Dear South School Families,
I hope everyone had a wonderful summer, enjoying the slower pace and warm days and nights with your families. Whether you remained in New Canaan or your adventures led you outside of town, I hope the time has left you feeling relaxed, recharged and excited for the school year ahead!
As the start of school approaches, I wanted to take a moment to reach out and introduce myself and tell you a little bit about my background. I am eagerly looking forward to meeting many of you soon and am thrilled to become a part of the South community.
I spent the 2023-24 as an assistant principal at Ox Ridge School in Darien and prior to that worked in the Fairfield and Westport Schools as a literacy coach. I began my career in education as a classroom teacher, hold certifications in elementary, special education, and literacy instruction and also enjoyed teaching a graduate class on essentials in primary literacy learning. My background has allowed me to combine my passions of supporting teachers in doing the extraordinary work they do every day and examining and refining curriculum and instructional practices. While the work of schools is teaching and learning, the heart of what we do is relationship building-with our students, the South faculty and staff and, you, the families we serve. It is a core belief of mine that when students, staff and families feel valued and when belonging and connection are the cornerstones of our work, every member thrives, joyful learning occurs, and students grow in all areas.
As our work focuses on family, let me take a minute to share a little bit about my own. My husband, Jim and I are parents to a college-aged daughter (Grace) and a high school-aged son (Liam) and a 12-year-old yellow labrador (Winnie). When I’m not working, I enjoy running, cooking, reading, and spending time with my family and friends.
As I have begun to work at South this summer, learning (many!) names, walking the building and becoming familiar with the systems in place, I have heard over and over again what a special school South is. The common theme that has emerged is how warm, collaborative and student-centered South is and what a truly happy place it is for students and staff. I am very excited to be working with Mr. Kascak and the South staff to help continue their amazing work and support the strong culture that makes South the “best school in town.” Please know that I am here to support your child in any way I can and my phone and door are always open. Please stop in and say hello when you are in the building and I look forward to meeting you in the coming weeks. Again, I am honored to become a part of the South family and can’t wait for a PAW-SOME 2024-25 school year!
Enjoy the last bits of summer with your families.
Warmly,
Siobhan McCormack