Dear Members of the FASNY community,
Welcome back!
I hope your summer was everything you had hoped for, and that you came back recharged, refreshed and re-energized.
A lot has happened at FASNY while you were away! We have been hard at work on all three campuses, improving our infrastructure to give our students optimized studying and teaching conditions.
On the Mamaroneck campus, we now have an additional classroom in the Annex, 11 classrooms and the library are now equipped with air conditioners, and we are planning on equipping the remaining classrooms with air conditioners by spring 2016. In Larchmont, the process of equipping our classrooms with air conditioners began in the spring and will continue over the course of this year. Extensive repainting of our Mamaroneck and Larchmont campuses now provides brighter environments. On all three campuses, the lighting system was thoroughly updated. In Larchmont, the school bell system was also upgraded. And as soon as the weather cools down, the Larchmont soccer field will be resurfaced and sodded and the sprinkler system will be repaired to allow for a new turf to grow. You will notice, too, that the streets in front and in the back of our Mamaroneck campus have been repaved.
On all three campuses, a number of smartboards/smart projectors will be replaced and additional classrooms are in the process of being equipped with smartboards or smart projectors. For our 4th and 5th graders, 20 additional ipads have been purchased, and our 7th and 8th grade one-on-one ipad program continues to thrive.
Faced with the prospect of a longer waiting time for our new campus, we have all the more reason to continue investing in the improvement of our current facilities, as we always have. More important, while our Board of Trustees is working hard on our long-term plan, rest assured that the Division Heads, the staff, the faculty and I remain entirely focused on today’s students, their teachers and this school year.
As each year, we are happy to welcome many new teachers and staff members. They either replace teachers who have either retired or moved to other countries, or fill positions in our expanding programs, especially in our International Baccalaureate Programme starting this year. Please join me in welcoming:
On our Larchmont Campus:
Barbara Shea, Interim Lower School Head. Barbara holds a Master of Arts in Teaching. For 23 years, she has worked in education. She began as a teacher, was the Lower School Principal at Rye Country Day School for 10 years, and later became the Associate Head of School at RCDS. Barbara was enthusiastic about FASNY when she discovered our school while participating in our NYSAIS re-accreditation visit in March. She prepared for her transition to FASNY with weekly meetings with teachers and administrators in the spring and has already met with many parents.
Jessica Kaplan, English teacher. Jessica will substitute for Jessica Gelardi during her maternity leave. Jessica Kaplan comes with over 37 years of teaching English and the Humanities at Rye Country Day School.
Kelsey McGuff, English as a Second Language. Kelsey holds a BA from Northeastern University and taught English as Foreign Language in China as well as in the United States.
On our Mamaroneck campus:
Françoise Monier, International Baccalaureate coordinator. A French native who holds a Masters from the Université de Montpellier and an MBA from the University of Wisconsin, Françoise arrives from the Atlanta International School. Françoise taught IB French language acquisition as well as History & Geography in Middle School for nearly 20 years. She also headed the school’s Foreign Language Department and became Atlanta International School’s IB Department coordinator in 2010. Françoise is an official IB examiner for French B (language acquisition), a consultant for the IB and a workshop leader for the IB Diploma Programme Coordination and French B. Françoise’s personal and professional background could not be a better fit for our school and its IB program launching this year! She will also be teaching History-Geography in French in Middle School.
Uwe Anselm, Mathematics. Uwe holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Drexel University and an MA from Stony Brook University. He has been teaching for nearly 20 years, both in the United States and in Lithuania, including the past 13 years at the American International School of Vilnius, Lithuania, where among other classes, he taught IB Math and AP Calculus.
David Bitoun, Physics and Chemistry. David holds a “CAPES” in Physics and Chemistry and a DEA (ABD) in Chemistry. He has been teaching three years in El Salvador at the Lycée français Antoine et Consuelo de Saint Exupéry. He had previously spent a year in Lithuania, where he taught at the Ecole française Montesquieu de Vilnius. Prior to that, he taught for 10 years in France. David is also a (French) licensed rugby coach and will be co-coaching our rugby team.
Thierry Colin, Economics and Social Sciences. Thierry comes from Toul, France, where he taught for over 20 years at the Lycée Majorelle. Thierry holds a Masters in Economics and has completed doctoral work in European Studies. He is a recipient of the Palmes académiques.
Rachel Levine, Art teacher. Rachel is a former FASNY student. She holds a BS in Art Education from Temple University, where she minored in Art History. She has been teaching at Harrington Elementary School.
Joanna Marple, Librarian. Joanna holds an MFA in Creative Writing, completed this year at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She previously was the librarian of the International School of Monaco, where she developed the library to support the school’s IB program.
Andrew Moloff, Physics. Andrew comes from EF International Academy where he taught IB Physics. Andrew holds a BS in Electrical Engineering, an MBA from The Wharton School, and is completing his MA in teaching.
Vincent Najosky, Physics and Chemistry. Vincent comes from the Lycée français de Singapour where he spent 8 years teaching Middle and High School (including Terminale S), after having taught for 5 years in the Académie de Lyon. Vincent holds a “CAPES” in Physics and Chemistry and is currently preparing for the Agrégation.
On the Mamaroneck Campus, the roles of the Deans have been restructured. Gilbert Ekotto is now in charge of Discipline and School Life in grades 6th-12th and Isabelle Gilet of Academic Support in grades 6th-12th. Julia Wunderlich will continue to be Assistant Dean in addition to being the new Administrative Assistant to the Division Heads.
Starting this September, the lunch service will be supported by the services of an independent nutritionist. Our food vendor is in the process of switching all our deli meats to all natural products (no antibiotics, no nitrates or nitrites), and will continue to expand the offering of organic foods started this spring. Finally, a vegetarian dish option will be added twice a week.
Our school has come a long way since its founding in 1980! To celebrate our achievements and FASNY’s 35th anniversary, we will be reviving the tradition of the Fun Run that many of you might remember. Aileen Jabart, Debbie Kozlowski and our alumni base will be bringing this great event to you on October 18th as part of our Homecoming Weekend. The weekend will start with the 1980 Society Reception on Friday October 16th, will continue Saturday with games in the afternoon and our Upper School dance in the evening, and conclude with the Fun Run and a picnic on Sunday. I hope to see you all at Homecoming!
The staff and I look very much forward to this new school year. Last year, once again, our students did extremely well on their ERBs, SATs, Brevet, Baccalaureate, and College admissions. 5 students were finalists in the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Competition (10% of the class), and one was a winner. This year again, two of our students (in a much smaller class) are in the semi-finalist round of this prestigious award and one was commended. We were recently ranked by Niche.com the first international and first bilingual high school in New York State, and among the 20 best private high schools of New York State (including New York City). Above and beyond academics, we have witnessed the individual growth of each student. We have no doubt that this year’s cohort will follow in the footsteps of their predecessors.
I wish all our students, their families and teachers a successful and fulfilling school year. Together, once again, we will take FASNY to new heights!
Joel Peinado
Head of School