Dear Baldwin Families,
We move into the summer stronger than ever. While this year has not been easy, we have found joy in learning together. We have turned toward each other and supported each other. Thank you for your partnership and help. I look forward to another wonderful year next year.
I’m writing with a few updates for you as we close out the year. Here are some pieces of information you’ll find in this letter:
- Staffing Updates
- Timeline for Class Placement Notifications
- Playground Meetups
- School Council Meeting–June 28th, 6:30-7:30PM
I’m including our fifth grade families on this final email before school ends. We will miss you! I wish everyone at Baldwin a wonderful summer. Please reach out if you have questions.
My Very Best,
Heidi Cook
Principal, Baldwin School
Staffing Updates
Every year, we have some changes and updates. For the 22-23 school year, I have some pretty significant teacher changes to report. Changing grades or roles helps our veteran staff stay engaged in their professional work and keeps us all fresh and learning. Here are the staffing updates for the 22-23 school year. I will keep you updated if there are additional changes.
JK/K Team:
We are excited to welcome Elena Haro to the K team. She has been teaching in Arlington. Elena fills Richard Kelly’s position. Richard will be retiring in October. Elena will start in September and Richard will help with special projects in the fall.
Corianne LaBounty will be moving into the JK position starting next year.
2nd Grade Team:
We are sad that Arkie Tassew will be leaving Baldwin, but she is moving back to DC to be closer to family now that she has a new baby. We have hired a new teacher, Afra Khan, who joins us with lots of experience, most recently in the Boston Public Schools.
3rd Grade Team:
Ben Geiger will be leaving the third grade team, to serve in a fifth grade role for next year. We are excited to see Ben in this role, working with some of the students he has taught in the past!
Michelle Curreri, Baldwin veteran teacher who has been in the fifth grade for many years, will serve as a third grade teacher next year.
4th Grade Team:
We are excited to announce that Andrea Jasmin has been hired to teach fourth grade next year. Andrea has worked at Baldwin for four years and has many strong connections with students already. Andrea will work with Craig Hyland, who will remain in fourth grade next year. We thank Christine Nicholson for her role in teaching fourth grade for much of this school year! We wish her luck in her new teaching position.
5th Grade Team:
Meaghan Miller will be serving in a one-year Math Interventionist position next year. Ben Geiger will take her position in fifth grade for the year.
Michelle Curreri is shifting into the third grade position for next year. This leaves a one-year opening in fifth grade. We will interview and hire for this position ASAP–that process will start this week.
Specialists:
Isun Malekghassemi, JK-2nd Music Teacher, will leave Baldwin at the end of the year. We thank Isun for her contributions to Baldwin and we are excited to welcome Liz Hewitt into the music role. Liz taught music at the Peabody School last year.
Interventionists:
Debbie Logiudice will leave the one-year Math Interventionist position for a permanent Math Interventionist position at the Peabody School. We will miss Debbie, who has worked at Baldwin for many years. Meaghan Miller will move into the one-year Math Intervention role for the 22-23 school year.
Emily Cyr will be in the Early Literacy Interventionist Position next year. She has been at the Fletcher Maynard Academy most recently. Jessica Della Calce will take a one-year leave from the role and we wish her luck in her adventures!
Support Staff:
Many of our support staff shift grade levels and roles each year. We also hire new interns each year. You will have more updates about support staff in each grade level as we get closer to the start of the school year.
Retirements:
We celebrate Linda Costa as she retires from working for many years at Baldwin. We’ll celebrate Linda’s retirement with the whole school during our All School Meeting on the last day of school!
Class Placement
Everyone is excited to learn about class placements for the next school year. I know you want to know who your child’s teacher is, and know who is in your child’s class as soon as possible. This year, my goal is to send out class placements before the end of July. I never want to make last minute changes to a child’s class placement, so I wait until we believe most transfers have been settled before we finalize the lists. Class placements will be delivered via email to parents who have an email address on file. Families without email addresses on file will receive a paper letter with their class placement.
Once the placements are sent out, we rarely make changes. I will share more information with families/caregivers about this when I share class placements.
Summer Meetups
Watch for more information via email about informal summer meetups on the Baldwin playground. These informal (unstaffed) playdates provide opportunities for Baldwin families to get together and connect. Stay tuned for this information!
School Council Meeting
Tonight, June 28th, we’ll have our last School Council Meeting of the year. We’ll meet at the following link at 6:30PM: http://zoom.com/my/baldwinschool
At that meeting, I’ll share the priority areas that came out of the Equity Self-Assessment our community engaged in this spring. Please join us!