs. Becker served as Assistant Principal at Holy Family School in
Hicksville from 2015 to 2017. While there, she led and managed numerous administrative tasks in addition to
serving as the principal’s liaison to families, faculty and administrative staff. Prior to beginning her
professional tenure at Holy Family, Mrs. Becker interned at the school fulfilling her Master’s of Education
Administration requirement receiving the degree from Fordham University in 2015. During her internship she
served as the 7 th  and 8 th  grade Math teacher and demonstrated valuable administrative and leadership qualities
that led the Holy Family pastoral and administrative leaders to appoint her as Assistant Principal.
Her extensive career in education includes 14 years at St Raymond’s Elementary School in East Rockaway
where she served as a preschool teacher and the 7 th  and 8 th  grade Math and Religion teacher with 8 th  grade
homeroom responsibilities,  Mrs. Becker initiated change and innovation that resulted in the spiritual and
educational enrichment of the students as well as an increase in the participation and engagement of their
parents. Mrs. Becker was vital to the integration of leading-edge educational technologies such as the
SmartBoard and Castle Learning, that filtered across the entire school curricula. Working with parents, she
also refined essential fundraising events, from the Annual School Yard Sale to Italian Night, that successfully
raised thousands of dollars in support of essential school activities, the 8th Grade spiritual and team-building
retreat in particular.

Mrs. Becker’s experience in education is also highlighted by 5 years serving as head coach of women’s and
men’s volleyball programs at NCAA Division II Quincy University, which was followed by 9 years as varsity
and junior high head coach at Lynbrook High School. She is a 1989 graduate of LIU-CW Post with a BS in
Elementary Education.