At the end of the 2024-2025 school year, long-time Kindergarten teacher Phyllis De Stefano will retire. For 43 years, Mrs. De Stefano has worked at the Bernardsville Elementary School, also known as Bedwell. In 1981, she first came to the district to student-teach third graders and soon got hired. She helped hundreds of students prepare for the rest of their education and to better people. Many former students are already adults and in high school. One former student is Cierra Knaus who is a current freshman. “She showed me what a caring teacher should be like” Knaus 28’ she says when asked about the impact Mrs. De Stefano has given her life.
After spending 43 years at Bedwell, “It has been a second family to me” De Stefano says. Through all her ups and downs, the school was always supportive. Working at Bedwell is a big part of her identity that she will miss the most. Another identity that many former students recall of her is Curious George. Many years ago, she started handing out a stuffed animal of Curious George to students to take on adventures. Each student would have a chance and they would write a journal entry once done. So far, Curious George has been to Ireland, Japan, and all over the United States, and with each, a journal that De Stefano has kept.
Even with maternity and sick leaves, she is a big part of the elementary school’s history. “I love teaching kindergarteners…they’re just so endearing, and I’ll miss that,” says De Stefano. Along with her missing the school, the school will miss her and BES principal Mr. Koellhoffer, who will miss their “conversations in the morning…it is a great time for [them] to catch up.” By teaching kindergarten for so long, De Stefano has learned many important life lessons that shape who she is today. De Stefano learned that “every child’s so different, and every child comes from different worlds and different families.”
Children are all so different and schools take them as robots sometimes. She learned to look at them as a whole picture considering their personalities, backgrounds, and lifestyles along with their academics. “Sometimes things don’t work out the way you think they’re gonna work out,” De Stefano adds. “She is a professional…she takes her job seriously, but knows how to have fun with it,” Koellhoffer says. Taking each mistake and using it to become a better person and teacher has turned her into a great teacher with great qualities all around. With all this knowledge that she has gained throughout her experience working at Bedwell, she will enter retirement excited for new things to come. “I’m excited for the flexibility” she says. From taking care of her newborn granddaughter to traveling the world, she is excited to enter this new chapter of her life. “I’m excited to not get up at quarter to six anymore” De Stefano adds. With only the weekends free during the school year, she is excited to be able to pick a random day to go on a day trip instead of waiting for the weekends to cram everything she wants to do.
Loved by hundreds of people including students and colleagues, everyone has a great memory of her. The best memory that Mr. Koellhoffer had of her was also his first memory of her. “There was a stretch of time when I was brand new and on one of the first days I was in my office she knocked on my door and introduced herself” Koellhoffer recalls. Mrs. De Stefano has such a bubbly personality and always welcomes everyone. With a large legacy to leave behind, Mrs. De Stefano is retiring at the end of this year to face a new chapter of her life.
