Miss Carrozza: (Music Teacher)

Q: What did you do before coming here?

A: My career before this job was being a full-time student. I have attended public school since pre-school, followed by four years as a full-time student at Western Connecticut State University where I earned my Bachelor’s Degree. This is my first job in my career path, and it feels just right to be back at school.

Q: How has your experience here been so far?

A: My experience here so far has been very busy, yet exciting. Everything is so fast-paced, and love being kept on my toes. I am learning something new every day about the profession and the school climate here at FHS. The students in my classes are excited to learn and grow in music, and I can’t ask for anything more.

Q: What are you looking forward to here?

A: This year, I am looking forward to witnessing how much my students will grow as musicians. Each day they rehearse and expand their music literacy and ability to perform as one cohesive group. It is a process that never ends because there is always more room to grow, and I cannot wait to see how well they can perform together by the end of the year.

Miss Stewart: (Science Teacher)

Q: What was your previous career before coming here?

A: Before coming to FHS, I was a student at UConn. I earned a Bachelor’s in Molecular and Cell Biology and a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction. During my studies, I worked at Highland Park Market in Farmington. I actually worked at Highland Park Market from 2008 (when I was a junior here at FHS) up until earlier this year!

Q: What has your experience been like so far at FHS?

A: My experience so far this year has been wonderful! I have four amazing classes: two Chemistry classes and two Biology classes. Everyone in the school is very supportive. So many teachers stop me in the halls to ask me how my year is going and to offer me advice!

Q: What are you looking forward to this year?

A: I’m looking forward to spending a whole year with my students! Last year I was a student teacher so I was out of the classroom before the Winter Holidays. It was very sad to leave my classes and I missed out on so much of the school year! So this year I’m looking forward to absolutely everything. One particularly exciting thing to come this spring is the Genomics Unit in Biology. We will be working with fancy lab equipment provided by the Jackson Laboratories to analyze our own DNA samples. I’m so excited to share this groundbreaking science with my Biology students this year.

Mr. Kalbacher: (Math Teacher)

Q: What did you do before coming here?

A: Before starting here at Farmington I was teaching 7th, 8th, and 9th grade math at a small bilingual school in rural Honduras, in a town called Juticalpa. Before I moved back down to Honduras (was my second time around), I spent a few months backpacking Southeast Asia… I guess you could say I love to travel.

Q: How has your experience here been so far?

A: So far my experience here has been great. Believe it or not, the classrooms are cool compared to what I was used to in Honduras, where we had metal roofs, no windows, and just two ceiling fans per classroom! I’m still getting used to the short class times and those crazy hallway intersections, but I’m overwhelmed with how friendly and hard working everyone is here.

Q: What are you looking forward to here?

A: Overall, I’d say I’m most looking forward to getting to know everyone, not just my own students. I became a teacher hopefully to not just teach you about geometry, algebra, or trigonometry, but also to try and instill in as many students as I can an appreciation for education and learning. Mark my words, you’ll be surprised at how quickly time will fly and you’ll be wishing you could go back in time and actually do your homework! With that said, I’ll leave you with one of my all time favorite quotes, written by a man named Robert Collier in the early 20th Century; “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out.”

Mr. Bonneau (School Counselor)

Q: What did you do before coming here?

A: I originally went to school for television broadcast and meteorology, but then I worked in adult education and then I went to school for my masters degree in school counseling, and now I am here, loving life.

Q: How has your experience been so far?

A: I love it. I feel Farmington High School does an amazing job in feeling like all students are connected and it just has this community feel to it. Just walking around the school and seeing employees, teachers, staff and students just smiling and happy, I think it makes a very positive environment to learn in.

Q: What are you looking forward to here?

A: I am looking forward to meeting all of my wonderful students and new staff as well. I think mostly working with my students.

Mrs. Malouf (School Psychologist)

Q: What did you do before coming here?

A: This is actually my first job, I just graduated from Marist college with my masters in school psychology. So I have just been a student prior to coming to Farmington.

Q: How has your experience been here so far?

A: FHS is a great community. Everyone is super supportive and really helpful. The transition here has been more than what I could have expected. It’s been really great and I’m happy to be here.

Q: What are you looking forward to here?

A: I’m looking forward to meeting a lot of new people, working with students and faculty and really just making myself known and a part of the community as much as I can.

Miss Tavolacci (Social Studies Teacher)

Q: What did you do before coming here?

A: I was a college student at UConn

Q: How has your experience been here so far?

A: Pretty good. Everyone is very friendly and I have good classes and good kids. Also a pretty cool social studies department.

Q: What are you looking forward to here?

A: Just getting to know all my students and becoming a better teacher.

Mrs. Rohr (Special Education Teacher)

Q: What did you do before coming here?

A: Prior to this, I was the Dean of students at the Grove School in Madison, Connecticut, and I’ve been working in Special Education for twelve years as a teacher, mentor and as an administrator as well

Q: How has your experience been here so far?

A: It’s been great. I love the teachers, the students, and the faculty is very warm and welcoming. It’s just a nice experience.

Q: What are you looking forward to here?

A: Getting more involved in regards to the culture and the school as well as meeting everybody and really understanding the student population.

Miss Jeronimo (Social Studies Tutor)

Q: What did you do before coming here?

A: I was actually a tutor but I worked in Waterbury at Kennedy High School and I worked with ninth and tenth graders.

Q: How has your experience been here so far?

A: So far it’s been really wonderful, everyone’s been really great and really helpful and I’m really liking it so far.

Q: What are you looking forward to here?

A: I am just looking forward to getting to know more students and to get involved within the school community.

Mr Bridgewater (Tech Ed Teacher)

Q: What did you do before coming here?

A: I was a teacher at Wamogo, region six and I was there for three years prior to teaching here and I did the same courses, I was a Tech Ed teacher there.

Q: How has your experience been here so far?

A: So far, so good. The students have been good and they are excited to work on the projects we have been working on.

Q: What are you looking forward to here?

A: I’m looking forward to doing some off site work with the kids, putting the sheds together, doing the sets for the plays, and then going to rebuild Hartford.

Mrs. Moeller (English Teacher)

Q: What did you do before coming here?

A: Interestingly enough, I actually am a certified English teacher and I’ve been teaching for about twelve years. I have another job, it’s called being a mom. So I resigned my last position about two years ago and decided to come back to work as a writing tutor here at Farmington High and I am also teaching two freshman classes.

Q: How has your experience been here so far?

A: I have really enjoyed it. I have to tell you that I love the sense of community that there is there and I want to highlight because I really love it and not all schools do this but I really love the way students and teachers collaborate outside of the classroom. Just the fact that there is kind of a constant flow of students coming in and out of this office and I think that is so important for students and teachers to be able to talk to each other and collaborate outside of the classroom

Q: What are you looking forward to here?

A:I’m looking forward to working with kids on their writing and really producing some great pieces. I call them the “refrigerator worthy”. I want students to know that just because it’s high school doesn’t mean that you still can’t feel that sense of pride in your work and put it up on the fridge.

Mrs. Reilly (English Teacher)

Q: What did you do before coming here?

A: I have 14 years classroom teaching experience, spanning grades 7 – 12, as well as adult education. I’ve also spent several years as an entrepreneur and business consultant.

Q: How has your experience been here so far?

A: I love it at FHS! My colleagues have been super helpful and my students are the best. I feel like Farmington is a great fit.

Q: What are you looking forward to here?

A: I’m looking forward to building relationships and rapport with students this year and getting involved in student extracurriculars.

Mrs. Knipper (Spanish Teacher)

Q: What was your previous career before coming here?

A: Before coming to FHS, I worked for The Hartford Courant for 3 years. My responsibilities included translating articles, compiling content from several sources and editing their Spanish website, Noticias. It was a fun experience. This job allowed me to stay updated on current local and global events. It was a job that I was able to do from home while staying involved in family and community gatherings, for this I was grateful.

Q: What has your experience been like so far at FHS?

A: I can say that in FHS I have found a second home. The support that I get from my colleagues is invaluable. Most importantly, the warm welcome from my Spanish students makes everyday enjoyable, unique. I like to get to know my students and they have invited me to games, car washes and meet their parents. Sometimes students think that teachers are just “those people that they see in school,” with no actual connection to them. This could not be farther from the truth. Teachers enjoy seeing their students everyday! We look forward to those moments when they know that we appreciate them and they appreciate us. Together we make what FHS is: a wonderful school supported by an amazing community working together to prepare our children for tomorrow. We work together to ensure that they are well rounded individuals ready to be their best in this world.

Q: What are you looking forward to this year?

A: This year, I am looking forward to doing my best in the World Language Department. FHS has such great language teachers! I feel humbled to be surrounded by so much talent! I also look forward to teaching my students Spanish. Spanish, like other languages taught in the Department, represents people, culture and centuries of struggles different from ours here in the U.S. To learn about this culture and it’s language is to explore the diversity of the world we live in and enrich our lives with it. This year I want to teach my students why I am so passionate about my language and why they should be too.