Nearly 40 employees who are retiring this year were honored at a reception at City Hall on June 4.
The group of 37 retirees included Assistant Superintendent Jeanne Crocker; Presumpscot Elementary School Principal Cynthia Loring; Portland High School Assistant Principal Kathie Marquis-Girard; King Middle School Assistant Principal Pat Crowley-Rockwell; and longtime teacher and Portland Education Association President Sue Olafsen. Retirees’ length of service ranged from five years to 44 years.
The reception took place at City Hall prior to the Portland Board of Public Education’s business meeting.
At that meeting, Superintendent Xavier Botana formally recognized the retirees. He praised them for contributing “years of effort to making the Portland Public Schools a great place to learn. This is always a bittersweet event as we combine our gratitude for their years of contributions with the realization that as they leave, we are losing years of knowledge, expertise and commitment. They have made us what we are and we are forever in their debt.”
Principals and other supervisors spoke about each retiree and each received a gift principal. A book of each retiree’s choosing will be given to their school library of choice.
To see a YouTube video of the June 4 retirement celebration, and learn more about each retiree’s career at PPS, go to: https://youtu.be/_b-4z70vxQE
Here is a list of June 2019 retirees, with their years of service and most recent positions held:
- Johanna Baird 12 Computer Technician, Central Office
- DianeCaiazzo 27 Cook, Central Kitchen
- Margaret Cloutier 25 Ed Tech, Longfellow
- JeanneCrocker 5 Asst. Superintendent, Central Office
- Pat Crowley-Rockwell 41 Assistant Principal, KMS
- Wallene Curran 17 Ed Tech, CBHS
- Nancy Dipretoro 6 Nurse, Riverton
- Phil Divinsky 26 General Trades Instructor, PATHS
- Brenda Downs 19 Language Arts Teacher, Lincoln
- Christine Fricke 16 Librarian, Rowe
- Carol Gallagher 30 Teacher (K), Riverton
- Dolores Hogle 7 CWI, Food Service
- Elle Ivy 20 Librarian, EECS
- Sherman Kendall 44 Art Teacher, Rowe
- Theresa LaPlante 24 Guidance Director, PHS
- Mary Linneman 29 ELL Teacher, Lyseth
- Heidi Litman 39 Teacher, Rowe
- Cynthia Loring 37 Principal, Presumpscot
- Annette Mager 23 Teacher, Rowe
- Kathie Marquis-Girard 16 Assistant Principal, PHS
- Patricia McClure 18 Ed Tech, CBHS
- Marilyn Melton 23 Teacher, EECS
- Sally Mitchell 24 Teacher, OAES
- SusanMullen 19 Guidance Counselor, PHS
- Catherine O'Connor 9 ELL Teacher, OAES
- Suzette Olafsen 21 LOA, teacher leader, LOA
- Malinda Orrico 20 Ed Tech, OAES
- Mary Otto 22 Ed Tech, OAES
- Esther Peison 30 Ed Tech, MMS
- Jan Pelletier 33 Teacher, EECS
- Linda Provencher 34 Teacher, Reiche
- OliviaSolodar 23 Team Leader, Central Office
- Ann Taliento 17 Ed Tech, Rowe
- Debra Tanguay 20 LOA, Nurse, DHS
- Polly Wilson 23 Science Teacher, KMS
- Julie Wise-Criscitello 28 ELL Teacher, PHS
- AnnYoung 16 Math Teacher, KMS