Hello Elm Street School Community!
I hope that you are all having a wonderful start to the summer break and that you are finding spaces for connection and joy. I wanted to reach out to take a moment to formally introduce myself to the community and invite you all to connect with me as we head into the 23-24 school year and this new chapter for Elm.
I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve as the next educational leader for the Elm Street community. I am so excited to meet you all over the next few months and learn more about Elm, what makes our community special, and what common goals we share for the future of a strong, safe, inclusive, and affirming school community.
A Little Bit About Me and My Journey to Elm
I grew up in a small town in Connecticut just north of New York City with my mom, younger brother, and younger sister. My younger years consisted mostly of spending time either in the dance studio or on the soccer field. In high school I continued to play soccer and ran track in the off seasons. It was also in high school that I had my passion for live theatre ignited and would often take the Metro North train into the city to catch half priced shows on Broadway with my friends.
My first college experience was at the University of New Hampshire (Go Wildcats!) where I studied biochemistry and was headed for a career as a pediatric neurosurgeon, or so I thought. In my post grad gap year I found myself teaching Kindergarten in a small town in Connecticut near where I grew up. My mom had been a school nurse and was then a special education educator and somehow convinced the elementary school principal to take a chance on me. It was there that I fell in love with the education profession.
After three years of being a kindergarten educator I moved to Massachusetts to work on my degrees in psychology and early childhood education at Simmons in Boston. While in school I worked at the Boston Children's Museum, Boston Ballet (in their CityDance program), and Wheelock Family Theatre. In my final year of grad school I interned at the Driscoll School in Brookline and then was fortunate to be hired as a second grade teacher at the Heath School in Brookline upon graduating. I spent seven amazing years as a grade 2, 3, and 4 educator with most of my time in second grade. Two of those years I spent as the general educator in a co-taught looping inclusion classroom, which is where I was inspired to pursue a second master's degree in educational leadership. During my years as an early childhood and elementary educator I developed a deep love and passion for teaching literacy and cultivating a love for life long learning and curiosity in all students.
In 2015 I was hired as a vice principal for the then named Edward Devotion School in Brookline which was about to undergo a massive renovation and reconstruction project that required the large PreK-8 school to be split amongst two sites for 3 years during construction. After my year as a vice principal I moved into the principal role and supported the lower school (K-4) for the duration of the building project. When we rejoined with the upper school in 2018 I was humbled to be named as the principal of full PreK-8 school. During my 9 years as an educational leader I was able to support the community through the building project, reunification, and renaming of our school. Together we also navigated the pandemic as well as some tragedies that impacted the community. We also had a lot of fun together, celebrating growth and achievement and ensuring joy was at the center of our work and interactions. I have such deep connections and relationships with families, students, and staff members in Brookline and am forever grateful for all that I learned from and with the Florida Ruffin Ridley School community.
When I am not in school fiercely committed to and passionate about ensuring school communities are safe, inclusive, and affirming spaces for all students, staff, and families that support thriving spaces for academic and social emotional growth and achievement, you can find me running around the roads of Walpole (usually training for a half or full marathon), or cheering loudly for my 13 year old daughter in a hockey rink somewhere around the state. I still love a good game of pick up soccer (though my knees would disagree), and will take any opportunity to go see a live show, my recent favorites being Six and Hadestown.
I am so excited to join the Elm Street School community and serve as the next educational leader. I look forward to meeting all of you and getting to know and connect with you, your children, and our staff at Elm!
