Dionisia Veronica Rigby (M.A., Dance Education, New York University, M.A., Childhood Education, Brooklyn College, B.A. Early Childhood Education, University of Hartford) is an NYCDOE K-5 Dance Teacher in an elementary school in the South Bronx. Her mother is a retired DOE teacher of 30+ years and is responsible for the foundation of Dionisia’s love for the education world. She has been dancing from the age of 9, starting at a local dance studio in her neighborhood in Brooklyn. She worked with children from the age of 17, starting with volunteer work at Little Sun People Day Care in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn. After receiving her Bachelor’s and obtaining her Initial Teaching License in both Connecticut and New York, she became a K-2 Spanish teacher at a charter school. She then transitioned into a Kindergarten Teacher, teaching all subjects, at a different charter school, all while getting her Masters’s in Childhood Education and her Professional Teaching License. Her experience in the charter schools propelled her into going back to school for dance teaching. While achieving her second Masters’s at NYU she made sure she kept one foot in the early childhood education world as a part-time 3K teacher for a Preschool in Park Slope, Brooklyn. She worked as Deborah Damast’s assistant for one week during the Kid’sDoDance Summer Program in Martha’s Vineyard and traveled to Uganda to participate in the study abroad dance program. Her experience at NYU was the most rewarding experience. It is where she realized it was truly possible for her to do the 2 things she loved most in the world, dancing and teaching. Using all her teaching skills from the early childhood world and the dance education world she quickly found her way into DOE where she couldn’t be happier. She was appointed the model teacher position during her 3rd year and hopes to achieve a master teacher within the next few years. It is an honor to be working with Del and Dionisia is excited to further her learning and teaching skills through this experience.
