Learning Community Charter School

Here are some thoughts from our families and students about our amazing faculty this year 

Educational Support Professional of the Year: Kathy Andjuar

"Ms. Kathy has been a pillar of the kindergarten program here at LCCS for more years than most of us have even been at the school. Her dedication to our school's youngest students does not go unnoticed. She is loving yet firm, compassionate and motherly."

Middle School Teacher of the Year: Steve Krinsky

"Dr Krinsky is able to engage the kids in a unique manner. He speaks about current topics and encourages them to have an opinion and speak their mind. I am so grateful that our daughter had him as a teacher."

Lower School Teacher of the Year: Shanelle Muse

"I constantly see her hard at work creating unique and engaging lessons. She seems to truly connect and understand her students on a deeper level. She goes above and beyond in her unique ways of teaching for her reading and writing lessons."

and (drum roll please ...) LCCS Teacher of the Year: Scott Silva

"He shows integrity, emotion, and support to Learning Community Charter School."

In the Fall of 2014, LCCS launched a program called Touchstones, an innovative program with a simple premise: Students sit in a circle and discuss a famous piece of writing that addresses a complex ethical theme or issue. Out of thousands of Touchstones teachers nationwide, Shanelle Muse, who facilitates the program in 5^th grade, will be honored Dec. 12 as the Cynthia M. Barry Touchstones Teacher of the Year for 2015.

             “Shanelle was a wonderful choice for this award not only because she uses Touchstones with her students, but also because she applies the program in her work in social justice and counseling and is an exemplar of the inclusive leadership that Touchstones strives to foster in all teachers and their students.”
            -Howard Zeiderman, Cynthia M. Barry Touchstones Teacher of the Year Selection Committee and Touchstones Co-founder & President.

Teachers facilitate the discussion of Touchstones issues, but they do not lead, allowing students to guide the discourse. Previous sessions have tackled the classic French text, Democracy in Action by Alexis de Tocqueville.

              “Touchstones is the type of program that subtly moves mountains in our classroom. Implementing it has allowed the students, I as well, to openly bring our race,  religion,  moral compasses,  socioeconomic status, gender,  family values and personal experiences,  unapologetically into our classroom. 
              To have genuinely open discourse about topics such as revenge, being judgmental,  sacrifice,  forgiveness and friendship builds their cognitive thinking,  socio-behavioral skills and self confidence.  My students have become meaningfully connected as they learn to be active agents in their own education, seek and appreciate diverse perspectives, and share power and responsibility." 
- Shanelle Muse 

It was on a bittersweet note this summer that we said goodbye to some dear friends on the LCCS team. We are grateful for their time and dedication to our families. Thank you to Warren Anderson, Angelina Rha, Mirtha Perez, Margaret Murhpy, Atif Usman, Christina Meluso, and Samere Garido.

We are so excited to welcome some new additions to the LCCS family.

Anto Higgins joins us as Jess Wuerthner’s maternity leave replacement.  Originally from Dublin, Anto also came to the US to pursue a career in music.  He has taught math at community colleges in Ireland and worked for the Irish foreign ministry.  He is a passionate soccer player and fan and will certainly be right at home in our soccer-crazed school.

Andres Nunez will be our Spanish teacher for grades 2,3,7 and 8.  Andres is a dedicated volunteer working closely with high school students from immigrant backgrounds across Hudson County to consider attending  St. Peter’s University.  Andres acts as a mentor to these students and frequently translates for their families to assist them with navigating the college application and financial aid process.  Prior to teaching at LCCS, Andres taught Spanish at middle schools and high schools in Union City and East Newark.

Sal Pauciello will teach 7^th and 8^th grade math.  Sal comes to us with more than 16 years of experience teaching math in urban settings.  He is renowned for his approach to project-based learning through math and is exceptionally dedicated to students with math anxiety and those that excel at math.  Sal is the recipient of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Award for Tolerance for taking a stand in his classroom against hate and intolerance. 

Jackie Rocha will teach 6^th and 8^th grade ELA special education.  Previously Jackie served as teacher assistant and leave replacement teacher in Ridgefield, working with students in special education classrooms ranging in ages from 3-21.  Jackie’s training includes guided reading, balanced literacy, and working with the History Alive program. 

Samantha Brooks will teach 7^th grade ELA and provide in class support in social studies in the middle school.  Samantha worked as a special education teacher in Jersey City.  She most recently worked with an organization that provided consultation and interventions for schools with students in danger of dropping out. 

Quincy Creadick will teach 2^nd grade.  Quincy graduated from the University of Delaware this past May.  While conducting her student teaching she was so exceptional her school hired her to serve as an intervention teacher once her student teaching assignment ended.  Qunicy had an incredible career as a high school basketball player and hopefully will be a future MVP in our faculty versus student basketball game.

Erica Roark will be the second grade assistant.  Erica continues to work for American Foundation for Children with AIDS and has led and organized trips for volunteers to build playgrounds in Zimbabwe.  She is an accomplished  pianist and ballroom dancer and continues to teach both to children and adults.  

This is the inaugural blog post in a recurring feature we will have here at the blog about all the interesting things LCCS staff members are doing when they are not teaching or working with students. If you have a staff member you’d like to recognize, please email Jen Hughes at [email protected]

Sarah Westley, an early intervention reading teacher, is leading a team of other school employees and friends in the Making Strides of Jersey City Breast Cancer walk on Oct. 18 in the city’s Lincoln Park.


As Ms. Westley says, “I walk in order to remember a friend of mine, Mary Downing, who was a middle school ELA teacher here at LCCS who lost her battle with breast cancer in March of 2012.  Her birthday is in October and her teaching legacy lives on at LCCS (our library is named after her) so it seems particularly poignant to walk here in Jersey City in the fall.” 

Others who are walking this year include Emily Litman, Kimberly Smith, Kristen Hynes, James Laster, Scott Silva, and Michelle Smith.

In addition, the walk will be part of the 5^th grade’s community service project, led by Ms. Litman. Students and their families are invited to walk to support breast cancer research and awareness, and they will be collecting donations toward the cause.

Sarah formerly organized the Denim Day fundraiser at the school to raise money for breast cancer research, but loved last year’s walk so much that she decided to do it again.

"While I was at the event last year, I ran into many LCCS families and realized just what a great community building opportunity it could be for our staff, parents, and students."

For more information on the walk or to donate, check out the team’s webpage or email Sarah at [email protected]

Charlotte Kreutz, who heads up the after school Think Tank program and is a general LCCS Jill-Of-All-Trades, has recently served as costume designer for a New York City performance based on a Duke Ellington jazz suite.

Theater is in Charlotte’s blood. She says her parents were avid theater goers, and her father acted and wrote plays at the community theater level. Certainly it will come as no surprise to everyone who knows Charlotte, that she was able to lend her ingenuity to the project. 

“I had a budget of $1500 to work with.  I could have borrowed (for a fee) costumes from the Costume Collection in Queens but I knew I wanted to build (a costume term) the women's dresses from scratch.  They had to be sexy and dramatic and I wanted to fit each actress perfectly.  I shopped for fabric at MOOD in Manhattan (Project Runway fans will know...). I'm so glad I made them, and so are the beautiful ladies.  I also lucked out finding a snazzy1950's double-breasted suit for the one of the actors for $20 at Goodwill.  Love a bargain!"

The work was inspired by characters from Shakespeare and features a live jazz ensemble from Jazz at Lincoln Center performing with actors from Hudson Guild Theatre Company and dancers from Matthew Westerby Company.

The final performances are this weekend, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m and Nov. 14 at 2 p.m. and 8 pm.