New Wantagh teachers eager for new year

Kindergarten students won’t be the only newcomers to the Wantagh School District this year, as more than a dozen new teachers have joined the staff.

Some were hired several months ago, and have spent great parts of the summer preparing for their new gigs. Others got their jobs in August and had a quick introduction to the Wantagh community. The 21 new teachers are spread throughout the five schools and will be teaching a variety of subjects.

Angela Savella will be a fourth-grade teacher at Wantagh Elementary School. She was with the district last year as a part-time resource room teacher, and before that was in North Merrick.

She is excited to have her own classroom and her own group of students to lead for the next 180 days. During the summer, she visited the school several times to hang posters and decorate bulletin boards.

“When the children walk in,” she said, “I want them to feel comfortable and ready to start the school year.”

Anna Domingo will teach seventh- and eighth-grade Spanish at the middle school. She just graduated with a bachelor’s degree from St. Joseph’s College in Patchogue, so this is her first teaching job.

Domingo said she feels very lucky to have a job so soon after graduating, knowing that for some people it takes years to find a position. She had two interviews with the district in August, and said she was so nervous, she turned in her writing sample in English instead of Spanish.

Getting the job has given her a boost of confidence that she is taking into the new school year. So has the warm and welcoming atmosphere in Wantagh. “You don’t feel like a fish out of water,” she said.

Jenna Rinaldi definitely does not feel out of place, as she is a 2009 graduate of Wantagh High School. She will teach art at the middle school, and Mandalay and Forest Lake elementary schools, though ironically her early days were spent at Wantagh Elementary.

The middle school, however, she is quite familiar with, and will be teaching in the same room where she once learned. Some of her former art teachers are now her colleagues. “They’re definitely welcoming me with open arms,” she said. “I wouldn’t be an art teacher if it weren’t for them.”

David Burt will be the seventh- and eighth-grade chorus at the middle school, and comes to Wantagh after teaching two years in Longwood. He was hired only a week before new teacher orientation, and said he has gotten good vibes about the district since he walked in for his first interview.

Burt added that the administration seems very supportive of both teachers and students. “It seems like a real family-oriented community,” he said.

The new teachers are ready to make an impact, and Savella is looking forward to implementing the district’s new elementary reading series. She is also excited to teach math — fourth-grade features higher level multiplication and fractions — and wants to infuse technology into her lessons.

Domingo wants to share her knowledge of the Spanish culture with her students. She lived in Barcelona for four months while in college, and spent two weeks in Argentina this summer.

For Burt, he wants to help his students grow as musicians and make them feel like part of a team. He is also looking forward to leading them in performances.

He previously taught high school for two years and said he enjoyed that, but prefers middle, so Wantagh offered him the perfect fit. “I just felt that it was a good match for my personality,” he said.

Rinaldi will have her hands busy planning lessons for both elementary and middle schools students. Her goal is to give each student a taste of art history and allow them to be creative.

She knows that some students do not consider themselves artistic, but Rinaldi said she believes every child has talent inside of them. Her goal is to foster that, and make her a class a place they want to be. “Anyone can create,” she said, “and they all have the ability to make something. Art is an exciting class for kids to go to.”

The school year began on Sept. 2.