Dear Friends School Families,
I hope this message finds you well and enjoying a restful summer. We have some important updates and personnel changes to share with you as we prepare for the upcoming school year. I am incredibly energized about the opportunities these changes bring to our community and grateful for the tremendous work that our faculty and staff have put into school during these “quiet” summer months.
First, in June we bid farewell to Lower School Director Clair McCalla, who has been an integral part of our community for almost a decade. Although Clair has departed, we are delighted that daughter, Ruby, remains in Ivy & Katie’s Stargazer Purple class and that husband, Rob, continues his impactful work as our Middle School Science Teacher.
With Clair's departure, we decided to fill her role internally, giving us the opportunity to not only explore different administrative models but also prioritize our current faculty’s voices and perspectives. These administrative leaders are already working hand-in-hand with Middle School Director Amy McGlinn and the collective group is energized for the work that this collaboration affords.
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Interim Lower School Leadership
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Ciara Goins will serve as our Preschool Coordinator, overseeing the development of our PreK program and especially the onboarding of our new Stepping Stones team. Spend just a moment in her classroom and you’ll immediately witness her expansive knowledge of Montessori practices and joyous love for her students. In her cover letter, she writes, “Learning takes place when one feels at home, comforted by love and driven by purpose. This is true for both the adults and children at FSW. As a teacher, I ‘follow the child’ and guide them in gaining independence, aid them in engaging in positive, peaceful interactions, and model asking deeper questions . . . As an administrator, it would also be my responsibility to ‘follow the teacher,’ to support and invest in their success as a whole person, both professionally and emotionally.”
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Martina Jonsson-Boykin will serve as our Lower School Student Coordinator, working to support our students’ classroom and school-wide experience and uplift the grounding Quaker values that define the spirit of our community. Martina brings a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to our students, noting “I truly believe that each person brings a piece of truth to form a greater picture. I am inspired by the prospect of learning from other administrators . . [and] I see my presence as a source of stability, with commitment to upholding our school mission at the heart of it all.”
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Corrie Slay will serve as our Lower School Academic Coordinator. A champion of educational leadership, Corrie is passionate about curricular innovation here at Friends. She worked last summer with Clair to develop curriculum maps for the Lower School and is excited to expand our curricular programming and coaching this year. She writes she is eager to leverage her “diverse experience and unwavering commitment to educational excellence to uplift and collaborate with my fellow educators.”
We are fortunate to have these dedicated faculty members stepping into leadership roles and are equally grateful for new additions supporting them in the classroom!
- Kendra Pendergrast, Stepping Stones Assistant Teacher, will join Ciara and Patrick as additional support in our afternoon Stargazer Extended Day program.
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We welcome Anastasia Christopoulos, our new part-time Middle School Spanish Teacher, who will join us in August. Anastasia comes to us with a B.A. and M.A. in Spanish Language & Linguistics and currently serves as a Spanish instructor at CFCC and staff interpreter for New Hanover Regional Medical Center. Anastasia will support our 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students while Martina continues to lead our Preschool and Lower School Divisions. She will also remain as program leader for the Middle School’s annual cultural immersion trip to the Dominican Republic. (In case you missed this year’s highlights, check them out here)!
- Tatyana Brannon, in addition to her role as Middle School Math Assistant Teacher, will join Corrie Slay’s 5th grade classroom as the Assistant Teacher, leading thematic classroom instruction in the afternoons. Tatyana previously worked in Corrie’s classroom as a paraprofessional educator and is excited to continue her partnership with 5th grade.
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Additional Administrative Updates
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Rachel Presley has joined FSW full-time as the Director of Development & Marketing, absorbing many of Allyson Keating’s responsibilities after her family's relocation to New Hampshire earlier this summer.
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Theresa Schroeder has taken on the role of Executive Administrative Assistant and continues to support all areas of our school community, including the business office, admissions, advancement, and especially database management.
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The Preschool building is busier than ever with record enrollments in our Stepping Stones and Stargazer classrooms! As we add a second Stepping Stones cohort to our community, we are thrilled to welcome our new SS teaching team: Angie Brooks (Lead) & Mariya Matthews (Assistant).
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Angie, a prolific Montessori educator, holds both American Montessori Society (AMS) and Early Childhood Education advanced certifications. She has taught in Montessori preschools across North Carolina, California, and the Czech Republic, in addition to a Mandarin Immersion School in San Francisco.
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Mariyah–a recent Appalachian State University graduate–also has advanced certifications in infant & toddler education and worked as a classroom assistant in a bilingual Montessori preschool during her time in Boone.
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With deep felt gratitude, we also wish 1st Grade Lead Teacher Julia Maguire all the best as she and her fiancé, Lyndon, relocate to Charleston, SC, this winter. Julia’s last day will be November 22nd. She has been a pillar of the FSW community, serving in multiple grade levels and in our Summer Camp program before stepping into the 1st grade Lead Teacher position last year. To ensure a smooth transition, Julie Smith, who comes with decades of experience at FSW, will support both the 1st and 2nd grade classrooms as Assistant Teacher, and we are working as a team to find opportunities for classroom partnerships. An active search is already underway for Julia’s replacement with the intention for overlap towards the end of Julia’s tenure.
- Finally, we are ecstatic to welcome Stephanie Byrd as Kindergarten Lead and Meghann Blackman as 4th grade Lead, whose roles were announced earlier this year.
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Friends, I am tremendously grateful for your continued support and commitment to Friends School of Wilmington. This community–its people, values, and achievements–shine so brightly, and I look forward to a very successful year ahead (and the school’s 30th anniversary as well)!
In Peace,
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Tony McCudden
Head of School
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