Polly Rico, Bellows Free Academy’s new Proficiency Instructional Coach, started teaching English at BFA in 1999.  Rico didn’t always know she wanted to teach. Rico started college with no idea what she wanted to do. It wasn’t until her senior year of college that she decided to be a teacher. After the bank she worked at in college put her in the training department to train new employees, Rico was even more sure that she wanted to become a teacher. Rico has a master’s degree in curriculum and an undergraduate degree in anthropology, both from UVM. 

 When BFA went to proficiency grading a few years ago, Rico said, “I felt like I was drowning.”  She added,  “[Then] fast forward to 2020, and we go remote, and again people are teaching completely different and I remember thinking … here it is again. People are gonna feel like they’re drowning…so this position opened up, and I thought, this is my opportunity to be able to support the other teachers.” 

When asked what her main responsibility is in her new position, Rico responded, “I feel like my biggest responsibility is making sure that teachers are feeling supported… basically being there when they need me to be.” Although she works primarily with teachers, Rico also monitors an Enrichment period and has a student book club.