York Town News
Administrators working to see all posts filled for the start of school
By Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - With the start of the new school year now less than a week away, the shuffle of faculty to fill positions that recently opened up is complete, with one new teacher joining the ranks to fill the fifth-grade team at York Middle School.And, York Middle School Principal Steve Bishop confirmed, interviews were continuing as of Tuesday afternoon in the searches for a York Middle School Horizons teacher and an alternative education teacher that have been ongoing through the summer.
"When we talk about looking at each child and meeting the needs of each child, these programs are very important," Bishop said. "… We're very hopeful these positions will be filled by the time school starts."
The fifth-grade classroom position opened up late in the season as a current staff member was selected to fill another post within the district.
The process of shifting positions began with changes at Coastal Ridge and Village Elementary Schools. The departure of longtime Horizons teacher Christie Hazen at the end of the last school year, and the creation of a new technology post serving the two elementary schools, prompted former fourth-grade teacher Michael Harris and third-grade teacher Michele Freitag to seek new opportunities.
Harris was appointed to the technology post last month, and Freitag was just selected a few weeks ago to serve as the elementary Horizons teacher. The Horizons post is part-time, and Freitag will spend four days per week serving the needs of highly-motivated students at Village and Coastal Ridge and working to integrate enrichment opportunities in the classroom.
With Freitag's decision to pursue this new opportunity came a late-summer opening for a full-time third-grade teacher.
Enter York Middle School teacher Sarajane St. John, who Coastal Ridge Principal Jane Stephenson confirmed has long had an interest in teaching at the elementary level.
"She is so looking forward to working with the younger children and bringing some of her talents and skills," Stephenson said.
St. John was selected to move to the third-grade position and, last week, Hampton, N.H., teacher Kelly Renfrew was chosen to join the York Middle School team.
Renfrew has experience teaching fourth and fifth grade, Bishop explained, and brings a wealth of talents and experiences - including a special interest in technology - to the fifth grade's Dolphin team.
"We're very excited," Bishop said. "She has a lot of experience with technology. She and Andy Geranis are going to do some wonderful things."
Geranis and St. John traditionally worked together as a team with their fifth-grade students, and that will continue now with Geranis and Renfrew, Bishop said.
Both Bishop and Stephenson acknowledged that such shifts can be difficult this late in the summer, with students and parents knowing of class placements and expecting to see the teachers they met back in the spring in those classrooms this fall.
Stephenson explained that the goal has been to consider all the impacts of such changes as well as the benefits to individual staff members and to the York School Department as a whole.
"When an opportunity arises, we really have to consider the professional goals and the hopes and dreams of our staff," Stephenson said.
School begins in York for all students in grades K through 9 on Tuesday, Sept. 5, with students in grades 10 through 12 set to return to classes on Wednesday, Sept. 6.
