Out of a need for the town of Norwood to redistrict the school zones, the school community came up with an idea to make the current kindergarten an elementary school. With the new Coakley Middle School in full swing and running this year, 5th graders have left elementary schools and shifted to the middle school. Along with this change, there have gradually been more people moving into Norwood, and with this follows more children in need of education, leading the school community to begin pondering if they should make the Willett an elementary school.
The current elementary schools are the Cleveland, Oldham, Balch, Calahan, and the Prescott. In a great change to Norwood, this also means that teachers, families, and community members will have to adjust to the new adjusted school districts. With this being said, many staff members have chosen or selected to move to the Willett for the benefit of the community.
Chanley Salvucci is a fourth-grade teacher at the Balch Elementary School and has been teaching since 2000. She is greatly excited to move to the Willet but will definitely miss the Balch.
In terms of what she enjoys most about being a teacher, she loves “teaching something new to [her] students, and then when their ‘lightbulb’ goes off when they finally understand the assignment. It is so awesome to see their confidence and pride when they get something they have struggled with.”
In the spring of 2025, Salvucci found out that she was selected to move to the Willett from the Balch, prepping the change. With this new opportunity for many, she is more than excited to see what comes next for her and the new students, families, and staff members she will meet.
Saying goodbye to the Balch Elementary School and all it encompasses, Salvucci explains how “ the Balch is a special place that has amazing teachers and staff, and I will certainly miss seeing them every day, but I am still ecstatic for this new opportunity.”
Similarly, an Oldham elementary school second-grade teacher, Caroline Haberlin, is looking forward to her new move to the Willett. As a full-time teacher in her own classroom, Haberlin is in her 27th year of teaching and has taught first and second grade in the past few years. Moving from a student teacher at the Cleveland elementary school in Norwood, half a year later, she made her move to the Oldham, where she has been ever since. Haberlin, when asked who out of a few Oldham teachers would like to move to the Willett, was eager for the new adventure her road was leading down.
She heard about this new opportunity through the school committee’s redistricting plans a few years back and has kept the thought of a new scenery in the back of her mind.
At that point, Haberlin explained, “I really didn’t know how it would affect other schools and how many teachers would be needed, but this year the idea became clearer with the numbers of each kid per school. Over at the Oldham, we knew two teachers would be needed for the move, and soon after that, I volunteered, and it all came together.”
In this, she looks forward to seeing previous Oldham families and meeting new ones that are transitioning just like the rest of the teachers. Also, with Haberlin’s move up to a new grade level, being in third grade, she hopes to have a few Oldham students she will recognise from her previous school. As well as this, she is greatly excited about teaching a new curriculum because she has never taught third grade before.
In terms of blending the town of Norwood, she states, “This is one of the first times a new elementary school has opened in Norwood, meaning teachers, students, and staff members are all new to this environment. This is really fun because I will be working with people, and it is all of our first time in the school, meaning we are all sort of connected from the beginning in one similarity. This is really just such an exciting adventure to be on, and I am so grateful that I get to be a part of it.”
“To the Oldham, thank you so much for being such an amazing school with such amazing people inside and out. I have learned so much from my time working here with the most wonderful staff members, students, and families. I have developed so many relationships through my time in room 19 that will stay with me for the rest of my life. While I am greatly going to miss my friends and community at the Oldham, that won’t change all the memories that filled those walls and the friendships I have made. I will be taking the hugely welcoming and accepting camaraderie over to the Willett with me, but know that I know I will love and have so much fun with, I will always have a family at the Oldham. Thank you again for everything, and I am so grateful for all the opportunities that have come my way and this new opportunity.”
