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Staten Island Academy Appoints New Head of Lower School

April 10, 2006 – Staten Island Academy is pleased to announce that Patricia Lynch has been named the Head of the Lower School, effective July 1, 2006.

Ms. Lynch has an extensive background in education and is widely recognized for her leadership abilities.

“I’m delighted to be joining such a distinguished learning institution as the Academy,” says Ms. Lynch. “Taking over as Lower School Head is a wonderful opportunity for me to build on the strengths of the school and to take it and the extraordinary Academy children to ever new levels of achievement.”

In her current position as a literary consultant to the Board of Education, Ms. Lynch planned school-wide curricula, led staff development initiatives, ran parent workshops, and demonstrated instructional approaches. She supervised an extended day program for at-risk children and worked closely with principals and faculty on teacher evaluations and study groups. She also presented workshops to parents on the curriculum and writing processes.

Prior to her work with the Board of Education, Ms. Lynch served as an adjunct professor in reading and literacy at Bank Street College of Education in Manhattan where she guided graduate students in current Kindergarten through Grade 8 literary practices.

As the Head Teacher for Grades 1 and 3 at the Dalton School in Manhattan, Ms. Lynch taught all classroom subjects to advanced groups of children and provided mentoring for new faculty. In addition, she helped initiate a literacy assessment and a Kindergarten through Grade 12 writing curriculum.

“Our philosophy of learning at the Academy is education of the whole child, beginning in the Lower School,” says Diane J. Hulse, head of school. “Ms. Lynch’s rich experience in facilitating learning structures, combined with her natural ability to lead and inspire, is a perfect recipe for success and joy in the classroom.”

Ms. Lynch was named a Christa McAuliffe Fellow in 1990 for creating a program to train Hunter College undergraduates in early literacy practices and for funding literacy materials and interns for P.S. 183 in Manhattan.

She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, Theatre Arts, from Western Michigan University and holds a Master of Science in Elementary Education from Hunter College. Ms. Lynch is the mother of grown children and resides in Brooklyn, New York.

Staten Island Academy conducted an extensive, national search this past winter to fill the position of head of lower school. Administrators, parents, faculty, and children were involved in the hiring process that brought candidates to the campus for a full day visit. Candidates came from as far away as Israel and Washington State.

The Academy’s current Lower School Head, Brian D. Berneking, is leaving the prestigious college prep school to serve as founding director of The Dalian American International School in Dalian, China.

Staten Island Academy, located on a lush 12-acre campus, educates qualified students from age four through high school. The only independent school on Staten Island, the Academy’s mission is to provide a liberal arts education to a socioeconomically diverse population. It is composed of seven buildings, including state-of-the-art computer facilities, and a completely renovated Theater, Library, Art Barn and Alumni Hall building. Outdoors are two swimming pools, athletic fields, and tennis courts. For more information on Staten Island Academy and its outstanding programs, visit www.statenislandacademy.org.

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For further information, please contact Alice Doyle at 718.303.7813 adoyle@statenislandacademy.org.