Sixth grade begins our Middle School program.  Students have added responsibilities and a greater work load.
 
Mrs. Ruane has been at St. Augustine for over 20 years.  She has taught second, third and fifth grades and is now the homeroom teacher for sixth grade.  She teaches Science to the sixth, seventh and eighth grade students.

The Science program under Mrs. Ruane focuses on the Diocesan curriculum and the CT State Standards, making certain all students develop science literacy.  Each of the grades has a mix of earth, life and physical science each year. The Weatherbug Station is an integral part of daily life at St. Augustine with the middle school students announcing the weather, collecting and analyzing data. To correlate with the Balanced Literacy program which is one of the initiatives of our schools, these strategies have been utilized with the science classes.

Mrs. Ruane is extremely proud of the Science Quarterly Newsletters published each marking period by every student.  This writing activity has been presented at workshops both within the state and nationally. Science skills are taught along with the content and are an important component of all lab and class work.

Mrs. Ruane also teaches many other subjects to the sixth graders.  In religion class the focus is on the Old Testament which is complemented by the study of Ancient Civilizations in Social Studies. Literature, Writing and Vocabulary development are the focus of the Balanced Literacy program for which Mrs. Ruane was trained.

Mrs. Ruane has her BA from St. Joseph College, Brooklyn NY and her MAT from Sacred Heart University.  She completed a two-year Dimms fellowship at Wesleyan University on Integrating Science for K-5.  A fellow of the CT Academy of Math, Science & Technology, she is a member of the Board of Directors of the CT Science Teachers Association and a member of CT Science Supervisors Association.  Her desire to bring Science to all children has led her to work on two annual conferences for middle school students for the CT Association of Schools.  Mrs. Ruane chaired the National Science Teachers Conference last October in Hartford, where over 3,500 teachers saw the latest in science teaching.  She has worked on many curriculum committees over the years, most recently Religion and Science.

Mrs. Ruane is also a member of the NCEA, and has been present at their annual conventions. In 1990, she was awarded the Catholic Elementary Teacher of the Year for the NCEA representing New England.

Mrs. Laura D. Otzel is our Seventh grade teacher here at St. Augustine School.  She is married 19 years with 3 children, attending UCONN, Kolbe and St. Augustine.  This is Laura’s 15th year teaching at a Catholic School, seven years at St. Mark School in Stratford, and 8 years at St. Augustine.  Laura attended St. Joseph’s High School, then Western CT State College, graduating with certification and B.S in elementary Ed.

Laura is currently the teacher advisor to the Student Council and Co-moderator of the Home-economics.  The Home-economics Club consists of monthly meetings, crafts, cooking and sewing.
 
Laura has taught CCD for the past 8 years, and is currently the president of the St. Patrick’s Ladies Guild.  She helped organize and start RCIA at St. Patrick’s.
 
She will be teaching math & literacy this summer for the Diocese’s summer program.  Laura’s current 7th grade has 24 students, nine boys and 15 girls.  They have participated in Varsity Basketball Teams, the bowling team, Student Council and the Home Economics Club.  Academically, the 7th grade has participated in the Knights of Columbus and Bridgeport Elks essay contests as well as having explored submission and floatation of subs at the Discover Museum.

Ann Marie Donnelly has been the eighth grade teacher at St. Augustine School since 1986. Prior to raising her family, she also taught fifth grade at St. Augustine from 1974-1976. Mrs. Donnelly teaches language arts in the junior high, a literacy program that emphasizes reading and writing while providing a solid foundation in the fundamentals of grammar and mechanics of the English language. She teaches eighth grade religion, a course which covers church history and these major components of Catholic faith.. Mrs. Donnelly also teaches a sixth grade social studies class in ancient civilizations.

Besides her teaching responsibilities, Mrs. Donnelly is moderator of the school’s yearbook staff composed of eighth graders.

Mrs. Donnelly received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Ursline College, Cleveland, Ohio. She is certified to teach English grades seven through twelve in the state of Connecticut. She is a Connecticut Writing Project Fellow and a judge for the National Council of Teachers of English Promising Young Writers’ contest. Mrs. Donnelly was the 199 NCEA National Teacher of the Year from New England and the 2004 recipient of the Tim Russert Making a Difference Award.