At the end of this school year we will say farewell to two long-serving and valued members of the Packer community as they head off to a well-earned retirement: First Grade Head Teacher Cindy Copland and Middle School Math Teacher June Alpert. 

Cindy Copland
Cindy started at Packer in 1987, first as a third grade and then a first grade teacher. With her signature pencil in her ponytail (always at the ready!), Cindy asked deep and thought-provoking questions of her young charges, and she encouraged them to do the same. At the same time, Cindy never took things too seriously (rumor has it she was personally responsible for the Hush Puppies resurgence of the late 90’s, wearing a different color for every day of the week). She adored her students—when speaking of them to a colleague, she would shake her head and say, "They are such silly little knuckleheads!"  

The well-being and growth of her colleagues was a professional priority for Cindy. She has long advocated for the use of Critical Friends Group (CFG) practices and protocols and, along with Eric Baylin, Monika Johnston, and Tim Jensen, ran the monthly faculty professional development program, “TGT” (formerly TaLL Tuesdays) for many years.

Her next chapter will no doubt continue to be filled with cats, family, exploring hidden gems in NYC, and visits to her beloved island home on Grand Lake in Michigan.

June Alpert
June was part of the Packer community for ten years, as the parent of Emily ’07 and Sophie ’09, before joining Packer’s faculty in 2003, teaching math to sixth to ninth graders. In addition to her work in the classroom, June led the 7th and 8th Grade Math Club and participated in the Ndonyo-Wasin partnership. Prior to becoming a teacher, June had a 20-year career in finance. She brought this wealth of real-world experience into the classroom, including leading popular Winter Sessions on money and investing.

June described some of her best moments in class to be when students have a “lightbulb” moment, and they exclaim, “Oh, now I get it!”. We are so grateful to June for giving so many Packer students “lightbulb” moments in her twenty years teaching at our school.