RPS Update
September 4, 2026
At last week's RHS Faculty Meeting, RHS health teacher Kristin DiMarino and school counselor Cristin Nahoum discussed Thrive Together—a schoolwide initiative focused on supporting both student and staff well-being. RPS Update caught up with the “K/C-ristins” this week, who provided the framework for this exciting all-school wellness initiative. RPS Update looks forward to covering Thrive from a student and staff perspective throughout the year.
In their presentation, Thrive leaders reminded faculty of last year's planning process and shared how conversations with students and staff provided insights into their day-to-day challenges. Leaders shared their goal of providing practical tools, meaningful connections, and support to help reduce unnecessary stress and improve morale. They also shared a focus on student voice, strengthening connections within the building, and creating initiatives that are realistic, manageable, and responsive to the needs of our school community.
The Thrive Together Committee has already begun the rollout of an RHS Peer Mentorship Program, where juniors and seniors will have the opportunity to mentor a freshman or sophomore. The goal is to create meaningful connections between students across grade levels and give younger students someone who has already navigated high school that they can connect with, learn from, and turn to for support.
Another initiative is a monthly executive functioning Flex session called "Skills for Successfully Managing School & Life". These sessions will focus on practical skills to help students manage the day-to-day demands of high school, including time management, task initiation and breakdown, planning, prioritizing, and organization.
The first Thrive Student Committee meeting and Peer Mentor Training Sessions will happen during Flex in the next couple of weeks. Thrive leaders are thrilled to bring both students and staff into the conversation, keeping teachers actively engaged as key collaborators in identifying where unnecessary stress exists for their students and for themselves, and what realistic solutions can make school more manageable for everyone.
PTAs and the RHS PTSA are the Ridgefield Public Schools’ most vital partners. Staff and families, please invest in your community by joining your school's PTA today. From back-to-school picnics to book fairs, grants to galas, our PTAs make RPS stronger. Join on the RPS website.
Join the RPS Team and Make a Difference
Are you or someone you know looking for employment that is local, rewarding, and works with your kids' school schedule? RPS is always looking to fill vacancies in our paraeducator staff. Paraeducators play a vital role in the district, working directly with students receiving special education services, faculty, and families. We find that some of our best employees are RPS parents, and we would love to welcome you to our growing team. Please check ridgefield.org for immediate vacancies and reach out today.
Those interested in joining as Elementary Recess & Lunch Supervisors can contact the Elementary schools directly or use the QR above right. Find connection and community at RPS! #1RPS
Health Teacher Rachel Fleischer Earns New Outstanding Professional Award
RHS Health Teacher Rachel Fleischer received the Outstanding New Professional Award for 2026 from The Connecticut Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. This award is given to outstanding health, physical education, recreation or dance educators who have excelled in the profession by making exemplary contributions to their workplace and community. Recipients have to be in the field for five years or less, and demonstrate passion, commitment and skill in teaching, model a healthy, active lifestyle, serve as a role model for students, staff and the community at-large, and demonstrate involvement in your work culture and learning community.
English Teacher Matthew Goetz Selected for National NCTE 100 Teachers Fellowship
Ridgefield High School English teacher Matthew Goetz has been selected as one of only 100 educators nationwide to serve as a member of the inaugural NCTE 100 Teachers Study Fellowship, a collaborative initiative of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and the University of Notre Dame. Mr. Goetz joins a national cohort of secondary English teachers committed to advancing research on literature instruction.
The yearlong fellowship seeks to amplify the voices and professional expertise of classroom teachers by examining how English educators make decisions about text selection, curriculum design, and the teaching of literature. Fellows will participate in a national intellectual learning community, engage in monthly discussions with fellow educators and leading literacy researchers, maintain reflective teaching journals, and contribute to a research study exploring the conditions that shape literature instruction in American classrooms.
“I’m honored to join this inaugural cohort,” said Mr. Goetz. “The fellowship offers a unique opportunity to collaborate with outstanding educators across the country while reflecting on the enduring questions of English education: What texts do we teach, why have they remained central to our classrooms, and how can we ensure our instruction continues to serve today’s students thoughtfully and intentionally?”
Math Teacher Dr. Monica Housen Recognized As Outstanding Reviewer
Dr. Monica Housen earned the 2026 Outstanding Reviewer for Mathematics Teacher: Learning & Teaching PK12 from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). This recognizes Dr. Housen's work as a reviewer for the NCTM's journal, Mathematics Teacher: Learning and Teaching PK-12. NCTM writes, "we are fortunate that the journal receives many high-quality reviews, which are essential to the production of an outstanding practitioner journal. High-quality reviews are those that are useful for both evaluative and educational purposes. They identify critical strengths and weaknesses, provide insightful guidance for authors, and communicate in a timely fashion and professional tone. To recognize the scholarship of reviewing, we identify a select group of reviewers who have provided high-quality reviews for two or more manuscripts over the previous two years." RPS 6-12 Math Supervisor Jeffrey Corbishley estimates that Dr. Housen was chosen out of over 700 reviewers. Congratulations!!!!
Shane Peters, RHS Orchestra Director
This week, RPS Update is launching a limited series, Familiar Faces: New Roles, with a brief profile of Shane Peters, who has moved from his role as East Ridge Middle School strings teacher to taking the baton as the Orchestra Director at RHS this year. This is Mr. Peters 16th year at RPS—one as the Elementary strings teacher and 14 at the Middle School level (at times teaching at both East Ridge and Scotts Ridge). Mr. Peters said, "I loved being a middle school teacher and am an adjunct professor at Western Connecticut State University. Then I filled in for an RHS vacancy last spring. I found I loved the high school age group too and was compelled to apply for the position. They've grown so much as musicians. I know all the students from their time in middle school and am excited for this new challenge."
While Mr. Peters is well-known to many in the district, what people might not know is that he and RHS Band Director George Beratis were college roommates. See the proof below! Mr. Peters, an accomplished guitarist, met Mr. Beratis, an accomplished saxophonist, as part of a jazz combo, and they have been friends (and bandmates) ever since Mr. Peters' sophomore year. Mr. Beratis, who is a year younger, has been at RHS for eight years. Mr. Peters says, "It's always been wonderful having George in the district! We talked all the time. Now, we share an office." While Peters and Beratis might look a little older, they can still rock, as anyone who heard them play with the RHS band and orchestra at the first CHIRP concert in Ballard Park last May can attest.
