Re-1J staff hires underway for 2019-20 school year

    Allie Balog and Cecilia Marquez were hired as a second-grade teacher and elementary English Language Learner teacher, respectively, to begin the staff hires at Holyoke School District Re-1J for the 2019-20 school year.
    Recommended by Principal Andrea Kammer, employment for the two was approved at the April 2 school board meeting.
    Having lived in Holyoke for close to eight years, Balog did her student teaching here at the fifth-grade level, then served as a second-grade teacher and a one-on-one aide for the district. She also was the English as a Second Language teacher at the high school for five years.
    She earned her bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the University of Northern Colorado and completed her master’s in curriculum and instruction through UNC.
    Marquez has lived in Holyoke for 18 years and was an ESL high school para for two years. Kammer noted that Marquez’s fluency in Spanish will help the new ELL Non-English Proficient students as they begin their education in Holyoke.
    Marquez earned her associate degree in liberal arts from Northeastern Junior College and will complete her bachelor’s in elementary education from Colorado Christian University in December of 2019. She will be hired as a long-term substitute until the completion of her bachelor’s program.
    Superintendent Kyle Stumpf explained that some staff adjustments were made at the elementary school for the current school year, prompted by a couple of summertime resignations last year.
    Because student numbers were smaller in kindergarten and second grade, those grades were shifted to two sections each, rather than three. Then-kindergarten teacher Cynthia Bahler moved to the ELL class for the year.
    Stumpf said the district was extremely appreciative of those willing to step up and shift assignments and take on larger classes as the school year approached. He said it has always been the intent to find an ELL teacher and to return kindergarten and second grade to three sections apiece.
    This can be accomplished for 2019-20 with the hiring of Balog and Marquez, with Bahler returning to a kindergarten classroom.

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