New Osborn Elementary School Staff for 2024-25

On Monday, the Rye City School District announced 24 new staff members across the district.

Introduce yourself to the six new Osborn Elementary School staff.

Osborn School

Administrator

Rachel Lifson, Assistant Principal

Ms. Lifson comes to Osborn School from P.S. 9 The Sarah Anderson School on the Upper West Side, where she worked as a special education teacher grades K, 1 and 2 in ICT classrooms for seven years. In addition to her teaching duties, she served on the school’s Instructional Leadership Team, was the Special Education Lead, Coherency Grade Team Leader, and a Mentor Teacher. Ms. Lifson began her teaching career as a 1st grade general education teacher at P.S. 221 North Hills School in Little Neck, NY. Ms. Lifson has a B.S. in Applied Developmental Psychology and a M.E. in Instruction and Learning both from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Master of Educational Leadership: Administration and Supervision from Hunter College.

Teachers

Julia Colangelo, First Grade

Ms. Colangelo comes to Osborn School from Bronxville Elementary School where she has been a Teacher Resident since the fall of 2021. Before teaching in Bronxville, she completed her student teaching with 1st and 3rd grade classrooms at Greater Plains Elementary School Oneonta, NY. She began her teaching career working at an after school math program at Valley View Elementary School, also in Oneonta. For the past four summers, she worked as Science Director for the Westchester Country Club summer camp in Rye. Ms. Colangelo has a B.S. in Childhood Education with a concentration in Mathematics and an M.S. in Education, Literacy Education, both from SUNY Oneonta.

Maureen Connelly, First Grade

Ms. Connelly comes to Osborn School from P.S. 9 the Sarah Anderson school on the Upper West Side of Manhattan where she has worked for 11 years as a 1st grade teacher in an Integrated Co-Taught classroom. Previously, she spent five years as a 1st grade teacher at P.S. 179 and two as a science cluster teacher for grades 3, 4, and 5 at P.S. 220, both in the Bronx. She has a B.A. in Elementary Education from Loyola University Maryland and a Master of Childhood Education with a Specialization in Math and Science from Hunter College.

Anna Dagmar Johnson, General Music, Orchestra, and Chorus

Ms. Johnson comes to Osborn School from Hunter College where she has served for the past two years as Assistant Conductor and Symphony Scholar to the Hunter Symphony Orchestra while earning her M.A. She has 22 years of professional teaching, performing, and composing experience, including nine years at the Nightingale Bamford School on the Upper East Side and six at the Musical Kids Early Childhood Program. Her professional experience includes working as a pianist and vocal coach for Broadway shows including Waitress and Hadestown. For the past 23 years, she has spent summers teaching piano at Sonatina International Piano Camp in Bennington VT, and conducted the camp multi-age choir for eight seasons. She has a B.M. in Jazz Piano and Music Education from the Eastman School of Music and expects to receive her M.A. in Conducting and Music Education from Hunter College in December 2024.

Matthew Strang, General Music and Band

Mr. Strang is already a familiar face at Osborn School having worked as a leave replacement music and band teacher during the past school year. Before working in Rye, Mr. Strang was a private music instructor at the Croton Harmon Music Academy in Croton-on-Hudson, NY. He completed his student teaching at Litchfield High School in Litchfield, CT, and the Glastonbury Elementary Schools in Glastonbury, CT. He has a B.A. in Instrumental Music Education from the University of Hartford. He is currently completing his MA in Instrumental Music Performance at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College of the City of New York.

Staff

Heather Hay, Occupational Therapist

Ms. Hay comes to Osborn School from Family of Kidz, formerly Westchester Therapy Solutions, in Harrison, NY, where she has worked as an occupational therapist for the past two years. Before working in Harrison, she spent a year as an Occupational Therapist at the Story Place Preschool in Castleton, NY. She completed her student fieldwork at Story Place, the Albany Memorial Hand Center, the Bell Top Elementary School in Troy, NY, the Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, GA, and the Schuyler Inn Shelter in Menands, NY. Since 2018, she has worked as a dance teacher for children ages 4-16 at The Dance Lab in Saratoga, NY. She has a B.S. in Psychology from SUNY Oneonta and an M.S. in Occupational Therapy from the Sage Graduate School in Troy, NY.