Maria Franco-Hale didn’t feel as if she was where she was meant to be.
After beginning her career as a psychology major focusing specifically on non-verbal communication, she worked for around twenty years in the field of developmental disabilities and mental health. Working in the clinical world for a while, she needed a change of scenery, so she worked in human resources at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Even though she got to dress nice and made a nice amount of money, she still wasn’t fulfilled.
“Something was missing for me,” said Franco-Hale. “I was making a lot of money and got to wear pretty clothes and it was really easy, and no one called me at three in the morning, but something just- I felt like there’s something that I need more than this.”
Franco-Hale is now an instructional aide at Salisbury Elementary School in a pre-kindergarten classroom.When work settles down and there’s free time to be spent, Fanco-Hale involves herself in a handful of activities. Singing in an adult choir, power walking, and listening to music are just a few things that make up who she is. On top of these, she loves to laugh.
Hale started her journey at Framingham State University, attaining her undergraduate degree and then moving to Adelphi University for graduate school. There she majored in psychology and her specialty was non-verbal communication. In graduate school, her focus was mainly on the study of kids and adolescents.
“That was kind of my jam; being able to read what you would call micro behaviors in people,” said Franco-Hale.
She worked for about 20 years as a clinician in the field of developmental disabilities and mental health. Hale decided she was tired of working in the clinical world and she went on to work at MIT in human resources, where she also met her husband.
Ending her time at MIT she felt like something was missing and she needed more from her job. She talked about working with a career counselor to explore what else she could do for jobs. After working with a counselor and taking time to evaluate her work, she decided to step down from her job at MIT and do what had always wanted to do; work in a classroom. She worked in a preschool for many years as a head teacher. She loved working in the classroom and she was always coming home happy.
Since then she has made one last job change. Recently, Mrs. Hale has been working at Salisbury Elementary School as a Preschool IA. Not only is she loving it so far, but her mentor, Mrs. Kerry Lebreck had nothing less than great things to say about her.
“It’s been fabulous,” Lebreck said. “ It’s nice to have someone who was a teacher. I mean it’s like the optimal circumstances, someone who was a teacher helping out a teacher in their classroom. It’s been amazing. She’s so helpful, so knowledgeable and I’m just really thankful that she’s here.”
Lebreck and Hale have been working together in the class together for about 3 and a half weeks now and they had said it has been very smooth sailing despite the typical chaos of the first few weeks of school. For Hale specifically, she expressed how easy it has been to adjust to the schedule because she is coming from a far more hectic schedule as she is transitioning into an IA.
Franco-Hale had already been lucky enough to already have a connection with Lebreck so working in the classroom has only made that stronger. But she also has been able to build connections with the students whom she has enjoyed spending her time with so far while working at SES.
“I am really really happy I am in this classroom,” Franco-Hale said.
The new principal of Salisbury Elementary shared some more insight with us.
“Things are off to a positive start,” Mr. Michael Astuccio Said. “Maria has been partnering with Kerry Lebreck, the classroom teacher, to build relationships and set routines with our youngest learners, and each time I visit the classroom, Maria, Kerry, and the students are busily engaged in exciting activities like art, foundational math and literacy skills, and play, which is critical for our preschooler’s development.”
