Mr. Michael Kirk, Assistant Principal, Chancellor Livingston Elementary School
Replacing Ms. Fern Lox as Assistant Principal of the Chancellor Livingston Elementary School is Mr. Michael Kirk. Mr. Kirk comes to Chancellor with twenty years of elementary administrative and teaching experience in the Carmel, New Rochelle, and New York City School Districts. His educational experiences include being an administrator of Grades K to 8, a teacher of first, second, and fifth grades, a Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports Coach and a Varsity Assistant Baseball Coach.
Mr. Kirk holds a Master of Science in School Building Leadership from Mercy College, a Master of Science in Elementary Education from Manhattanville Graduate School of Education and a Bachelor of Arts from Fordham University. He also attended Fordham Preparatory High School in Bronx, NY. Mr. Kirk shared that he is looking forward to establishing partnerships, so he can collaborate with stakeholders to prepare our students to meet the challenges and opportunities of the future. He believes that together we can dedicate our efforts to nurture every student’s generosity of spirit, passion for learning, and success. Mr. Kirk is particularly excited to get to know the students of CLS.
Mr. Carson Robinson II, Spanish Teacher, Bulkeley Middle School/Rhinebeck High School
Mr. Carson Robinson II is our new Spanish Teacher. His most recent experience has been at Onteora High School and Onteora Middle School in Boiceville, where he taught Spanish for the past two years.
After graduating from Rhinebeck High School in June 2018, he attended SUNY New Paltz from August 2018 to May 2021 and earned his Bachelor’s degree in Adolescent Education: Spanish 7-12. He will be working towards earning his Master’s degree in the Spring 2024. Mr. Robinson is very eager to begin the 2023-2024 school year and return home to Rhinebeck.
He is excited and grateful to have the opportunity to give back to the community that has done so much for him.
Ms. Laura Kufner, English Language Arts (ELA) Teacher, Rhinebeck High School
Ms. Laura Kufner will be rejoining the English department at Rhinebeck High School to teach 10th and 11th Grade. You may remember her as Laura Ifill, a leave replacement teacher six years ago. She most recently worked teaching 7th Grade English Language Arts (ELA) at Linden Avenue Middle School in Red Hook. Ms. Kufner is a graduate of SUNY New Paltz and has taught in many schools in the Hudson Valley as well as run educational programming on boats with a focus on Maritime literature.
She is excited to work with the English department at Rhinebeck to create amazing opportunities for students to grow as readers and writers.
Ms. Shannon Van Loan, Physics Teacher, Rhinebeck High School
Ms. Van Loan is our new Physics teacher who joins us upon her completion of her master's degree in adolescent education at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry New York. Her previous job experience as a nuclear engineer brings a unique experience to the Rhinebeck community. She gained her mechanical engineering degree from Binghamton University in 2016. She completed two semesters of student teaching, one as a Physics teacher at Sleepy Hollow High school, another at the Urban Institute of Mathematics in the Bronx, NY.
Ms. Van Loan aims to encourage youth to become involved in STEM and art. She believes that every scientist is an artist, and every artist is a scientist. Students who engage in creative activities that foster community and confidence can be successful in any endeavor. Ms. Van Loan is passionate about advocating for an inclusive, caring, and accepting school and district. She is interested in working with fellow teachers so that we can support students who are often discriminated against such as people of color and members of the LGBTQ community. Ms. Van Loan is excited to build a classroom that gets my students excited about physics. She also looks forward to exploring upstate New York with her dog and friends!
Ms. Amy Zemser, Long-Term Substitute English as a New Language Teacher, Bulkeley Middle School/Rhinebeck High School
Ms. Zemser will be the Long-Term Substitute English as a New Language Teacher for the 2023-2024 School Year. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in English Literature and her Master’s degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from SUNY Albany. During this academic year she intends to pursue a second certification in Special Education. For many years Ms. Zemser worked in San Francisco and Brooklyn, and has taught most recently at the Chancellor Livingston Elementary School and Bulkeley Middle School.
In addition to teaching, Ms. Zemser loves writing fiction. She has published two middle-grade novels with HarperCollins and is currently working on a book of comic essays.
Ms. Zemser is looking forward to working with students who speak English as a second language, and loves working with students with disabilities. She is extremely excited to be getting back to school, “as it means she will have more time away from her three children who don’t think any of her jokes are funny”.
Ms. Jessica Sumber, School Social Worker, Bulkeley Middle School
Ms. Jessica Sumber is thrilled to join Bulkeley Middle School and the Rhinebeck school community this year as a School Social Worker. She grew up in Kingston, NY, and after graduating from Kingston High School she completed a bachelor in fine arts at SUNY Binghamton. Fueled by creativity and compassion for children and families, Ms. Sumber later completed a master’s degree in social work at the University of Denver in Colorado.
While living in Denver, CO, for the next five years she worked for Denver Children’s Home, a school-based residential and day treatment program supporting adolescents aged 12-18 experiencing trauma and co-occurring mental health difficulties. Her time as a child and family therapist at DCH enabled her to develop an understanding of mental health assessment, diagnosis and intervention, while using her creative and clinical skills to implement experiential and evidence-based interventions to support each student’s needs, their learning, and their progress toward their goals.
After returning to New York State, she has felt invigorated by her school social work experiences with the Kingston City School District while working at the Robert Graves Elementary School and Myer Elementary School. Ms. Sumber also enjoyed the opportunity to complete an Extended School Year summer school social work position for Ulster BOCES at Anna Devine. As the 2023-2024 school year approaches, she is very excited to become the School Social Worker for Bulkeley Middle School. Ms. Sumber is delighted to get to know and to support the students and their families, and eager to begin working with her new colleagues. She is looking forward to the joys and challenges that this school year will bring, and to see what we can all create together in our school community.
Ms. Sarah K. Esposito, English Language Arts (ELA) Teacher & Academic Support Rhinebeck High School/Bulkeley Middle School
Ms. Sarah Krokey Esposito steps into her new role as the English Language Arts Teacher/Academic Support at Rhinebeck Central School District with a diversity of training and experience. After graduating from Rhinebeck High School and Georgetown University, Sarah pursued a career in grant writing and fundraising while simultaneously involving herself in professional mediation, Shakespeare productions, and serving as President for both Georgetown Theater Alumni and Youth for a United World NYC.
Her desire for change-making moved Sarah's professional career into teaching and, after graduating from Bard College's MAT program, Sarah taught in urban, rural, public, and private schools. She is certified and experienced in teaching ELA 7-12, DCC English courses, and the International Baccalaureate program for both the Diploma and Middle Years Programs.
Sarah's identity as a young widowed mother has since informed her career choices, and she's reimagined her professional journey by recording audiobooks, supervising and evaluating apprentice teachers, and teaching the tenth grade ELA and Reading Film class at Rhinebeck this past academic year. Ms. Esposito is forever grateful to her community for lifting her up during her time of hardship, and will soon release a new podcast, "We Heard What Happened," sharing personal stories of how small towns help people through hard times. Let's work together with our students to encourage collaboration and empathy in our local and global world.
Mr. Jesse Joy, Technology Teacher, Bulkeley Middle School/Rhinebeck High School
Mr. Joy will be the Technology Teacher with the Rhinebeck Central School District. He began his teaching experience as a student teacher at Rhinebeck High School in 2019 where he had the wonderful opportunity to work with Mrs. Grande and her English 11 students. After completing his student teaching, he graduated with his undergraduate degree from SUNY New Paltz and received his initial teaching certificate in English 7-12.
In the fall of 2019, Mr. Joy enrolled in graduate studies at SUNY New Paltz and taught first-year college English courses for four semesters while completing his graduate degree in English literature. His transition to Technology education marked a return to his original area of study, Engineering Science, and his roots in the industrial arts, while exercising his passion for teaching.
Throughout the 2022-2023 school year, Mr. Joy had the pleasure to teach Technology with the Rhinebeck Central School District as a long-term substitute while he worked towards earning a supplemental certificate in Technology education, which he recently completed. Mr. Joy looks forward to expanding the curriculum this year and including more hands-on learning for students both new and returning to the Technology classroom.