Hamilton students, parents and staff,
I'm excited to join you this year as the assistant principal! I have been with the School District of Lancaster for over 20 years. My role evolved through that of teacher, PD coach, small learning community facilitator, and assistant principal. For the last seven years, I was an assistant principal at McCaskey East High School. I also taught science at McCaskey East High School, JP McCaskey High School, Lincoln Middle School, and Reynolds Middle School and I student taught at Hand Middle School. Before that, I lived in central Africa for two years, where I taught science as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I am a graduate from Lock Haven University with a Bachelor’s degree in Natural Sciences. I earned a post baccalaureate science certification and later a Master’s Degree in Leadership for Teaching and Learning at Millersville University. I also have a Master's degree in Environmental Education from Arcadia University. Some of you may also know me from the Lancaster County Environmental Center, where I taught about nature for 12 years in the evenings and on weekends.
Why the big change from secondary to elementary education? I had the wonderful experience of substituting for the principal of Ross Elementary School a couple of times this past year and I got hooked. I've been fascinated by how my own pre-schooler is growing as a thinker and I've become increasingly interested in the way that young children develop the knowledge and skills used for decision making and social interactions, as well as for using words and numbers in languages and math. Both of my Masters degrees came with K-12 certifications. So when the opportunity to work at Hamilton Elementary School was presented, I took it.
I look forward to collaborating with each of you this year as Hamilton and the District continue to improve preparing students for the 21st century and an ever changing word. My first impression of Hamilton is that it’s an amazing school with fully capable students, teachers, parents, and community partners, and each of you knows that learning is job #1. I’m pleased to join you in the work of providing students with a solid foundation for preparing for high school graduation, college and a career. Coming with a secondary perspective, I hope to contribute to district-wide efforts to strengthen our students' persistence to graduation. I’m glad to be a part of a place that opens up worlds of new ideas every day for every student.
Sincerely,
Tim Altieri