New Colleagues
Teresa Anderson
This is a Teresa's first year teaching 8th grade mathematics at Hillcrest Middle School. She received her Masters in Teaching from Quinnipiac University. Teresa worked at Haddam Killingworth High School for two years and completed her student teaching at Daniel Hand High School in Madison.
Gabrielle Ballatore
Gabrielle is the new full time music teacher at Trumbull Early Childhood Education Center. She received her B.A. in Music from the University of Massachusetts at Lowell and her M.S. in Elementary Education from the University of New Haven. Along with her Elementary Certification, she is cross-endorsed in Music Education Pre-K through 12. After working for Pitney Bowes Credit Corporation for 5 years and participating in their mentor program, she decided to go back to school to pursue teaching. She did her student teaching with Frank Swetckie at Booth Hill School, and worked for a year at Lafayette School in Shelton teaching music as a long term substitute. Last year she worked part time for the preschool and is now very excited to be back for her second year to work with their tremendous staff and beautiful young children of the future.
Jennifer Baxter
Jennifer Baxter is a new .5 math resource teacher at Frenchtown Elementary. Jennifer attended Abilene Christian University in Texas and received a degree in Elementary Education with a specialization in Kindergarten and Mathematics. She taught for five years in Texas before taking a break to raise her two daughters.
Victor Chaves
Victor Chaves teaches U. History and Social Studies to 7th and 8th graders at Madison Middle School. Victor enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1966 and served on the U.S.S. Normandy, an Aegis Guided Missile Cruiser stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. He worked as an Operations Specialist in the Combat Information Center. After completing a tour in the Persian Gulf, he received an Honorable Discharge as a Second Class Petty Officer. While serving in the U.S. Navy, he was honored with numerous awards and medals, including three Navy Excellence Awards and two Letters of Commendation, Navy Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Navy Unit Commendation, and a Sea Service Deployment Ribbon as well as many other merits. He is proud to have served his nation and thankful for the many experiences gained through the U.S. Navy.
After the military, he attended UCONN majoring in Political Science (International Relations) and Communications Sciences (Public Relations.) Victor attended the University of Bridgeport for his graduate studies and interned and student taught at Trumbull High School. He received his Master's in Secondary Education for grades 7-12 in History and Social Studies. He loves teaching and the students. He is very happy to be teaching at Madison Middle School. Go Panthers!
Daniel Coburn
Daniel is a recent addition to the Science Department at THS. He earned his B.S. in Geology from Southern Connecticut State University and his Master of Science Education from Central Connecticut State University. Daniel has taught science at the middle school level in West Hartford and Cheshire and high school in Fort Bend Independent School District in Sugar Land Texas. He has also been an adjunct instructor at Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven and at Wharton Junior College in Texas. Prior to his career as an educator, Daniel was a senior geologist for an environmental engineering firm. Daniel is active in promoting science education as a workshop presenter at several National Science Teachers' Association conventions, a manuscript reviewer for Science Scope (a science education journal) and is a published author. Daniel enjoys the outdoors, fitness related activities, and creative writing..
Jianine Esposito
Jianine is the new Special Education teacher at Hillcrest Middle School. She graduated from Curry College in Massachusetts with a bachelor's degree in Special Education and Elementary Education. Jianine worked in the Boston Public Schools for her student teaching in a Learning Language Disabled classroom and a multi-grade classroom for children with autism. She currently resides in Bridgeport.
Darby Golino
Darby is the new Special Education teacher at Trumbull High School. Shi is also the new assistant coach for the girl's swim team at the high school. Darby is a graduate of Lauralton Hall and holds a BA in Economics from Bucknell University. She is currently finishing the last two courses for her MA in Special Education at Fairfield University. This past Spring, Darby completed her student teaching at Masuk High School in Monroe. Prior to this, she interned at Roger Ludlowe Middle School in Fairfield. In her spare time , she coaches the Shelton-Monroe Rapids, a USS swim club. Darby is very excited to begin her teaching career in the Trumbull Public Schools.
Kirsten Karlan
Kirsten Karlan is the new strings instrumental teacher for Tashua, Frenchtown, Booth Hill, Daniels Farm, and Jane Ryan Elementary Schools. After attending Moravian College, she graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in Violin Performance from Western Connecticut State University. She comes to us from Greens Farms Academy, where she was the Orchestra Director, and from Westport and Ridgefield Public Schools where she taught part-time as a strings specialist. Kirsten is a violinist with the American Chamber Orchestra of Fairfield County and is a substitute for the Greater Bridgeport Symphony Orchestra. She is looking forward to joining the second violin section of the Civic Orchestra of New Haven and beginning her graduate studies in music education this year.
Lesley Kitchener
Lesley is teaching seventh grade Language Arts at Hillcrest. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Connecticut. She was an art director for a marketing company, a freelance graphic artist and then a stay-at-home mother. Lesley will graduate from Southern Connecticut State University this December with a Master's of Science degree in English. She taught at Shelton Intermediate School last Fall, and then worked as a long-term substitute at Hillcrest for the remainder of the year. Lesley lives in Monroe with her husband and three children.
Matt Landin
Matt is teaching seventh grade Special Education at Madison Middle School. He has a B.A. from SUNY and a Master's Degree from Long Island University. Matt has been teaching for ten years. The majority of that time, he has taught in New York where he originally lived. He moved to Trumbull about a year ago and is looking forward to teaching here as well as getting involved in the community. Matt is married and his wife is a Speech Pathologist. In his free time he enjoys anything that as to do with sports.
Todd Manuel
Todd Manuel is a first year teacher in the Business Dept. He is really excited about being here in Trumbull, and has also signed on to Coach the JV Basketball team. Todd is 28 years old and has just finished up a career in professional sports…He played pro basketball in Europe after he completed his college degree. He spent time in Holland, Germany, Luxemburg, Belgium, and Italy. Also, he just completed his Master’s Degree from University of Bridgeport. He will be teaching Accounting, Personal/Business Record Keeping, Keyboarding, and Entrepreneurship. He is very excited and looks forward to meeting the teachers in Trumbull.
Maureen Mas
She is the new Special Education Department Chair at Trumbull High School. She earned her B.S. in Sociology and Elementary Education from Regis College and Master of Education from Penn State University. Prior to the position at Trumbull High School, she was the Special Education Department Chair at the Newtown Public School System for 7 years. She worked as a Learning Disabilities Teacher Consultant for the New Brunswick, New Jersey School System and the New Jersey Department of Corrections. She began her career as a Teacher of the Hearing Impaired at the Marie H. Katzenbach School for the Deaf in W. Trenton, New Jersey. She has worked in the special education field for 29 years dealing with students with various disabilities.
Jordan Miller
Jordan grew up outside of Philadelphia and earned a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Florida. He worked in industry for five years, three of which he spent in New York City working for Nickelodeon Consumer Products. Jordan took his teaching certification courses at Southern Connecticut State University, where he is currently working on his M.S. in Environmental Education. This is his third year teaching high school Chemistry; he spent two years teaching science at West Haven High School. Jordan is recently married and he enjoys hiking, photography, web design, and reading.
Shannon Morey
Shannon received her B.S. and dual certification in Elementary Education and Special Education from Salve Regina University. She taught Special Education in Bridgeport for two years. Then, she took a year off to attend school full time at the University of Bridgeport to earn her Master's Degree in Reading/ Language Arts. As part of her Master's program, she interned at Frenchtown Elementary School. She is now the Special Education teacher at Booth Hill School. Shannon lives in Trumbull and enjoys the Cape Cod beaches in the summer and skiing the slopes of VT in the winter.
