WHO'S NEW AT MCS?
Manhattan Country School welcomes six new staff members:
Teachers
Flannery Denny (Math Specialist – 7th/8th, co-teacher of 6th, math special events) Flannery was a history major at McGill University and later completed a Masters’ degree in Math Education at St. John’s University. She has been teaching math at Roundout Valley High School in upstate New York since 2005, where she also initiated a Service Learning program, and coached the Ultimate Frisbee team. She previously taught math at Louis Armstrong Middle School in Queens. She has completed professional development programs in Connected Mathematics, “Making Math Relevant,” “Building Algebraic Thinking in the Middle Grades,” and Writing Project Seminars. She plays the violin, advocates for environmental justice, and speaks Spanish, German and French.
Diane Berman (Math Coordinator – 8-9’s through 8th grade)
Diane joins us as math coordinator for the 8-9’s through 8th grade two days a week. First an undergraduate majoring in math at Barnard, Diane later completed her Masters’ degree in Math Education at New York University. She has 11 years of combined teaching experience at Brearley and Trinity. In her continued role as part-time professor at Queens College (from 2003), Diane teaches math education in the graduate division, including a course on math in children’s literature. Diane actively promotes a pedagogy of constructivism and skills, and is co-author of a Mathematics Trail included in the Teachers Resource Manual published by The Central Park Conservancy. A clarinetist, Diane is a member of a classical trio and occasionally plays in cafes in Kew Gardens and Forest Hills.
Teacher-Training Program
Fleur van Dijk (Intern, Fall 6-7s, Spring 4-5s)
Fleur completed her B.S at Fashion Institute of Technology and is enrolled in the Masters’ degree program at Bank Street College of Education. She volunteered at a literacy-based outreach program in Brooklyn called Change-1-Child and was a Visiting Student at Medici School of Art in Florence Italy. She is changing careers from fashion, where she was a designer and operations intern for a swim-wear and online green fashion retailer and wholesaler, to education. She is fluent in German and Dutch.
Ashley Young (Intern, Fall 4-5s, Spring 6-7s)
Ashley completed a B.A. in urban education and multicultural theater at Hampshire College with a concentration in education and racial identity. She is enrolled in the Art of Teaching Program at Sarah Lawrence College. She is originally from the Washington D.C. area, where she has organized conferences, participated in creative writing and theater programs, and spent summers working with young children. As a student at Hampshire College she worked in local after school programs implementing anti-racist curriculum and traveled to Pretoria, South Africa to observe teaching methods and teach literature to 11th graders.
Farm
Patrick Maloney (Farm Bus Driver)
After driving school buses for Huntington Coach on Long Island for 14 years, Pat moved to the Catskills and has been employed as a substitute driver by both Margaretville and Roxbury school systems. He is experienced driving in the city as well as the country and likes to drive Thomas brand buses, the kind we are buying this fall. Listen for his hearty "hello" when he arrives to pick up students this fall.
Michele Hatchette (Farm's Environmental Education Intern)
MCS Alums make the best interns at the Farm, and Michele Hatchette (2001) is a prime example. After studying in Botswana and Spain, Michele graduated from Pitzer College in California with a major in international and intercultural studies. In the process, Michele has developed a love for working with children and an interest in healthy eating and the agricultural process. She "yearns to reconnect with children again in a positive, innovative, and supportive environment," and to build, "a foundation in agricultural education so that one day I may begin a teaching farm." Michele will definitely be with us in the fall of 2009 and may be able to stay on for the spring 2010 term.
Click here to download the 2009-10 Calendar 