Meet the Doctors

Have you ever met a native Mainer you didn’t like?

Dr. Chad McDonald’s enjoyment for the New England way of life comes from his roots in rural Jay, Maine. Now living in the Newburyport area, he enjoys the quaint atmosphere and variety of activities coastal New England has to offer.

A graduate of the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine, and the New England College of Optometry in Boston, Dr. McDonald distinguished himself for superior patient care, graduating with honors in primary care, contact lenses, pediatrics, and low-vision care. Dr. McDonald completed his residency training with the Boston Medical Center and the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.

At the Lighthouse Center in New York City, he furthered his education in comprehensive care for the visually disabled. He is a Board Certified Diplomate in the American Board of Optometry. Dr. McDonald became a partner in the Watts Eye Associates practice in 1999.

Dr. McDonald is a member of the Massachusetts Society of Optometrists and the American Optometric Association, served as a Senior Examiner for the National Board of Examiners in Optometry, is a former Adjunct Clinical Faculty member of the New England College of Optometry in Boston, is a past board member and past president for the Newburyport Lions Club. Dr. McDonald served as chairman for the annual Yankee Homecoming Bed Race for 18 years.

Dr. McDonald’s wife is Dr. Rebecca Boyer, an OB/GYN physician at Anna Jaques Hospital. They have two sons, Owen and Emmet. Being outdoors skiing, mountain biking and golfing are passions along with rooting for all the local sports teams. Dr. McDonald is a huge fan of all classic rock music. KISS Destroyer is his favorite album with Boston’s debut album a close second. He knows all the Seinfeld episodes by heart and his two favorite authors to read are Richard Russo and Stephen King. His favorite dessert of all time is strawberry shortcake made with biscuits and vanilla ice cream.

Dr. Sullivan grew up in the greater Newburyport area and as a child had her first eye exam at Watts Eye Associates. After completing her elementary school education at the Immaculate Conception School in Newburyport, she attended Brooks School in North Andover. Dr. Sullivan went onto college in Maine receiving her undergraduate degree, Cum Laude from Bowdoin College. At Bowdoin College, Dr. Sullivan was awarded honors as a Sarah and James Bowdoin Scholar.

Dr. Sullivan attended the four-year optometry program at the New England College of Optometry graduating with honors, Beta Sigma Kappa in 2004 and was awarded the Beider Scholarship.

After finishing her optometric education she then went onto post-graduate training completing her residency program in ocular disease at the Edith Nourse Memorial Veterans Hospital. Upon finishing her residency she worked as a consultant for Ophthalmic Research Associates (ORA) and then joined the ophthalmology practice of Dr. Glenn Kimball, M.D. in Haverhill where she attended to patients for several years prior to joining Watts Eye Associates.

Dr. Sullivan is a member of the Massachusetts Society of Optometrists as well as the American Optometry Association. Dr. Sullivan became board certified in 2014 as a Board Certified Diplomat of the American Board of Optometry. Her optometric practice interests involve specialization in primary eye care, diabetic eye exams, dry eye, and contact lens.

Dr. Sullivan’s favorite part of her job is caring for her patients! She feels so lucky to care for patients and their families. Whether it is a first pair of glasses or delivering the unfortunate news of pathology of the eye, she truly considers it an honor to treat every one of her patients. She loves both contacts and glasses. She loves testing out the newest lenses and frames- currently wearing her first pair of transitions (light adaptive lenses)! Wearing daily contact lenses has also been a great option for her. She is a dog lover- as they added Rosie, and a yellow English lab to their family last summer. If she could be anything outside of the industry, she would be a Pediatrician or a Rock-star (very wishful thinking on the latter)! The most current movie she saw is Crazy Rich Asians- now she wants to visit Singapore. If she could bring anyone back, it would be her Aunt Nancy- she would give anything to hug her once more.

Dr. Traxler grew up in Newburyport, having Dr. McDonald as his Optometrist. After graduating from Newburyport High School in 2012, he attended the University of Maine where he graduated in 2016 magna cum laude with a degree in Bioengineering and was awarded High Honors from the Honors College. In 2016, he began his optometric studies at the New England College of Optometry (NECO), where he graduated in May 2020 while in quarantine. At his time at NECO, he was awarded the Otto Hochstadt Scholarship for his achievements in bioscience coursework.

In his free time Dr. Traxler enjoys traveling with his family and friends, with his most recent trip being to Dublin, Ireland with his family for the winter holidays. Next up on his list is Zion National Park in Utah. He also likes to spend time with friends going hiking and skiing in Maine as well as lounging on the beach in his fiance’s hometown, Sea Girt, NJ. Growing up in New England has spoiled the sports fan in Dr. Traxler, but his favorite sports memory is traveling to London to see his favorite football (soccer) team, Arsenal FC play.

Dr. Traxler is extremely excited to start his career working at Watts Eye Associates, and to provide eye care to the community that cared for him growing up.

Dr. Baragona is excited to join the team at Watts Eye Associates! She graduated from Penn State University in 2017 with a degree in Nutritional Sciences and a minor in Biology. During college, she traveled for a semester to London, England to study Health Practice & Policy. Dr. Baragona began her optometric studies at New England College of Optometry in 2017, where she also served as president of the Public Health Club and graduated in May 2021.

After graduation, Dr. Baragona moved to the Newburyport area where she enjoys living on the coast, as she grew up in the small beach town of Sea Girt, New Jersey. She enjoys summer bike rides on her beach cruiser and loves to read in her downtime. She has always been a Red Sox fan (even though she is from Yankees territory!) and loyally cheers for PSU football each fall. Next up on her travel plans – a trip to Scotland this fall.

Dr. Baragona is excited to begin her optometric career at Watts Eye Associates and looks forward to joining the Newburyport community!

A few other things about Dr. B- Kristin enjoys HOT coffee and SPICY foods. Two items on her bucket list are seeing a concert at Red Rocks in Colorado and attending a hot air balloon festival. Her (not so secret) talent is that she is a LIMBO queen, and can limbo VERY low to the floor. Dr. B. cannot wait to start seeing patients!