Saugus Public School teachers prepare for back-to-school next Tuesday

By Tara Vocino

New and veteran teachers were welcomed back to Saugus Public Schools on Tuesday.

Saugus High School 2020 alum Taylor Bogdanski will teach fourth grade (general education) at Belmonte STEAM Academy. Bogdanski has deep roots in the town, attending Lynnhurst Elementary School and Saugus Middle School. She also worked as a substitute teacher in Saugus in 2021.

“I love the academics, teachers/adjustment counselors, including Maureen Lueke, Tracey Ragucci, the Hashems, and Jessica Manuel,” Bogdanski said. “I want to give back to the town where I loved growing up.”

She graduated from Endicott College, where she played Division II basketball and studied elementary education.

Oaklandvale Elementary School 2007 alum Sara Rocco will teach kindergarten (general education) at Veterans Memorial Elementary School. She taught integrated kindergarten at Salemwood School in Malden last year, and attended Shining Stars preschool in 2006.

“I remember how scared the kids got, but teachers were so welcoming,” Rocco said. “I still think of the impact that they made on me.”

Rocco said Saugus is a welcoming place. She graduated from Stonehill College in 2023, where she studied early childhood education and psychology.

Saugus resident Erin Rego graduated from Saugus High School in 2019, where she played field hockey and lacrosse. Reno graduated from the Veterans Memorial Elementary School in 2010 and Belmonte STEAM Academy in 2015. She will teach fifth grade (general education) at Belmonte STEAM Academy.

“I’m excited to finally have my own classroom and excited for the challenge,” Rego said. “I have a great support system, including Veterans Memorial Elementary School Math Curriculum Coordinator Belmonte Tracey Ragucci, Belmonte STEAM Academy Principal Maureen Lueke and Belmonte STEAM Academy Assistant Principal Tayler DiPesa.”

Rego graduated from Plymouth State in 2023, where she studied elementary education.

Billerica resident Jesse Fusco will be a wellness teacher at Belmonte STEAM Academy. “Saugus reminds me of Billerica – a blue-collar town, where people work hard and are proud of where they come from,” Fusco said.

Fusco said kids are happy to be back in the classroom after the COVID-19 pandemic. He previously worked at a behavioral school inside Tewksbury State Hospital and in Groton-Dunstable.

Veteran teacher Alicia Ungvarsky is going into her 13th year teaching third grade at the Belmonte STEAM Academy. “There’s always a buzz in the air when starting school,” Ungvarsky said. “It’s going to be a positive year.”

Belmonte STEAM Academy second-grader Calvin Dos Santos was in the summer acceleration academy when he said he feels nervous about making new friends this year. “I look forward to learning,” Dos Santos said.

The summer academy is supported by a DESE Acceleration Academy grant that the district received for students in the incoming grades kindergarten to eighth grade. “It’s for literacy only and we have 2 classes at each grade level with max of 12 students in a class,” Executive Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Susan Terban said. “The academy is running Monday to Friday this week and next week.”

His summer acceleration academy teacher, Christin Schulze, of Saugus, is in her 25th year of teaching. “I’m excited that we’ve added Vice Principals Tayler DiPesa and Heidi Jimenez to our administrative team along with Principal Maureen Lueke,” Schulze said. “Belmonte has over 800 students this year.”

Schulze is looking forward to teaching children about the socio-emotional learning initiative, which is teaching them respect, responsibility, kindness and empathy.

School begins district-wide next Tuesday morning.