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Important Message from the Head of School, Paul Raymond



Dear GMS Families and Friends, 


 

We want to let you know about two of our faculty members who have decided to make a change in January - Cristina Ruas de Melo and Valerie Beelman.  Cristina is a co-teacher with Tracy Sanders-Carr in the Primary 1 classroom, and Valerie teaches with Catherine Froelich in Primary 2.

 

Cristina is stepping down immediately following winter break in order to pursue her long term career goal of becoming a licensed therapist. She will be pursuing a graduate degree in the field of counseling and completing some pre-requisite classes this spring. Luckily we will still see Cristina on a regular basis because her daughter, Nina, will continue to be enrolled in the Lower Elementary program. Valerie has accepted a full-time teaching position starting January 5 at the Academy at Lincoln, a Guilford County Schools magnet school.  


 
To fill these vacancies, we began looking internally for qualified candidates on our CASA team and among our regular classroom substitutes. Luckily the right people were at our finger tips!! We have invited Robin Smelzer to join Tracy in the Primary 1 class, and Charlene McKee to join Catherine in Primary 2. 


In addition to being a regular substitute, active volunteer and mom of three boys at GMS, Robin's professional background and training as a National Certified Counselor and a Licensed Professional Counseling Associate lays a tremendous foundation for her knowledge of child development and natural abilities in the classroom. She has worked in the field of counseling and family therapy, for both Duke University Medical Center and Moses Cone Behavioral Health.


 
Charlene has been a welcome addition to our faculty this Fall in our before and after school CASA program and can also be found substitute teaching in the classroom two to three days per week. Last school year she worked as a teaching assistant at a small Montessori preschool in Raleigh. Prior to that, while her family was living in Colorado, she worked for two years as a teacher's aide at a day care and preschool assisting with children ages 1-7 years. Charlene holds a bachelor's degree in theater from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon and, since 2011, has completed numerous courses and conferences in early childhood education. Charlene's son, Theodore, is a new Middle Schooler at GMS this year. 


 
We are thrilled to welcome both Robin and Charlene to the Primary faculty on Jan 5.


 
Please join us in sharing well wishes for Cristina and Valerie. We have greatly appreciated their service and wish them the best for the future!


 

Update on Hiring a New Librarian


 
On the topic of new faculty, I also want to give you an update on our progress finding a new school librarian. In early November, we were excited that we had finally located an ideal candidate. Unfortunately, right before Thanksgiving she informed us that she was not going to accept the position. Last week, we re-opened our search and through our connections with area colleges and universities, we identified and interviewed two more candidates who we believe will be a great match for our school. We hope to have an appointment and introduction to share with you right after Winter Break. 


 
Thank you for your patience as we find the perfect candidate for this position. We are extremely grateful that many of you have offered your support during this transition. We are very eager to have the school library open and fully functional as soon as possible. I want to personally thank Katie Jones for stepping in to help us re-shelve books and keep the library organized over the last few weeks.


 

Sincerely,

Paul Raymond, Head of School




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