Mrs. Lorraine Calvo has a very important and complex role in the Manville School District. Although not many students will know her name, many staff members and especially substitutes know her very well. Mrs. Calvo is known as the Assistant to the Assistant Superintendent, with this role she finds herself managing student teachers and their placements in the district, teacher substitutes, and all the teacher’s absence records, and on top of that, she also manages curriculum. Mrs.Calvo says it is necessary to have broad knowledge as she is expected to remember many grants and information on the rules and regulations here at Manville High School. To have this job she recommends one to be confident, organized, independent, flexible, and collaborative. Strong communication skills are also a necessity, as well as being able to prioritize certain tasks, having an open door policy, and providing comfort. Although these skills may seem to be a lot, as she said, this job carries a lot more than one would think. 

Mrs. Calvo’s journey to getting to this position is nothing she would ever want to change. At first, she started as a substitute teacher and following that she pursued long-term substitute teaching where she then took a leap and became an instructional assistant. After that leap, she worked in the basic skills/testing department and then escalated her position to become an Administrative Assistant. From there she transitioned from Assistant to the Assistant Superintendent. Throughout all these different positions and opportunities, Mrs.Calvo was also asked to be the temporary cheer coach which resulted in a 14-year coaching career. During her coaching experience, she even worked alongside our current vice principal, Mr.Venuto as he led the football team. Within these 14 years, she changed the cheer program here at Manville High School to be competitive, so MHS cheerleaders owe her a huge thank you! Throughout all of this, including her current position, Mrs.Calvo has been a part of Manville School District’s faculty and staff for a total of 27 years.

During her exceptional career, she has made some unforgettable memories! After being here for 27 years, Mrs.Calvo can surely say she enjoyed watching the district grow, and along with it, all the programs that have grown including those that the district has added with student’s preferences in mind. From her unique perspective behind the scenes, she has been able to witness the town’s progression as it has grown immensely. She mostly enjoyed the activities with the staff and the relationships she built with all of her colleagues. Since Mrs.Calvo is in charge of the substitutes, she even got to see some students from long-term substitute jobs become teachers and has thoroughly enjoyed experiencing being such a big part of their lives and knowing they are succeeding! She enjoys working with so many talented colleagues and being able to have such a large role in making a difference with school programs and decisions. She especially loves maintaining relationships with the substitutes and being able to openly communicate with them. Mrs.Calvo hopes that the next amazing person to have this job can have the same mindset and continue to be open and keep things comfortable although times can get stressful.

Now that she will be retiring, the first thing on Mrs.Calvo’s list that she hopes to be able to complete is to travel with her husband. Some of the places she and her husband desire to travel to include Alaska in June, and Europe at some point in the future. Although she has her big dreams for retirement, she is also just excited to be able to spend time with her four kids and not to mention her 11 grandkids! 

Manville wishes Mrs. Lorraine Calvo the happiest retirement and a huge congratulations! Thank you for all your time and dedication to the Manville School District throughout the years.