As the school year begins, students and parents will see a number of new faces in classrooms and offices in Harvard’s elementary, middle, and high schools. Last week, the Press introduced seven classroom teachers joining the schools this school year. This article introduces the remaining new staff members, including two who are moving into new positions. Answers have been edited for length.
Peter Ferraro, school adjustment counselor
Peter Ferraro. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Peter Ferraro comes to Bromfield with 20 years’ experience in education, first at the Kingsley Montessori School in Boston and then in the Belmont Public Schools. Most recently in Belmont, Ferraro was a bridge counselor for high school students who were returning to school after long hospital stays or were struggling with attendance issues.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ferraro says he saw many students who were struggling, and he “wanted to be a resource for students in ways that weren’t available when I was a kid.” That desire led him to earn a master’s degree in social work, with a concentration in mental health and substance abuse.
In his new position at Bromfield as a school adjustment counselor, Ferraro will be working with students in both middle and high school. He says the job of the school adjustment counselor is “to help support the well-being of students” in areas ranging from friendship dynamics to feeling overwhelmed academically. “As humans, we are feeling creatures before we are thinking creatures,” he says, so dealing with emotional issues is important for academic success.
Jessica Ware, special education teacher
Jessica Ware.
Megan Jessica Ware will be joining Bromfield as a special education teacher. She will be co-teaching two sections of English language arts and one section of Algebra 1 for eighth-graders. “My goals for the year,” she wrote in an email to the Press, “are to be a part of the community as well as build relationships with students to better their high school experience inside and outside of the classroom setting. … I thank the Bromfield School for allowing me this opportunity to be part of such a successful and passionate district.”
Kerry Cusick, ELA specialist and literacy coach
Kerry Cusick.
Kerry Cusick has been a classroom teacher, a reading specialist, and an English language arts specialist. She wrote: “Seeing the success of students along their literacy journey has always been a hill I wanted to climb as an educator. You could also say that teaching literacy is in my blood. My father, grandmother, and many aunts were educators and always instilled a love of reading in me—even if I didn’t see it in myself.” She will carry on that legacy this year at Hildreth Elementary School. “As a literacy specialist and literacy coach, I am able to support Hildreth teachers in their instruction and work with students directly in the classroom and also in our planning time together. We are a team where we ultimately are all striving for the same goal of supporting students in their literacy success.” Cusick described the positive aspects of Hildreth’s new literacy program, EL Education, with which she is familiar. “A curriculum that supports knowledge building is linked to a large part of a child’s learning, specifically reading comprehension. When there is background knowledge that can develop and grow in our learners, students and teachers reap the benefits. Oral language, interests, and understanding may improve significantly.” She said that the program’s eight principles link to much of the work that Hildreth teachers have been doing, and she added, “With any new program, there will be hiccups. I hope to embrace those hiccups as learning experiences with teachers and students. “I feel that relationships and a sense of community and belonging are crucial to having success in any endeavor. I have always felt that way about Harvard …and I can’t wait to ‘live it’ in this role at Hildreth.”
Julie Connors, special education
Julie Connors has 14 years of experience in special education, in Holliston and in the Acton-Boxborough school systems, most recently at Blanchard School in Boxborough. During her summers, she has supervised reading specialists. In her role as a special educator, she is the point of contact for teachers and parents regarding special education services for all students in her caseload. She is responsible for creating individualized education plans (IEPs), planning lessons to meet individual needs, and doing evaluations, analysis, and re-evaluations. She collaborates with other service providers.”
Emily Fournier, adjustment counselor
Emily Fournier.
Emily Fournier was a substitute at Hildreth Elementary School last spring, and in an email, she wrote, “The number one appeal to HES was the people. This includes the welcoming and supportive staff, the kind and involved families, and of course, the many wonderful qualities of our amazing students. One of the goals of the Harvard Public Schools is to create an environment where everyone has a sense of belonging, and I felt that as soon as I started the position.”
In citing the difference between a school counselor and a school adjustment counselor, Fournier wrote, “It is difficult to describe at an elementary level because the roles are ultimately the same. While both school counselors and school adjustment counselors are concerned with the social/emotional needs of all students, it can look a little different at the middle or high school levels.” She said at those levels a school counselor is involved in the students’ schedules, crisis intervention, and social support groups, whereas the school adjustment counselor is typically involved in the special education department and providing social and emotional services for specific students. “At an elementary level, we play both roles in that we work with the entire student population as well as providing those special education services. School counselors and school adjustment counselors may receive different titles, but the goal for both roles is to support the overall well-being of each student.”
She said, “One of the approaches that I have found to be successful at HES is that it is essential to work collaboratively with staff and families to ensure the success of each individual student. I am so excited to continue to work with this wonderful community.
Christine Logan, assistant occupational therapist
Christine Logan is a part-time assistant occupational therapist for the district. This new position was created because of the increased number of students needing services. In an email she wrote: “Being able to work in one of the more sought-after and best school systems in the state, the close-knit community Harvard has, and being able to support all the grades and ages, for me is very exciting and will be rewarding.” In describing the work of an occupational therapist, Logan wrote: “Occupational therapy in the schools works on deficits that prevent students from accessing the curriculum fully. Many times we are working on handwriting, but we are not handwriting teachers. We work on many underlying barriers that result in poor handwriting output. Some examples are students may have poor motor planning, visual integration deficits, muscle weakness, which can include the hands. “Unfortunately, in this day of technology, children younger than ever before are using electronic devices. Children overall are not playing outside like in past generations or interacting with toys that would help with hand development. When they are using a device, most often only two digits are mobile (thumb and pointer). I’ve seen students who can’t isolate their fingers, and many are unable to hold a writing tool without fatiguing quickly or having a funky grasp due to compensation of the weakened muscles. So we work a lot on developing those muscles for them to have a functional grasp and control.”
Emilie Scraggs, speech-language pathology assistant
Emilie Scraggs.
Emily Scraggs wrote in an email: “I am very excited to join the Harvard school system this year as a speech-language pathology assistant. What appealed to me about the Harvard school system is the sense of belonging it provides to all students. The faculty seems like a tight-knit group that strives to bring a positive love for learning to their students, which is very important to me personally.
“I will be serving the entire district, and I do anticipate a few challenges, whether it be ensuring all students are receiving equal amounts of speech services as well as balancing my time between the schools.
“I do think there’s been a growing need for speech and language services in schools. A few factors come to mind: more students are being identified [as needing services] earlier, there’s an increase in diagnoses like autism that often comes with communication challenges, and the academic demands for language and literacy skills keep rising. Overall, I am excited to be in this role and to contribute to supporting students’ communication growth.
Fitzgibbons and Murphy move to new positions
Miki Fitzgibbons.
Miki Fitzgibbons is not a newcomer to the Bromfield School, but she is stepping into a new position. She has worked at Bromfield as a learning assistant, co-teacher, tutor, and special education teacher/liaison since 2019. She has also coached field hockey and lacrosse during those years.
This year Fitzgibbons will be part of a team focused on a new program called SOAR, which combines social-emotional learning and educational support for high-needs students, especially those who are coming back after out-of-district placements. (The acronym stands for self-awareness, opportunity, adaptability, responsibility.) The plan, Fitzgibbons says, is to give students access to all academic instruction while also providing them the right specialized support for their needs. And the goal is to empower them for success in the general education classroom.
Like Fitzgibbons, Gerin Murphy is not new to Bromfield. He has been at the school for a year, as a special education co-teacher in English classes for students in grades 9 and 10. But this year he will be moving to the middle school. Murphy works primarily in English language arts and is certified in Orton-Gillingham teaching, which is a structured, multisensory approach for helping students develop literacy skills. Murphy says he is excited to be working with younger students, saying the Orton-Gillingham method can be even more effective at earlier grade levels.
