Tuesday, August 6, 2024

 
Dear Middle and Upper School Families,

It is hard to believe we are in the month of August and the start of the school year is less than a month away! As we all look ahead to September, we are excited to share some staffing updates with you!

At the conclusion of the 2023-2024 school year, three faculty members departed: Mr. Penoro, Mr. Vigneau-Britt, and Ms. Quick. We miss them dearly and thank them for their contributions and service to The Kew-Forest School. 

Three faculty members were added to the Middle and Upper School team. Each of these individuals went through a three step process: an initial conversation with myself, demo lessons followed by conversations with other members in the community, and reference checks. We can truly state that each of the individuals who have been added to our community are unique, passionate, and enthusiastic about their fields. Please join us in welcoming them to Kew-Forest. 

Mr. Ben Boecker
 
We are excited to announce Mr. Boecker, who served as the leave replacement for Mr. Vigneau-Britt last fall, will be joining us as the permanent Middle and Upper School music teacher. Mr. Boecker is a music educator, teaching artist, and composer-lyricist living and working in NYC.  He first began teaching at the Calhoun School, where he taught for over 8 years, developing the US/MS choral and vocal workshop program and completing two LS leave replacements as well.  As a pianist, Ben has accompanied singers and choruses at venues throughout the city and tri-state area, including New York City Center’s Encores program, and the Open Hydrant Theater Company in the Bronx.  As a composer, Mr. Boecker was twice commissioned by FPC Brooklyn and Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts, as well as being the theme composer for Gamiotics Studio (the company behind DND: Twenty Sided Tavern), and this past Spring Ben made his off-Broadway debut as a theater composer with "My True Love" which ran at the Players' Theater in Greenwich Village.  Mr. Boecker is thrilled to join the team at Kew-Forest in a permanent position this fall, after working as a music leave replacement last year.  He is particularly excited to build upon the amazing work the students at K-F have been doing. Mr. Boecker received his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance and Composition from UNC Chapel Hill, and since completed his Level III Certification in Somatic Voicework, the LoVetri Method(TM) at the LoVetri Institute at Baldwin Wallace University.  He is currently a member-in-good-standing of the BMI Musical Theater Writing Workshop, Actors Equity, and the Dramatists Guild, and is on the adjunct faculty of Leman Prep Conservatory. View his website here.


Mr. Greg Russo

When Mr. Penoro informed us that he would not be returning this year, we were worried about the shoes that needed to be filled. We are pleased to announce that they have been! Mr. Greg Russo will be teaching Math 6, Precalculus, Statistics, and AP Calculus BC. Mr. Russo has a B.S. in math from St. John's University and an MBA in finance and marketing from the University of Rochester. Before his 21 years of college teaching and private tutoring, he held managerial positions for 17 years in the corporate world. Mr. Russo is a big music fan and has consulted with record companies for more than 300 albums over the past three decades. The first music project he worked on earned a gold record!  When he is not teaching or doing musical things, he is watching sports. Connecting math to other topics (like sports or music) is extremely important in educating today's students and he looks forward to do so at Kew-Forest. Most importantly, he is “extremely excited to show Kew-Forest students how math brightens our lives on a daily basis.”

Mr. Adam Przybylski

Mr. Adam Przybylski, another familiar face, will join us as a Middle and Upper School science the 2024-2025 school year, teaching 7th and 8th grade science as well as a section of 10th grade Chemistry. Since 2021, Mr. Przybylski has been working at the Kew-Forest School, initially in the AfterCare staff and as an on-call substitute teacher. In the spring of 2023, he served as a Leave-Replacement Middle School Science teacher. Mr. Przybyldki received a Bachelor’s of Science in Chemistry at St. John’s University. Currently, he is pursuing a Master's degree in Adolescent Education as a Robert Noyce Scholar at the same university. Other than his interest in science, Mr. Przybylski has an artistic inclination; he enjoys fashion, cooking, and painting. He strongly believes that teaching is an art in itself, continuously evolving with innovative techniques to foster student growth and learning. “Like artists, every teacher also has their unique styles distinct to their personality and in their ways of thinking.” Adam is particularly excited about continuing to work within the wonderfully diverse community at K-F. He considers himself to be “an individual who is always curious about different backgrounds and cultures [and is] eager to expand [his] knowledge of the people that put together the pieces of New York City’s vibrant puzzle.”

With Mr. Przybylski taking on the 7th and 8th grade courses, Mr. Alvarez will be stepping in to teach 9th grade Biology, AP Biology, and the senior elective, Microbiology, in addition to 6th grade Life Science. He is excited to join the Upper School and engage more with the Life Sciences. 

As you can see, we have a very strong group of faculty joining the Kew-Forest community! If you have any questions before school starts, feel free to email us at mvessio@kewforest.org and jcoratti@kewforest.org. We look forward to seeing all of you next month!

Best,


Michelle J. Vessio ‘08
Head of Middle and Upper School

Jennifer Coratti
Assistant Head of Middle and Upper School 
for Programming and Student Life