The Board of Education will vote Tuesday, Jan. 31 on new assignments for teachers and staff members at Westbrook Elementary School for the next school year.
In November, the board voted to turn Westbrook into Highlander Academy, an inclusive special-education program.
The district’s Restructuring Committee had recommended the change because of the district’s declining enrollment and the loss of state aid in recent years.
According to the agenda for the board’s workshop meeting Jan. 24, Westbrook Principal Dana Swarts will become principal at Apshawa Elementary School.
She has been Westbrook’s principal since January 2017.
Patricia Hart became interim principal at Apshawa in January after Elissa Scillieri left in December to become a principal in Pequannock.
On Jan. 24, Superintendent Alex Anemone told the board that he had met with all the staff members about their new assignments.
”Most everybody’s happy, I would say. It’s hard to go through this much change in one school year,” he said.
Moving schools
Westbrook kindergarten teachers Holly Stanley and Ashley Baumgartner will teach kindergarten at Maple Road and Upper Greenwood Lake (UGL) schools, respectively. First-grade teacher Kelly Yost will teach kindergarten at UGL, and Regina Canali will continue teaching first grade at Marshall Hill.
Second-grade teachers Jodie Comune and Stepahnie Sanacore will do the same at Maple Road and Marshall Hill, respectively.
Third-grade teacher Jennifer Casperson will teach fifth grade at Marshall Hill and her colleague Erin Davie will teach fourth grade at Apshawa.
Fourth-grade teacher Alison Perry will do the same at Maple Road and her colleague Suzanne Oesterle will teach third grade at Paradise Road.
Fifth-grade teacher Tanja Lane will teach English Language Arts at Macopin Middle School and Jenelle Peine will continue teaching fifth grade at UGL.
Special-education teachers Lynn Doherty and Diane Pizzulo will do the same at UGL and the high school, respectively.
Reading specialists Meghan Donegan and Maureen Mulligan will move to Marshall Hill and UGL, respectively. Mulligan will join Encore at UGL.
Jennifer Balogh will go from Encore at Westbrook to Encore at Paradise Knoll.
Physical education teacher Christopher Jones will do the same at Marshall Hill.
Social worker Wendy Becker will work at Apshawa and Highlander Prep.
The district also has published a list of streets with the current elementary school and the proposed new school.