For the October edition of Staff Spotlight we are highlighting Mrs. Amy Baldyga; our beloved Pre-AP 2 and AP Language and Composition teacher at University High School. 

Mrs. Baldyga is one of the newer teachers at UHSSE, although she has no shortage of teaching experience. She started out at New Visions teaching 8th grade students and recalls being surprised when the students were not interested in doing their schoolwork. She then kept  teaching in Adult Education for 6 years , where she was teaching specific classes about GED and Diplomas. She then transferred over to teaching at SMSA, where she was a class advisor and coach for 2 years. Before ending up at UHSSE she worked in New Milford for 2 years where she was also a class advisor and coach. 

Mrs. Baldyga went to college at Villanova University in Pennsylvania for her bachelor’s degree. She then got her masters degree online from Walden University and even took some doctoral classes there. Besides these 2 schools she has taken classes at Central Connecticut State University, University of Hartford, and Eastern Connecticut State University.  Her 2 bachelors degrees are in secondary education and english. Her masters degree is in k-7 reading and math. Outside of school she has many hobbies and interests. She loves playing with her pets, hiking, gardening, baking, and camping. She has a dog, a cat and 8 pet chickens at home. 

Besides teaching 5 sophomore English classes Mrs. Baldyga is involved in many different activities. She is the advisor for many clubs; some of which being book club, crochet club, and grow club. She is also part of the UHSSE Pride Club. Besides clubs she also coaches indoor track and field and has become the class of 2026 advisor. 

Mrs. Baldyga’s year so far has been super busy between lesson planning as well as clubs. One of her favorite things about UHSSE is that everyone seems to get excited about learning. She loves watching kids realize that they actually can do something even after doubting themself. She also commented on how one of her favorite things is how the UHSSE community is like a family. When she initially came to be interviewed by UHSSE Principal Sean Tomany a student directed her to the office, held the door for her and went to go get Principal Tomany for her. Mrs. Baldyga said, “It’s not a job, it’s a family.”