Salve fuels the staff at Aquidneck Elementary

By Karen Carlo Ruhren

Snack time in Diane Lukowicz’s ’89 second-grade classroom is non-negotiable. “Eating with the kids is my favorite part of the school day,” said the veteran teacher at Aquidneck Elementary School in Middletown. “I get to know them and what’s important to them.”  

Nurturing students is part of the fabric at Aquidneck, which prides itself on strong community bonds—a quality instilled in many of its teachers from their shared education at Salve Regina University. To date, nine teachers at the PK-3 school are Salve graduates, products of the Department of Education’s emphasis on preparation and training.

Lukowicz sees similar qualities embedded in the cultures of both Salve and Aquidneck. “Our school’s values are similar to Salve’s: family, giving back, community, inclusion and involvement,” she said. “It’s a great spirit.”

Brittney Nelson ’10, a fellow alum and colleague of Lukowicz’s, also appreciates these shared ideals. Nelson arrived at Aquidneck in 2015 and says she’s never stopped learning. “I relate to Salve’s philosophy of being a lifelong learner,” said Nelson, who has found her niche teaching kindergarten and especially enjoys overseeing literacy centers in her classroom. “I’ve completed an MLL (multi-lingual learner) endorsement certificate and took additional foundational kindergarten and math skills classes,” said Nelson. “Just like at Salve, at Aquidneck we also share different ideas and do a good job of working as a team, even at the administrative level.”  

Nelson believes collaboration as a student and as a faculty member is key. “Students change year to year, but you really want to like the people you work with, and we do at Aquidneck,” she said.

Newer to the staff at Aquidneck is Alana Guglielmo ’23, who graduated from Salve with a double major in elementary education and special education. Guglielmo came to Aquidneck as a preschool special education teacher, switched roles to a resource educator and this year has hit her stride as a third-grade classroom teacher with 20 students of her own. A new science program has energized her, and she has succeeded in helping her kids plant “Wisconsin fast plants” and learning about their lifecycle.

“I’m thankful for Salve,” said the recent graduate. “Salve prepared me well. My professors were amazing. We are placed into a classroom environment as early as sophomore year so I wasn’t nervous about student teaching by the time I was a senior,” Guglielmo recalled. “And we had a small cohort of education majors at Salve, similar to the staff size at Aquidneck, which is a wonderful community of faculty and families.”

That sense of community and inclusion is what has kept Lukowicz at Aquidneck for 23 of her 37 years in the field. A double major in elementary education and special education—certified PK-8—Lukowicz graduated with a mission. “I knew I always wanted to teach inclusion. I worked in group homes in the ’80s while attending Salve. My force was special education, and Salve prepared me for this,” she said.

“Eventually, having a son who is blind made me much more aware of kids with disabilities. Being on the other side 20 years ago gave me a whole new look at life and a new way of talking to students’ parents. I reassure parents that their kids are in good hands,” said Lukowicz.

“It’s all about the kids here,” said Lukowicz. With PTG (parent-teacher group) fundraisers, dances, bingo and harvest festivals, everybody gives 1,000 percent.” She says that the school’s student-focused philosophy translates to good-old fun, too. “On snowy school days, we invite all the kids to bring in their sleds and snow gear and go out and play,” Lukowicz said.  

Like her colleagues, Guglielmo realizes that not every school is like Aquidneck. She cautions future teachers to keep a positive mindset. “There’s a lot of negativity about education [as a career] out there, but I love what I do,” she said.

“It’s a hard job,” agreed Nelson. “But at the end of a day, a student needs a teacher who really wants to help.” She believes Salve understands this. “Salve is very reflective about their program. I would definitely recommend it. I host student teachers from Salve, and they come in well-prepared, and the faculty follows up. They work well with us,” she said.

“I’ve mentored over 30 student-teachers from Salve during my career in Middletown Public Schools,” said Lukowicz. “They keep me young, they help me with technology, but best of all, they’re classy, kind, caring, considerate, young people.”  

Lukowicz, who is retiring at the end of this academic year, stated, “I’d like nothing more than to see a Salve alum transition into my second-grade position at Aquidneck School.”

Featured image from left to right: Alana Guglielmo '23, Shannon Dugan '94, Maggie McCue '25, Alexa Stevens '24, Brittany Schuchmann-Nelson '10, Grace Boyle '25, Callie Marcerelli '24, Frankie Pellegrino '24, Diane Andrews-Lukowicz '89.