Grade 6 Core Teaching Teams
Elena Graceffa and Michele Fry
Elena Graceffa (Math/Science)
Elena Graceffa has been moved by her welcome into the McAuliffe Regional CPS community this year. Formerly, she worked as a math teacher at an international secondary school in London and as a special education aide with 7th graders at the Oak Hill Middle School in Newton. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in English Literature from Yale University, although she took a lot of advanced math classes in college just for the fun of it! In her spare time she writes fiction and has always felt torn between the creative and the logical spheres of existence. She finds in the classroom the perfect intersection of the two.
Michele Fry (Humanities)
Michele Fry relocated to Massachusetts from South Brunswick, New Jersey where she taught fifth grade for three years at South Brunswick Upper Elementary School and sixth grade language arts, literature, and math for two years at Crossroads Middle School. In addition to her teaching responsibilities in South Brunswick, Ms. Fry was also the head coach for the high school's varsity gymnastics team and coached level 6-10 gymnasts at a private gymnastics school in New Jersey. During her time in South Brunswick School District, she helped organize and coached teams in the Odyssey of the Mind program, bringing teams to the world finals in College Park, MD and Denver, CO.
Additionally, Ms. Fry oversaw student teachers from Rutgers University who interned in her classroom. Ms. Fry was nominated for the Governor's Teacher of the Year Award as well as Disney's Teacher of the Year Award. She graduated with honors in 1998 from The College of New Jersey (formerly Trenton State College) with a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education/Math.
Aren Scanlan-Emigh and Kat McGrath
Aren Scanlan-Emigh (Math/Science)
Aren Scanlan-Emigh, "Mr. S.", teaches 6th grade science and math. He graduated from Brown University in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics and a minor in Russian. Summers have seen Aren working the National Science Foundation on efficiency of algorithms, moonlighting in St. Petersburg's nearly nightless summers, and in primary childcare. He came to McAuliffe Regional CPS after teaching in Chestnut Hill, where he recently obtained his Master of Education from Boston College, and he lives in Lexington with his wife and their baby.
Kathleen McGrath (Humanities)
Kathleen McGrath earned a Bachelor of Science in both English and Middle School Education from Lesley University, graduating magna cum laude. During the summer of 2001, Ms. McGrath traveled with a humanitarian group to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and spent a few weeks living in Mesopotamia River Valley, both working and teaching in the community. During her junior year of college Ms. McGrath studied abroad the University Limerick in County Limerick, Ireland where she focused her studies on literature, Hiberno-English writing, and postcolonial studies.
While in Ireland, Ms. McGrath spent a considerable amount of time on her family's dairy farm in Dromcollogher, County Limerick, and can now milk cows with the best of them, and even step dance a set or two. Through these traveling experiences Ms. McGrath has developed a mild addiction to traveling and hopes to explore much more of the world in years to come. She thoroughly enjoys teaching middle school and the challenge of bringing the world's cultures into the classroom experience. Ms. McGrath is ecstatic to be at McAuliffe Regional CPS for a second year and hopefully many more to come.
Kristin Harrison and Kelly O'Leary
Kristin Harrison (Math/Science)
Kristin Harrison comes to McAuliffe Regional Charter Public School with a B.A. degree in Psychology and English from Amherst College. She has extensive experience working with children who exhibit severe psychological issues and behavioral problems. Most recently Kristin spent the summer of 2004 working at the Wediko Summer Residential Treatment Program in N.H. for her third summer. She helped lead the program's summer school, coordinating the math curriculum and providing support to the program's teachers. She taught a few math classes during the summer as well. During the 2003/2004 school year, Kristin served as Teaching Assistant in a Boston Public Elementary School specialized for children with social-emotional and behavioral problems as well as significant learning deficiencies.
Besides working with diverse and challenging populations of children, Kristin has many other interests. She played field hockey and lacrosse in high school. (Kristin and Krista Hollis actually played field hockey against each other when they attended the rival high schools, Nobles and Milton.) Kristin also played field hockey at Amherst College where her team came in second in the NCAA div. three tournaments. She is an avid skier, loves fresh New England powder, and especially the mogul skiing in Vermont. Kristin is thrilled to join McAuliffe Regional. She believes her experience at this unique school will give her the opportunity to more fully develop her teaching skills before returning to school for a degree in Special Education.
Kelly O'Leary (Humanities)
In 2003, Kelly O'Leary relocated from Virginia to Boston to teach at McAuliffe Regional Charter Public School after teaching middle school English and social studies for two years in Charlottesville. Before beginning her teaching career, Ms. O'Leary taught English in Takamatsu, Japan and received her Masters degree in teaching English from the University of Virginia. She also graduated cum laude from Skidmore College in 1997. In addition to her teaching duties, Ms. O'Leary has served on the McAuliffe Regional CPS leadership team and, in Virginia, co-chaired a technology committee to pursue a $15,000 grant for mobile laptops and other current technology.