PACKER’S PRE & LOWER SCHOOL
PELICAN PRESS
September 2005
PRESCHOOL/LOWER SCHOOL
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR THE OPENING DAYS OF SCHOOL
Tuesday, September 6
 THREES/FOURS HOME VISITS BEGIN -- Teachers will contact you to set up times for visits.
 FOURS/FIVES, KINDERGARTEN, & ALL NEW STUDENTS VISIT
All Fours and Kindergartners will visit either from 9-9:30am or 10:15-10:45am. The Junior First and First Grade students new
to Packer will visit from 9-9:30am or 10:15-10:45am. (Classroom teachers will contact you to arrange the half hour visit.) New
Third Graders visit from 8:30am to 9:00am.
Wednesday, September 7 -- OPENING DAY OF CLASSES
8:00-9:00am—PARENT ASSOCIATION BREAKFAST in the garden. All are welcome. Please join them to learn about PA
programs and how you can participate.
8:30am
First to Fourth Grade arrive (First and Second Grade go to Garden. Third and Fourth Grade go to classrooms)
9:00am
Fours/Fives to Junior First Grade arrive in classrooms
12:00 Noon DISMISSAL
Preschool through Second Grade children should be picked up in their classrooms today. Teachers will inform you of
procedures for regular school day pick-ups. Third Grade children may be met in their classrooms or in the Main Hall. Fourth
Graders may leave independently, if you give us permission in writing. There is no Early Morning Drop-Off or After-school
Packer Playgroup on this day. Please contact your bus company to see if they will provide transportation on the opening day.
Threes/Fours home visits continue.
Thursday, September 8 -- FULL SCHOOL DAY
The early morning Drop-off Program is held from 8:00-8:30am in the lunchroom. Children arriving by van will be met by a
teacher and taken either to the Dining Commons or the Garden, depending on their arrival time. First and Second Graders meet
teachers in the Garden at 8:30am. Third and Fourth Grade students may go to the Garden at 8:15am for outdoor play. Third and
Fourth Graders go to classrooms at 8:30am. Kindergarten through Junior First Grade should arrive by 8:45am and meet their
teachers in the garden. Dismissal is at 3:00pm for Fours/Fives through Fourth Graders.
Children returning home by bus will be escorted to the buses by their teachers. Afternoon buses park on Livingston Street at
Clinton Street. This is also the pick-up location for carpool parents. We must have carpool instructions from you in writing.
Packer Plus Playgroup begins. Children must be registered in advance. Pick-up is in the Garden or in The Packer Plus Room.
Threes/Fours home visits continue.
Friday, September 9 -- FULL SCHOOL DAY
Threes/Fours juice parties with parents or caregiver. Teachers
will arrange.
Monday, September 12 -- THREES START SCHOOL with Phase-in Schedule (Teacher will notify parents)
Tuesday, September 13
 FOURTH GRADE PARENT COFFEE re: Instrumental Music Program at 8:00am in the Lower School Music Room
located on the third floor room F308.
 THREES/FOURS PARENT COFFEE with Andrea Kelly and Carol Schulhof in the Lower School office on the second
floor room A223. Come as soon as you can after drop off.
Thursday, September 22 -- PRESCHOOL/LOWER SCHOOL PARENT NIGHT
5:45pm New Parents Reception Sponsored by the Parent Association
6:30pm All Parents gather in the Chapel (Threes/Fours through Fourth Grade)
Please Note:
It is important that you be diligent throughout the year in letting us know of changes in work and home telephone
numbers, caregivers, or doctors. We must have an up-to-date medical form on file for each Packer student.
The easiest way to submit a change of address, phone number, or e-mail is to use the facility on the Packer web site.
Under “Packer Family” there is a section for “Parents.” The change of address form is there under “Change My
Contact Information.” Just type in your name and the information that has changed.
PACKER FOOD SERVICE /Dining Commons: The Lunch Program will start on Thursday, September 8th
-- Third and Fourth Graders will receive charge numbers to make purchases.
-- When the Students’ accounts are low you will be notified.
-- Please look at school menu with your child to help them make good choices.
(We encourage a fruit, vegetable, and protein choice with each lunch. Please discuss this at home.)
(Over)
New Faces in the Pre and Lower School
It is always with great pleasure that we welcome new faculty to Packer’s Pre and Lower School. Our new colleagues bring a
wealth of experience and expertise to Packer and the perspective that is gained by working in other parts of the country and the
world. Please join me in welcoming them all.
First, we have a returning faculty member who will be a Third Grade head teacher. Rob Cousins left us a year ago to go back to
his home in London. The surprise to Rob, but not to all us New Yorkers, was that Rob missed New York more than he
supposed he would. Hey, the tubes and everything else shut down at midnight in London. Rob’s reputation precedes him and
those who know him will agree we are lucky he will be with us again. Sara Baumrin will be a head teacher in Second Grade.
Sara may be known to many of you as she worked in Fourth Grade last year with Grace Sur. A graduate of the University of
Chicago, Sara has many advanced degrees including a Masters of Business Administration, a Doctor of Philosophy in Strategic
Policy and Organizational Behavior, and is finishing up her Masters Degree in Childhood Education from Bank Street College of
Education. She is totally immersed in her new career and is eager to collaborate with Deb McDermott, her assistant teacher, and
the rest of the Second Grade team. Sara has a passion for literature, theater, gardening, and dance and has trained in classical
dance, yoga, and piano. Katie Fogarty will be a head teacher in Third Grade. This summer, Katie packed up her car and dog
and after nine years in San Francisco headed back to her eastern roots. Katie was a Second Grade head teacher at The Hamlin
School in San Francisco and has an undergraduate degree from Hamilton College and a master’s degree from The University of
San Francisco. Katie’s head of school described her as, “a consummate professional in every respect,” and said that, “No
student escapes her attention.” In addition, we enjoyed her careful lessons with our students, her knowledge of elementary
education, and her warm personable demeanor. Andrea Snyder will be our new Kindergarten teacher. She comes to us from
Nashville, Tennessee where she was at the Ensworth School and Atlanta, Georgia where she was at the Lovett School. Her
degrees are from George Washington University and a master’s degree from Vanderbilt University. No, she is not a not a
southerner joining us in the “Big Apple,” but a northerner returning home. Her interests are running, yoga, hiking, skiing,
traveling, reading, cooking and knitting. She is familiar with our math program, our approach to classroom management and
social skills development, and directed her Lower School’s community service council. Her former Lower School Principal said
that they would, “miss Andrea’s love of teaching and her devotion to her children,” and another said, “She strives for excellence
while instilling that in her students. A year in Andrea’s class is a year with many fond memories.”
Charissa Sgouros is our new Learning Specialist for Grades Three and Four. She is a graduate of Clark University and has two
masters’ degrees from Bank Street College of Education. She was most recently a regional Literacy Coach for the Board of
Education of New York City. Prior to that she was a resident Master Teacher at City Hall Academy, the model school program
held in the old Tweed Courthouse. Charissa is not a stranger to Independent School education having spent seven years as a
Head Teacher for the 8/9 year olds at The Bank Street School for Children. All reports indicate that Charissa is devoted to
children, smart and inventive, a good clinician and classroom teacher, and a thoughtful individual. Contrary to what you may
hear, her ability to ride a unicycle did not factor into the choice!
A strong group of Assistant Teachers round out the faculty of the Pre and Lower School starting from our youngest students,
Eileen Ryan, a graduate of Fordham University will work with Mary Wheeler and Jeanette Selles in our Threes/Fours
classroom. An interesting special activity of Eileen’s was City Squash, a program for inner city students that helps them with
their academic, athletic, and personal potential by providing squash instruction and tutorial. She spent a semester in Barcelona,
Spain and some time in Guyana working with indigent citizens in hospitals, schools and orphanages. Anneliese Scherfen will
be working with Mary Stanton in the Fours/Fives class. She is a graduate of Ohio University and has a master’s degree in Early
Childhood Education from Hunter College. She has worked with two and three year olds in many settings as well as Fours and
Kindergarten students. Sheba Michel will be working in the Kindergarten with Andrea Snyder. She is a graduate of New York
University and has done student teaching in several settings with Preschool, Kindergarten and Grade One and Two students.
She is interested in dance, particularly jazz, Modern, Haitian, Latin, African, and Indian. Shira Stein is a graduate of New York
University, Tisch School of the Arts. She worked at the Seattle Children’s Theatre in Seattle, Washington while she was in high
school and acted in the Mad Forest, by Caryl Churchill, As You Like It, and Death and the Maiden by Ariel Dorfman while she was
at NYU. Most recently she was working as an assistant teacher in the Threes/Fours classroom at the Children’s All Day School.
She will be working in First Grade with Frieda Jafri. Kazia Musial-Aderer is a graduate of The State University at Albany and
received her Masters of Science degree in Elementary Education at Bank Street College of Education. She was a Spanish minor
as an undergraduate student and did coursework in Valencia, Spain in Spanish Language. In addition to working with Dave
Youngblut in the Second Grade she will be one of our instructors for the early morning Spanish program. Sarah Thomas is a
graduate of New York University with a degree from the Steinhardt School of Education. She has lived in Japan, rowed on the
NYU crew, went on a National Geographic photographic expedition, and is spending the summer photographing weddings.
She will work with Blanche Mednick in Third Grade. Ben Kaplan is a graduate of Swarthmore College, has been a screenwriter
in Hollywood for a number of years, and prior to that was with Sports Illustrated for Kids where he traveled around the country
speaking at elementary schools and conducted sports-writing seminars for Third and Fourth Grade students. He is a tennis and
basketball player and will probably be coaching some of our Middle or Upper School teams. He will work in the Third Grade
with Katie Fogarty. Chris Haske, is a graduate of Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. He studied drawing and
painting in college and spent a study abroad time in Kandy, Sri Lanka studying Sri Lankan culture. He has spent summers
working at the Buck’s Rock Arts Camp, the scene of many of my memorable childhood summers! Your students may remember
Chris from his stint as a substitute teacher last year. Chris will work with Grace Sur in Fourth Grade. Finally, Shilpa Raman
rounds out this interesting list. Shilpa is a graduate of The University of Virginia at Charlottesville where she was an English
major and a minor in Foreign Affairs. She spent this past year in Japan as an English teacher in the JET program in Ibaraki
Province. Sonia Kline, Fourth Grade Head Teacher, interviewed her in the airport in Tokyo while she was on her way to Viet
Nam. It was immediately clear to Sonia that Shilpa was the right person for her class. Now who says that Packer takes the easy
path to hiring?
Finally, for those who may be disappointed to hear that their child is not in Jaki Williams’ Kindergarten. Fear not, Jaki
Williams has decided to use her married name and will be now known as Jaki Florsheim.
---Carol Schulhof