Mrs. Christine Calabro, 3rd grade teacher

Step into the third grade classroom at St. John’s, and you will be warmly welcomed by our newest teacher, Mrs. Christine Calabro. She is energetic and cheerful, and she is excited to be here. She has a vision for helping her students grow as individuals, and is genuinely interested in giving them the sense that learning can be fun. In the first few months of school, Chris has gotten to know her 14 boy and 5 girls, rearranged the desks, accumulated new books for her classroom and delighted the kids on Halloween by coming to school dressed as her 16-year-old daughter.

It is through applying for a teaching position in the Archdiocese of Washington that St. John’s found Chris, though she’s hardly a stranger to the area. She was born and raised in College Park, attended grade school at Holy Redeemer and was a proud graduate of Regina High School. The oldest of five children (four younger brothers!), Chris stayed in the neighborhood for college by attending the University of Maryland, where she earned her degree in Elementary Education, graduating with the class of 1981. Her college degree gave her the experience needed to join the Prince George’s County Public School system right out of school. After a couple years, she was given the opportunity to return to teach at her own elementary school, Holy Redeemer.

During this time, she married her husband, Nino, and shortly after, traded her chalkboard and workbooks for the opportunity to stay home with her growing family. Chris and Nino have three children – Rose, 21, currently attends Georgetown University, Phillip, 19, goes to Stonehill College in Massachusetts, and Alayna, who loaned her mom some stylish 16-year-old clothing for Halloween, is a student at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart. As her kids grew up and began leaving the house, Chris was once again drawn to teaching and her love for working with children. She went back to work three years ago as the Reading Resource Teacher at Fourth Presbyterian School in Potomac. Lucky for us at St. John’s, she checked out a recent Archdiocesan job fair, and later learned of our need for a third grade teacher.

Chris enjoys photography, which is evident by the number of photographs she’s already taken of her students- the display just inside her classroom door is full of smiling faces and happy expressions. She has clearly won over the kids in a very short time.

My time in Mrs. Calabro’s classroom felt like a visit with a good friend. If I can feel that way in only 30 minutes, imagine how wonderful our third graders must feel spending all day in her classroom. I recommend that you make a point to stop by and say hello to her-you’ll be glad you did.