By Allen Wu (V) This year, Pingry welcomes Ms. Denise Lionetti ’85 to the Language Department as a Spanish teacher for fourth and fifth grade.
Ms. Lionetti is no stranger to the Pingry community, as she was part of the Pingry graduating class of 1985. Here, she first cultivated her love for “other cultures and learning languages” and received the “best gift” of her life: being able to participate in a summer abroad program in Spain. Ms. Lionetti studied Italian at Rutgers University, where she completed her Bachelor of Arts and spent a year abroad in Florence, Italy.
Before returning to Pingry as a teacher, Ms. Lionetti served as a department chair and an advisor at the Seabury Hall School in Maui, Hawaii. There, she taught everything from Spanish 1 to AP Spanish. She left for a brief sabbatical and worked as an educational tour director in Italy before returning to Seabury Hall.
In May of last year, Ms. Lionetti remotely substituted in the Pingry Lower School. She cites this experience as one of the primary reasons as to why she “fell in love with the Pingry Lower School community.” This year, Ms. Lionetti is joining the school as a full-time faculty member. When asked about her experience as a Pingry teacher, Ms. Lionetti said that she’s had an enjoyable experience so far. “I am deeply moved by the resilience and dedication of everyone around me and feel incredibly blessed to be a part of such a wonderful community.”
She is also happy to see how the school has grown and changed over the years, citing the addition of 3D printers and world languages to the Lower School as examples. Ms. Lionetti also expressed her interest in becoming more involved in Pingry’s diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and is glad to see how involved students have become.
Outside of the classroom, Ms. Lionetti has a longstanding passion for Cuban-style salsa dancing. During her time as an entrepreneur, Ms. Lionetti even held week-long salsa workshops for several public schools in Maui.
Overall, Ms. Lionetti is looking forward to an exciting school year, despite all of the challenges it has presented: “It’s really an amazing feeling to see what we are capable of in the face of adversity.”