Alumni News

Keeping in touch with our graduates and their families means so much to all of us at Parkside. To see how our alumni have grown and to celebrate all they have achieved is what helps motivate us to continue the work we do for our current students.

The following are the Alumni News submissions we’ve received from alumni over the course of the past several months. To submit your own news to be included in future editions, click here!

2000’s

Luis Calvo ’00 visited Parkside this year, and had the chance to talk with Ms. Miller and Ms. Thorne. He said, “I have such great memories from Parkside. Parkside is one of the main reasons I wanted to work in education.” Luis has a Masters of Science in Education degree, and currently works as a School Counselor at The San Miguel School in Washington, DC.

Amanda Morales ’02 attended Lowell School in Queens after leaving Parkside. Over the next several years, she relocated to Florida with her family, where she attended Lawton Chiles Middle School, St. Cloud High School, and graduated in 2009 from Poinciana High School in Kissimmee, FL, where she participated in ROTC and the drill team. She went on to complete the Administrative Assistant Program at the Osceola Technical Education Center in 2012. In addition to working at Publix supermarket since high school, she has worked as an administrative assistant at the hospital in Celebration, Florida and volunteered at the Osceola Regional Medical Center. She also worked in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World until the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, she has continued to work at Publix, and recently marked 15 years with the company.

Pilar Muhammad ’07 qualified for her Masters in Social Work from Fordham University as of December 17, 2022! She has to take her licensing exam in 2023. While at Fordham, two honor societies, Phi Kapa Phi and Alpha Sigma, extended invitations for her to join. Pilar said to Ms. Miller and Ms. Thorne, “the outcome of your work reinforced my belief in my academic abilities.”

Dante Panora ’09 finished a service term for the NYC Civic Corps as a Volunteer Services Manager at Sunnyside Community Services in 2022, and is currently serving in the VISTA Corps as a Housing Policy Analyst for the NYC Department of Housing Preservation & Development. He says, “I have greatly developed my technical skills at HPD and have gained a greater understanding of the inner workings of public policy and private development in New York City. I am currently applying for jobs in many different fields ranging from policy analysis to community coordination to economic development, and more.” In his free time, Dante likes to go to music venues in Brooklyn and attend concerts around the city. He has also recently taken up miniature canvas painting as a hobby.

2010’s

Theodore Strongin ’10 graduated from Columbia University this month. Congratulations, Theo!

Dora Butner ’11 achieved her goal of running a marathon! She ran the Philadelphia marathon in 2022 and is excited to run the TCS NYC marathon this year in November 2023.

Andrew Isaacson ’11 is living his best life on a gap year post college. In September he started studying Spanish in Barcelona and traveling around Europe on the weekends. He also spent six weeks doing community service in Thailand, and went on to work for a radio station in Sydney, Australia for 8 weeks! Check out this article about him published by East Side 89.7FM.

Samantha Resnick ’12 is finishing her freshman year at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. She is interested in studying criminal justice and film appreciation and plans to enjoy the beach and sunny weather while she is there!

Nick Roker ’14 started at Landmark College in the fall, and is enjoying serving as an Ambassador for the school!

*Nick Roker ’14 (center) with Parkside Classmates Yonina Lasday ’14 and Ian Rottman ’14*

Mark Cole ’16 is thriving in South Jersey! Last summer, he became a certified life guard. He is in his second year of the NJROTC Navy Branch, and is also a Fire Cadet and will soon become a Jr. Fire Fighter. He was also recently inducted into the National Arts Honor Society, and will take Drivers Education later this year. This summer, he plans to travel to Europe with his World History teacher and classmates to visit London, France and Italy. He is a true history buff!

Leo Schaffer ’17 is a busy young man these days! Now 17 years old, he recently passed his driver's test, is looking at colleges, and is an avid soccer player in the 11th grade!

Anna Shalah ’18 is currently preparing to take the SAT next year, and says she is ready for the challenge. Her family sent a photo from a recent trip to Sedona, AZ saying “We miss Parkside a lot! It was a magical place for all of us.”

*Anna Shalah ’18 with her parents in Sedona, AZ*

Daniel Visceglia ’19 remains good friends with Parkside buddies Rajan Kang ’18, Matteo Pai ’19, and Ruby Dwyer ’18. He reminisces fondly about his teachers and therapists. Though he credits good luck and timing, Daniel made starting goalie on Varsity Soccer his freshman year at Summit. He has spent two summers at sleepaway camp at Summit on the Hill in Pennsylvania. His passion and knowledge for ancient and military history has grown. Daniel has recently been a team leader at his work-study program at Old Navy.

2020’s

*Rose Green’ 20 on her first day at Summit*

Rose Green ’20 is enjoying her time at Summit! This year she was in the same class as Zoe Marketos ’20, with Bella Marketos ’20 in the class next door. The girls had a great time reconnecting with everyone at Parkside’s Young Alumni Party earlier this month.

This spring, Parkside had three outstanding alumni events. On May 2, Nicky and Leonard Ellis P’15 hosted a fabulous gathering for more than 30 alumni parents. The following week, we welcomed Parkside Classes of 2019-2022 to the gym for our first Young Alumni Party since 2019. And on May 17, we had members of Parkside Classes 1994-2018 singing their hearts out at Karaoke Duet for our Alumni Karaoke Party.