Extending Deep Thanks and Farewells

 Dear TGS Community:

As we near the end of an extraordinary semester, it is time to acknowledge the talented and committed staff members who will be moving on from The Gregory School to new adventures. We are deeply grateful for the many contributions these special colleagues have made to The Gregory School Community. We are also sad that we can’t celebrate them in a typical manner, but we wanted to be sure you have an opportunity to offer your own messages of thanks and well wishes.

Having joined us in the summer of 2018, Revathi Thanikachalam has been teaching all forms of chemistry in the Upper School, and teaching it thoroughly! The way in which Revathi tackled the cleaning and reorganization of the classroom lab the summer she was hired foreshadowed her diligence in delivering extremely thorough and well-organized instructional units. We wish her the very best as she relocates to Houston, Texas to join one of her daughters and her husband in a new family adventure.

Amie Bergersen has been an integral member of the Middle School faculty since 2015 when she arrived to help us begin our fifth grade program. After successfully helping launch what has become our premier entry-level grade, having doubled in size over the past five years, Amie willingly and enthusiastically stepped up to teach whatever we needed her to teach in the past three years….namely eighth grade science and sixth grade math. In addition, she assumed a teacher leadership position with the Fabrication Lab, working with colleagues to think creatively about how to integrate their content area planning with FabLab projects and design thinking concepts. Amie and her husband Drew are relocating to Minneapolis this summer where she will begin a Ph.D. program at the University of Minnesota and Drew will join a urology practice.

Our last colleague is also quite versatile! Bonnie Miller spent most of her career at TGS teaching both math and science in the middle school, primarily at the sixth and seventh grade levels. During this time, Bonnie also served as a safe harbor for many a Middle School girl as a trusted advisor. A biology major in college, she happily transitioned to the Upper School when we needed someone to step in mid-year after Mr. Rolle became ill. She continued to teach Upper School biology this year, but has decided that she and her husband David are ready to transition to retirement. Bonnie and David have hosted a myriad of TGS international students over the past decade, and the school trips Bonnie helped arrange to Costa Rica have created lifelong memories for many students and families. Bonnie’s positive impact on the school has been significant in many ways.

The Gregory School is special for many different reasons, not the least of which is the community and relationships we all cherish on a daily basis. Revathi, Amie and Bonnie have been part of the fabric that wraps each of us in this special “security blanket.” There has been no more important time to feel that support, and so we thank them from the bottom of our hearts and want them to know we will miss them.

Most Sincerely,

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