Staffing Changes for 2023-2024 - READ CAREFULLY
We have a number of important changes planned for the fall, at each grade level, and across the school. Please take a few moments to read them and reach out with any questions.
Kindergarten - Bonzey, Ferland, McSwiggan
Our teaching team will stay the same, but we will no longer have three K aides in place. Jessie Whalen and Hemo Rao will stay on as K aides, working 5 days each week across three classrooms. Vin Lahey will move into a special education paraprofessional role.
1st Grade - Gower, Rose, Sandison
2nd Grade - Bartley, Thorne, Mann
After teaching 3rd and 4th grade in Boston for serial years, Amanda Mann came to HM and taught 5th grade this year alongside Anna Cox in our 5th grade co-taught classroom. For next year, Amanda will join our 2nd grade team. Amanda has taught 3rd and 4th grade in Boston as well.
3rd Grade - Bard, Cox/Deehan, Rosen
Anna Cox and Katie Deehan will team up to form our co-taught classroom in 3rd grade for next year. Anna will officially serve as the special education teacher in the classroom, and Katie will be the regular ed teacher, with both teachers bringing a wide range of skills to the model.
4th Grade - Berardi, Bruno, Lewis
Jason Harris has decided to take his career in a different direction. He will be moving this summer and will take on a role as a curriculum coordinator/coach in the Maryland Public Schools. We wish Mr. Harris the best in his new role.
Alex Bruno filled in as a long term sub in 4th grade for Melissa Lewis this winter, and then filled in for Daniela Gentile as our SEL interventionist. We were impressed with her willingness to take initiative, her efforts to collaborate with colleagues and her growing confidence with the 4th grade curriculum. Next year, Alex will have her own 4th grade classroom.
Maureen Berardi will move from the 3rd grade co-taught into her own classroom in 4th grade.
We will NOT have a traditional co-taught classroom in grade 4. We will have a special educator (we are in the process of hiring someone) who will service all academic service delivery needs across two of the three 4th grade classrooms.
5th Grade - Akdag/Salvatore, Derubeis (Moore), Oldmixon
The Akdag/Salvatore co-taught team will move up to 5th grade for the year. Please note that this doesn’t change how we will be doing placement. We will regroup students into the three 5th grade classrooms.
Lauren Fischer will return from a leave of absence to be a .5 special educator, providing services to students alongside Lisa Derubeis (Moore).
Other Staffing Changes
Library - Helen Guzzi has decided to take advantage of an open librarian position at the Bigelow Middle School for the fall. Helen was a long time English teacher at Brown Middle School and has always had a fondness and a passion for working with students in the middle grades. We will miss Helen’s energy, sense of humor, and commitment to literacy at Horace Mann, and we wish her all the best.
In Helen’s place, Monique Arasian will take on some added time at HM. We will also bring on board a new librarian, Suzanne Coppola. Susanne brings an incredible wealth of experience to this position. Over the years, Susanne has been a long-term sub in several NPS schools including: Mason-Rice, Angier, Countryside, and Franklin. Prior to becoming a Library Teacher, Susanne was a classroom teacher in New York City - Bronx - teaching grades 1, 2, 3 along with being a science teacher and Reading Intervention Specialist.
Team Specialist - Allison Hutchinson will be moving from our team specialist position into a special education teaching position for next year. We are now in the process of hiring a new team specialist for next year.
Intervention and Title 1 - Beth Langston will be taking on Title 1 duties at Lincoln-Eliot next year. Alan Ripp and Joelle Pedersen will return to their curriculum roles, and Melissa Chatfield will come on board as our interventionist. A big thank you to Beth for her successful work in Title 1 math this year. Thanks also to Alan and Joelle for their awesome work in our literacy intervention program
Social Worker - We will again see changes in our SW staffing for next year:
“I am writing to share that, as of the end of this month, Mary Gartland will be retiring. Mary has had a long career in social work, most recently in NPS working in 9 schools, most recently at Horace Mann and Underwood. A fierce advocate for students and families, Mary's hard work and dedication to supporting some of our most vulnerable community members was admirable. Personally, over the 12 years I had the privilege of working with Mary, I learned an enormous amount from her. Mary's work always epitomized the core values of social work - service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of relationships, integrity, and competence.
Please join me in thanking Mary for her many years of service and in wishing her only good things in the years to come.”
Please reach out with any questions about all of this:
nardellimv@newton.k12.ma.us
