If you’ve been admitted to Stuart in the past five years, your parents (or you!) have probably had a conversation with Mrs. Nastro. As the Director of Enrollment at Stuart, we typically may walk past her office near the front hall while she’s answering parent questions or doing an admissions interview, but it’s time the Stuart community gets to know more about her. 

Mrs. Nastro is a Princeton native, as she grew up here and attended Princeton Day School right down the street. She is the youngest of six children, but has always embodied the opposite of a stereotypical younger child, as she is very organized and a true rule follower. When she was a teenager, she moved to Flemington, NJ, where she went to Hunterdon Central High School. This was a big change for her, as the class size and people were extremely different. It was there she found a love for field hockey, but she didn’t continue playing when she went off to Hamilton College. 

While Mrs. Nastro didn’t stay in Flemington, she did experience a milestone there: her first job. Mrs. Nastro started off at Flemington Cut Glass at just 14 years old, where she learned lifelong skills like how to count change. Working in a glass store is very different from her job now, but she has had many experiences that have led her to Stuart today. 

Mrs. Nastro loves working with kids, and all of her past job experiences show that. She is a very natural babysitter, having done it since she was a teenager. Mrs. Nastro has lots of love for babysitting as well, as she was “babysitting whenever she could.” She worked as a preschool teacher in NYC, but she also had an office fashion job there. It was then that she realized she liked both of those things, so she found work that combines them.

Mrs. Nastro’s current career started forming once she figured out she could do both things she loves at once. Mrs. Nastro started in admissions at her former school, PDS. She worked with all grade levels (K-12), but specifically with the lower school. She tested the younger applicants and really got to know the kids and their families. Then, she started at Stuart in 2022.

Here at Stuart, Mrs. Nastro is responsible for bringing in new families just as much as keeping our current ones. Her role here is to make sure that our families feel comfortable, welcomed, and part of the Stuart community. When she is reading an application, she enjoys it when a student includes things about themselves that make them unique. She prefers talking in person over reading applications because she really takes pride in finding students who would thrive in the Stuart community. She believes that numbers don’t show true success, but the happiness of each student does. Specifically, she says, “Before I met the kids, I didn’t often read about them because I just wanted to get to know them. Now I actually tend to read a bit about them because I want to be able to connect with them on something they’re interested in.”

Mrs. Nastro is a morning person who prefers to live an organized and structured lifestyle. She prefers planning with digital tools such as her laptop, but she does write down little post-it notes when she thinks spontaneously. While driving alone, she typically will listen to a true crime or self-help podcast, but her favorite is The Mel Robbins Podcast. One of her biggest values is her family, but this does shift her life just a little.

When Mrs. Nastro was a kid, her family went up to their house in Maine every summer. She enjoyed this time, as she described Maine as “quiet and peaceful,” and “not touristy or flashy.” Her house is close to the water, and she really enjoys that as well.  This tradition ended up stopping until she later returned as an adult. This is also where Mrs. Nastro met her husband. They now live a happy life here in Princeton (and Maine during the summer!), and they have 2 kids. Now, her mornings are a bit more “hectic” with everyone getting ready to leave, and in the car, they typically listen to SiriusXM or the playlists her daughter Anna makes. 

Mrs. Nastro is what you would call “the glue holding everything together.” She makes sure Stuart is a community full of the kindest, dearest people, and never fails to provide excellence in her work. Everyone should now make sure to say hello to her when walking past her office! The Stuart community wouldn’t be what it is without Mrs. Nastro!