School Directors Honor Master Teachers

The Colonial Board of School Directors honored seven area teachers for earing the Master Teacher distiniction at its September meeting.

The seven new Master Teachers are:

• Sandy Connelly, Plymouth Elementary School

• Liz Jones, Plymouth Elementary School

• Cecilia Quarino, Plymouth Elementary School

• Linda Colantonio, Ridge Park Elementary School

• George Hankins, Colonial Middle School

• Traci Rovinsky, Colonial Middle School

• Jill Ruggiero,

Connelly, Colantonio, Hankins and Ruggiero have all served as master teachers previously.

ccording to a statement from the district, teachers may apply for Master Teacher status each spring. Potential candidates need to have proper certification, receive satisfactory final ratings in all categories for a minimum of five years without having any "needs improvement" ratings during the same time period and "demonstrate leadership among their peers."

A teacher who meets those requirements is qualified to undergo a peer and administrative evaluation process, after which a teacher gains the distinction. The "Master Teacher" title is a two-year designation as long as the requirements are maintained, and accepted teachers receive an additional salary increment of $5,000 per year, according to the release.