Welcoming New Faculty

 Dear TGS Community:

Last week we said our farewells to beloved colleagues. This week we introduce you to the new faculty members who will be joining us in August.  We are fortunate to have recruited such an excellent new cadre of professionals!

Teaching all chemistry courses in our Upper School will be Victor Laurion, M.D. Dr. Laurion comes to us from The College Preparatory School in Oakland, CA where he has served on the faculty for the past two years, teaching chemistry and other science-related coursework. Dr. Laurion received his medical degree from Dartmouth and a Bachelor’s degree in finance at the University of Colorado. He completed his pre-med coursework at Bryn Mawr. In addition to teaching, Dr. Laurion enjoys coaching and advising students and looks forward to returning to Tucson where he spent time completing his medical residency.

Our music program continues to grow, and with that growth comes a new faculty member! Christie Blute, D.M.A. will be joining TGS to teach all variations of instrumental music courses. (Dr. Fresolone will focus on choral music and Mr. Phillips on guitar). Dr. Blute is no stranger to TGS; she was the volunteer conductor of our string ensemble this year and is a current parent.   Dr. Blute completed her Doctorate of Musical Arts at Boston University. She holds a Master of Music Performance from Kent State and a Bachelor of Music Education/Performance degree from the Eastman School of Music, Rochester, NY. Dr. Blute has taught in both upper and middle school settings in New York, Ohio and Arizona.   

Joining the outstanding science team in the middle school will be Kelly Smith, M.Ed. Mrs. Smith joins us from Amphitheatre school district where she was a founding teacher of the Innovation Academy STEM school. She has over 18 years of teaching experience. After receiving a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, Mrs. Smith pursued a Master’s degree in School Counseling from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. In her application materials, she stated the following, “My philosophy supports thematic, multi-subject integration, embedded in the arts. I thoroughly enjoy researching, planning, developing and presenting relevant lessons and projects in connection to challenges faced within our world.”

And joining our stellar math department is Mrs. Joan McKee, M.Ed.  Joan brings over 20 years of teaching experience, as well as expertise in speech and language pathology to the Middle School. With an undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona and a graduate degree in Speech Pathology at Arizona State University, Joan has a wide array of teaching experiences ranging from elementary through middle school. She is excited about joining our Middle School and embracing a new advisory group, as well.

As many of you know, my graduate work was completed at The Ohio State University. Buckeye sports fans love to say, “We don’t rebuild, we reload.” Well….that seems apropos here as we welcome a highly talented, experienced and energetic group of new colleagues!

We look forward to celebrating the completion of final exams with programs for 5th, 8th and 12th grades next week. Thank you to the many dedicated staff members and faculty who have volunteered to organize all of these events for our students and their families.

As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us with questions and/or concerns. We commit to continued communications throughout the coming weeks as we plan for multiple scenarios regarding the 20-21 school year. Best wishes to our entire TGS community for continued good health.

Sincerely,

Julie A. Sherrill, Ph.D.
Head of School