Familiar Faces Set for New School Year

It’s a new school year filled with several familiar faces, even among new staff—many of the district’s new hires this year have worked in Hillsborough as teachers or long-term substitute teachers.

At Woods Road Elementary School, kindergarten teachers Timothy Hoy and Tracy Pluta spent last week easing into the new district, though they’re prepared for what the first day of school will bring. Hoy’s new to the public school environment but spent the past 12 years teaching private kindergarten at the Goddard School, he said. Meanwhile, Pluta’s worked in preschool classrooms and in Auten Road Intermediate School before taking an open post at Woods Road School.

“I think it was time for a change in venue,” Hoy said of his switch. “It is nice to have my own classroom for a change.”

“I’ve been here for a while, so I’m comfortable,” Pluta said. “I’ve been able to see almost every grade level, so I know my way around.”

The team is already excited to meet their new students, having planned a special activity to show them around the school. They’ll open with a gingerbread man theme, having the students decorate their own gingerbread people—but one will mysteriously go missing, they said.

“It’s an easy way to give them a tour of the school,” Pluta said. “It’s a way to get them to know each other and the building.”

“A real gingerbread man may visit,” Hoy added.

The children’s interactions are a key part of the school year, since many may not be familiar with the social expectations of an elementary school classroom.

“It’s introducing a wildly varying skill set and getting them to work together,” Hoy said. “A lot of them, it’s their first school experience too.”

For Hillsborough Elementary School third grade teacher Kara McKenna, Tuesday marks the beginning of her sixth year teaching—but her first year in a permanent position. She’s taught as a long-term substitute teacher prior to taking the permanent post, serving in Hillsborough Elementary, Woodfern Elementary, and Amsterdam school.

She’s already looking forward to meeting her students and learning about them, she says.

“I enjoy most learning about their individual learning style and meeting their needs and personalities,” she said. “It’s a big transition year. They grow up a lot this year.”

The district environment is among the reasons she’s remained in Hillsborough.

“All the teachers I’ve met around the district have been very caring and helpful,” she

At Auten Road Intermediate School, fifth grade teacher Donna Biddulph spent Thursday and Friday of last week preparing to lead a class room of her own students. But it’s not the first time she’s been in the district. She’s worked as an Instructional Assistant in a Special Education classroom for several years before earning her Masters in Special Education and Elementary Education.

“There is so much to do and so much to get ready for,” she said. “I’m very excited. It really was my goal and my dream to do this. It’s very exciting to finally be a teacher.”

She’ll be teaching math and science during the year, and has been preparing for it for weeks, she said

“I feel like I’ve been getting ready for weeks but I feel like there is still more to do,” Biddulph said.

She’s not nervous for the first day either, instead focusing on preparation for the students to come through the classroom doors.

“I don’t know if I have a big fear for the first day,” Biddulph said. “I just want to be ready and every student to feel comfortable and welcome.

“If they feel that way at the end of the day, then I’ve hit my big target,” she said.

said. “It’s a great community. This school feels like home to me.”

Another returning teacher, TJ Quimby, will teach middle school Literacy this year. He returns to the district after layoffs in 2009 nixed the position he’d held for three years at Hillsborough High School. In the year away from the district, he taught middle-school age students in another district—and found he loved it.

“The kids are just so fun to be around,” he said. “It’s that crazy time in their life. They are at the age where they are starting to understand the social world but they are still willing to engage the teacher.”

Quimby’s particularly looking forward to teaching his students “Whirlygig”, a coming-of-age book. During the course of the lessons, he hopes to have the students create their own “whirlygig” and incorporate the things they’re doing in school this year.

In addition, he’s looking at combining the district’s new technologies with more traditional teaching methods.

“I still think it is important to balance the old-school forms of learning, like discussion, “ he said. “But it’s great when you’re able to balance it with the things they are using every day.”

Ian Evans is one of the teachers who is completely new to the district, and will be serving as a long-term substitute teacher in Hillsborough Middle School.

“The biggest challenge is having high school experience,” Evans, a seventh grade Literacy teacher, said. “It’s going to be coming into the middle school and seeing where the difference are in the high school age groups. In high school, their identities were formed for the most part, so it was just trying to refine that.”

“I like to say I teach students,” he added. “I’m really excited and just want to get my hands in the action.”

Evans applied for a position in the district after hearing about a friend’s positive experience as a student teacher, he said. The district’s focus on technology was another attractive factor that prompted him to apply.

“She said that she had a really positive relationship with her cooperating teacher,” Evans said. “And you always want to be where the technology is and the cutting edge tools.”

Evans is already looking forward to teaching Lois Lowry’s “The Giver” to his students, and will likely begin the year with the book.

“There’s this great idea of moving ahead and looking backward,” he said. “I’m going to have the students write a letter to themselves. I think that’s really cool for the middle school student because they can look back on who they were during the beginning of the year.”