Kindergarten Teacher Retires After 42 Years at Stratton

The following was submitted by Maryellen McDonnell, Stratton Elementary School PTO.

After 42 years of dedicated service teaching a cumulative total of almost 1000 of Arlington’s youngest students, Mrs. Janice Satlak-Mott has retired from Stratton Elementary School.

To honor her teaching legacy, the Stratton community is planning an evening reception on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2014 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Arlington Town Hall. One highlight of the evening will feature a few familiar songs performed by a multi-generational chorus of her “alums.” All former students, families, friends and associates are welcome to attend.

Modestly stating that teaching Kindergarten has been her “life’s work,” Mrs. Satlak-Mott welcomed each Kindergarten class with warmth, patience and a keen understanding of what made each individual child tick. Her love of music, science and art permeated her K1 classroom; you’d be hard pressed to find a former student who doesn’t know the words to The Beatles song “Here Comes the Sun,” or who doesn’t remember hearing her read the book “Owl Babies” on the first day of school. In fact, the Arlington High Class of 2014 presented Mrs. Satlak-Mott with an “Elementary School Faculty Appreciation Award.”

In her letter to the Stratton community announcing her retirement, Janice Satlak-Mott wrote, “My work with children has allowed me to be creative, intellectually curious and purposeful. It surrounded me with optimism and the ‘pinnacle of possibility’ that children bring with them every day as we all worked together as a kindergarten family of learners and thinkers.”

In recent years at Stratton, it was not uncommon to find that the parents of many of her kindergartners were also former students themselves. How incredibly unique and special it was for these children to sit in the very same Stratton K1 classroom that their own Mom and/or Dad sat in, being taught by the very same teacher.

The Farewell Celebration Event will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 12, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Arlington Town Hall, 730 Mass. Ave., Arlington. Free and open to the public, the evening is, in part, sponsored by the Stratton PTO, and will include light refreshments and non-alcoholic beverages.

The families have also set a goal of donating a reading bench in her honor to the Stratton School. To contribute to the “Janice Satlak-Mott Reading Bench” Fund, please go to: http://strattonpto.org/satlakmott.html. Or, if you prefer, you can mail a check payable to “Stratton PTO” to JSM Fund, c/o Stratton PTO, 180 Mountain Ave., Arlington, MA 02474. More information about the event, including how to join the JSM “Alum” Chorus, can also be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JaniceSatlakMottReception.