Holy Spirit School

MRS. PATRICIA TORCHEN - Principal

At Holy Spirit School, daily lessons and activities involve our Christian Faith. Religious beliefs are integrated into all subject areas. Our staff is enthusiastic with a variety of experience and our school is a family where each child is nurtured and respected.

MRS. JUDITH KAVULICH - Pre K 3

Mrs. Kavulich is an experienced elementary education teacher with masters in Special education. Inspired and humbled every day by the passion, exuberance and raw potential of her students, Mrs. Kavulich raises the expectations in her classroom to promote excitement, enthusiasm and a willingness of her students to be engulfed in experiential learning and socialization among friends in a safe protected environment. Mrs. Kavulich is happily married and a mother of three sons who attended Holy Spirit School. Mrs. Kavulich is also an alumnus of Holy Spirit School.

MS. PATRICIA PARTIN - Pre-K 4

Ms. Partin holds a masters degree in Elementary Education K-8 from the University of Bridgeport with many years of experience working with preschool children. She believes that learning should be fun and interesting. Her classroom fosters a loving, safe environment in which children can learn and grow academically and socially.

MS. KATIE MALLOY - Kindergarten

Our Kindergarten program provides a strong foundation of the fundamentals of early reading and math. Throughout the year, we build many social skills in order to establish close relationships with one another. Children gain a sense of spirituality and love for their God as our Father in a warm, loving, fun environment.

MRS. CAROL KEENEY – First Grade

Mrs. Keeney holds certification to teach Kindergarten through sixth grade in Connecticut and New York. She has a Master’s Degree in Education from St. John’s University and many years experience teaching early childhood grades. She is the author of Brand New Teacher, How to Teach the Early Grades Using Scripts, a book which encourages new teachers to build a strong and happy community of learners. She believes it is most important to create a positive learning environment for each student.

MS. BARBARA HESS - Second Grade

Ms. Hess received her Masters Degree in Elementary Education from the University of New Haven. She did her under-graduate studies at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury, Connecticut. Before coming to Holy Spirit, Ms. Hess taught first grade for 10 years at a private school in Danbury. She has always had a love for teaching others to learn new concepts. She feels that each person is a unique individual and encourages students to try new things. Family is very important to her. Something unique about Ms. Hess is that she has 5 sisters and 4 brothers.

MRS. MARYANN HANRAHAN – Third Grade

Mrs. Hanrahan has begun her second year of teaching at Holy Spirit School and is thrilled to welcome her new class. She is certified to teach Kindergarten through Grade 6 in both Connecticut and New York with a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Bridgeport. Her educational philosophy is a product of her belief that every child is a unique creation of God. Academic goals are achieved through exploration and discovery of individual talents. Through hard work and individual achievement, she believes that students become caring and confident in all they do and truly enjoy learning.

MRS. SANDY LEFLER - Fourth Grade

Mrs. Lefler holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Bridgeport and a Masters of Arts degree from Fairfield University, both in Education. She also holds a Connecticut Certification to teach first through Grade 8, and is certified to teach ESL (English as a Second Language) to adults and children. She enjoys the enthusiasm of her students at Holy Spirit School, and looks forward to teaching fourth grade each year.

MRS. JORDAN MURPHY - Fifth Grade

Mrs. Murphy joined our staff as the fifth grade homeroom teacher for the 2010-2011 school year. Having been a regular substitute teacher for the previous year, she is very familiar with the students and the school. This experience has paved the way for an easy transition. Mrs. Jordan-Murphy is certified in the state of Connecticut to teach kindergarten through grade six. She comes to us with eight years of teaching experience in the Michigan School system. During that time she taught mathematics for grades two through six, and later a self contained classroom of third and fourth grade students. Presently, she is a graduate student at Sacred Heart University, pursuing a Master’s of Arts degree in Education with an additional certification in Reading. She actively applies the language arts pedagogy garnered from her studies to real classroom situations, and has found this to be helpful in both teaching and planning. She feels that her fifth grade students are off to a great start and hopes that her efforts will promote self confidence and self reliance, and adequately prepare them for middle school.

SPECIALS

CHRISTINE CZESCIK - Computer Science

MARNY SPEARMAN - Physical Education

MICHELE SCHULE - Music

KATHY ROBUSTELLI - Art / Pre K 4 Aid

MARGUERITE HAJJAR - Librarian

Faculty Bios