Washington Township School District Welcomes 35 New Teachers During Virtual Orientation
It was a different delivery but the message was more impassioned than ever. Breaking from the normal face-to-face orientation when new teachers are welcomed into the Washington Township Public Schools, Superintendent of Schools Joe Bollendorf and members of his administrative team hosted a virtual orientation for the District’s 35 newly hired educators on August 31, 2020.
“This is a beginning like none of us, as veteran educators, have ever experienced,” Bollendorf said. “I can only imagine how the changes brought on by COVID-19 will challenge our novice teachers. I can, however, assure them that this pandemic has elevated and reaffirmed the importance and influence of this profession nationwide. As a District, we will mentor and support them. We will welcome their energy and creativity and set them on a course to become difference-makers in the lives of our students. Our families truly value the importance of education, are yearning for the normalcy that school brings and for teachers who can connect with their children in a classroom or through a computer. We will set these teachers up for success so that they can invest their talents for the betterment of our kids during this difficult time and when we emerge on the other side.”
The new teachers, who will join all WTPS educators for the remote opening the of the school year on September 8, 2020, include:
Grenloch Terrace Early Childhood Center
(no new teachers)
Bells Elementary
Raymond Faison, Kindergarten Teacher
Birches Elementary
Christina Davidson, Music Teacher
Jordan Dobzanski, Grade 5 Teacher
Alyssa Ford, Grade 5 Special Education Teacher
Nicole Schmitt, Art Teacher
Michael Tenuto, Grade 5 Teacher
Hurffville Elementary
Madison Agostini, Grade 3 Teacher
Jessica Gerstein, Grade 3 Teacher
Rochelle Wizmur, Speech Correction/Language Specialist
Thomas Jefferson Elementary
Kathleen Barile, Special Education Teacher - Autism
Kelly Blaszczyk, Special Education Teacher
Mary Catherine Pierson, Educational Media Specialist
Rochelle Wizmur – Speech Correction/Language Specialist
Wedgwood Elementary
Lindsey Ale, Language and Literacy Instructor - Title I
Matthew Brady, Grade 4 Teacher
Emily Navarra, Special Education Teacher
Alli Serafinelli, Part-Time Special Education Teacher
Whitman Elementary
Olivia Dunn, Music Teacher
Bunker Hill Middle School
Melanie Curry, Speech/Language Specialist
Lindsay Evans, Health & Physical Education Teacher (shared with CRMS)
Elizabeth Kocher, Science Teacher
Maria Meo, Special Education Teacher
Maria Recinos, Grade 6 Science Teacher
Kimberly Sirolli – Occupational Therapist
Chestnut Ridge Middle School
Lindsay Evans, Health & Physical Education Teacher (shared with BHMS)
Orchard Valley Middle School
Melanie Curry, Speech/Language Specialist
Washington Township High School
Carrie Biegler, Art Teacher
Ariel Comer, Mathematics Teacher
Megan Jeanne D'Avella, Art Teacher
Rodrigo Diaz, World Language Teacher – Spanish
Jacquilyn Dornisch, Art Teacher
Sabrina Duhaney, Family & Consumer Science Teacher - Culinary Arts
Megan Koering, Special Education Teacher
Rachel Michael, Business Education Teacher
Alexander Pollock, Music Teacher
Kaitlyn Totora, Science Teacher
William Skipper, Special Education Teacher
-WTPS-