We have a wonderful executive board this year. Please feel free to reach out to any one of us in case you have any questions. We are here to help our children, staff, and you as parents.
Please learn more about each our board members below and consider joining our PTA to help our children, our staff, and our families. If you should need to reach us for anything, please email marvinpta@gmail.com
President
Jenn McMurrer is the PTA President for the third year running. She has two children who are attending Marvin this year: Harrison is in third grade and Madeline is in kindergarten. Professionally, Jenn has written and edited magazines and books during her 20+ year career as a journalist working for brands like Martha Stewart and House Beautiful. As president Jenn oversees the entire PTA and is responsible for working on fundraising, activities, enrichment, membership, and communications among other things! She has even been known to decorate for the Book Fairs as well as erect balloon arches outside of school. "My friend and neighbor got me involved in the PTA and at the end of our first year at the school I was hooked. I love the staff and kids and enjoy being a part of the day-to-day joy that is a part of Marvin. I would do anything for the teachers and families in our school community. My family and I love going to the beach, playing mini-golf, biking around our neighborhood, and enjoying all that Norwalk has to offer including festivals, little league, soccer, and dance. We are very fortunate to have a wonderful school and community full of Marvin Stars!"
Vice President
Sara Church is serving as Vice-President of the PTA this year. She first became involved by co-chairing the Scholastic Book Fair when her son Daniel was in Kindergarten. 7 years later Daniel is in 6th grade at Nathan Hale and she continues to chair the book fair and volunteer in other capacities while her younger son Benjamin continues his tenure at Marvin in 2nd grade.
When she isn't at Marvin sorting books, hanging posters, making copies, or sanding logs, she can be found at Norwalk Hospital catching babies and caring for women as a Certified Nurse-Midwife. She also serves as Secretary of the CT Affiliate of American College of Nurse Midwives, serves on the Board of the Executive Medical Staff Committee, and serves as the President of the Associate Medical Staff Committee. In her spare time Sara takes care of her kids, drives to activities, grocery shops, gardens, and squeezes in a few hours of sleep.
"Getting to know so many of the kids at Marvin over the years and seeing their smiling faces at the book fair and around school is what keeps me coming back to volunteering at Marvin."
Treasurers
John Church (pictured above with his beautiful family) serves as Co-Treasurer, where he helps maintain the PTA’s finances. “It’s great to see the fundraising dollars go back to the school and make a direct impact on our children’s education.” John joined the PTA board as co-Treasurer in the 2019-20 school year. He has two kids, one who just moved to Nathan Hale, and one in 2nd grade. John is a lifelong Norwalker who loves to walk around East Norwalk and occasionally kayak around the harbor with his family.
My name is Diana (pronounced Deanna) Baumgarte. My son Roland Marginean goes to 3rd grade. This is my third year with Marvin PTA as one of the treasurers. I volunteered because I wanted to be a part of this amazing Marvin community. I grew up in Latvia, Riga. To make it easy for you, it’s one of the Baltic countries, located in Northern Europe. My native language is Latvian. I also speak English, Russian, Swedish and some knowledge of Romanian. I always loved learning new languages. I have an associate degree from NCC, and bachelors degree from IONA go Gaels! I love sports. My favorite one is basketball. I played basketball since I was 7 years old. Also, I like to do DIY projects and all sorts of crafts. I met lots of wonderful people through volunteering at Marvin. It is a great place to learn about this community and wonderful people that live here. Go Marvin!
Membership Chair
Ericka Restrepo is in charge of memberships. She makes sure that people are registered in our system as members to stay up to date with all the updates and news. She sends out reminders for returning parents to re-enroll every year. She has been part of Marvin PTA since 2019 and took on the membership role last school year. 2020-2021. Her goal this year is to get as many people involved as possible, specially help her Spanish community.
She actually went to Marvin when she was younger, and is very happy to be involved and help anyway she can. Her son is in second grade. As a family what they love to do most in Norwalk is go out to the beach, play mini golf, visit the aquarium and take hikes in nearby parks. They enjoy eating at local restaurants, such as Don Carmelos. But Frosty's is their favorite!. She speaks both English and Spanish.
Fundraising Chair
Kristen Curtin is Fundraising Chair. She is responsible for managing the programs and platforms that generate donations to fund school events and improvements. She has been a PTA officer since 2019 and previously served as Communications Co-Chair. Kristen has two children enrolled in Marvin. A former Communications Executive, she has 18 years' experience managing internal and external communications for a variety of organizations across industry sectors, local and global, for- and nonprofit. Curtin said, "I volunteer for Marvin school in order to help improve every student's experience. I am inspired by the involved parents who came before me and know that an impact of this scale takes a village. Many hands make light work and there's no greater reason to get involved than 'it's for our kids.'"
Her favorite thing to do with her family around Norwalk is to hike and snowshoe at Cranbury Park and play mini golf and run near the beach!
Enrichment Chair
Lauren Parsio is the Enrichment Chair. Lauren will work with the PTA to run in-school enrichment opportunities designed to encourage students to expand in-school relationships and learning beyond the classroom. Lauren joined the PTA in 2021 and has a rising 1st grader and a 4 year old. Lauren owns and operates a psychotherapy private practice in East Norwalk. From her profession to personal passion, Lauren is always looking for ways to improve Social and Emotional Learning and Mindfulness in schools. "I'm really excited to join the PTA and thrilled to bring enriching activities to the students. After a challenging year, I know they're looking forward to it!", says Lauren, when asked about the opportunity. Lauren's favorite day in Norwalk would include exploring all East Norwalk has to offer with her family--a workout at Rise Up Fitness, a trip to Taylor Farm with their pup, coffee at The Galley, Friday night dinner at Don Carmelo's finished off with ice cream at Mr. Frosty's!
Communications Chair
Tracy Lagervall is the Communications Chair. One responsibility of the position is to use PTA publications to promote PTA events and share information. She has been a PTA officer since 2019 and has three children enrolled at Marvin. A former IT professional, she oversees the newsletter that gets sent out to Marvin families on a weekly basis. Lagervall said," I was interested in my PTA position because its a direct way to keep parents informed about what is going on in the Marvin community". Her favorite thing to do with her family around Norwalk is play basketball at all the great parks in the city. English language.
Photo and Yearbook Chair
Danielle Calloway will be holding the yearbook position. She joined the PTA 8/23. She has one daughter named Zoey attending Marvin, who will be entering 1st grade this year. Danielle is a photographer by profession so her creative background led Jenn to ask her about the yearbook position because she took photos of her family. Danielle said “I chose to be involved with the yearbook because I thought the position would be a good place to put my artistic background and love for photography to use!” She loves going to the beach, swim lessons, Cranbury Park and the Maritime Aquarium with her daughter. Danielle speaks English.
Secretary
Kathleen Boland is the Secretary. In this position she assists the President in the day-to-day operations of the PTA. Attending monthly meetings and working with members on fundraisers and events are also part of the role. She has been a member of the PTA since her daughter started Marvin in 2015, however, she has become a much more active member in the past couple of years, with both children being in school. Sydney graduated in 2020 and Patrick is going into 5th grade. Boland said, “I wanted to be Secretary because I feel it is a support role for the whole team. Since I am a veteran in the group I feel I can lend keen insight into past successes and continue to ensure good relationships between staff and parents, in order to benefit the school.” Her favorite thing to do is spend time with family and friends, enjoying all our great city has to offer: the beach, parks, restaurants, the Aquarium, etc. etc.! She also loves watching Sydney act, sing, and dance at Crystal Theatre, as well as watch Patrick play baseball. She also loves hanging out with the new Boland pup, Daisy. She can’t believe this will be her last year! She is so grateful for the wonderful and lasting friendships she’s made, as well as for the rewarding experience she has had as part of the PTA.
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