District Mourns Two Elementary School Teachers

More sad news for the Scarsdale community was announced via email when district parents learned that Elisa Draper, a fifth grade teacher at the Quaker Ridge Elementary School, died suddenly on Friday night November 19. Mrs. Draper’s husband Robert Draper, is a well known Physics teacher at Scarsdale High School and therefore, many in the community know the couple. At a School Board meeting on Monday night November 22nd, Superintendent Michael McGill expressed his sorrow and board member Suzanne Seiden said that Mrs. Draper had "touched hundreds in our community and that she was loved by her students and her colleagues." Seiden recognized Mrs. Draper's work on sustainability projects and the school garden, her class Mother's Day celebrations and Greek mythology presentations and said that Draper will "always be treasured and remembered." Our heart goes out to Mr. Draper and their children.

In order to help the Quaker Ridge students and parents deal with the loss, the school took several steps, including assembling their crisis team, having district psychologists on hand and offering parents an opportunity to come to the school to gather and explore how to discuss the loss with their children.

At the high school, youth outreach workers and psychologists were available and the principal encouraged parents to share the news with their own children. At Scarsdale Middle School similar measures were taken and children who had Mrs. Draper as a teacher were identified to be treated with extra care. The news came just weeks after the death of Corie Vidal, another school staff member who worked in the SHS Math department.

Rabbis at Westchester Reform Temple lead a discussion for WRT Parents on “Helping Children through Tragic Loss” on 
Tuesday November 23, 4:45 to 5:45PM.

The Quaker Ridge School was closed on Wednesday November 24 for Mrs. Draper's funeral which was held at Resurrection Church in Rye.

Last week, Scarsdale10583 also learned that Allyne Brumbaugh, a retired second grade teacher at Greenacres Elementary school, passed away after a long illness. Before coming to Greenacres in 1986, Ms. Brumbaugh taught the gifted and talented class in a school in Brooklyn. She taught second grade at Greenacres for 18 years before retiring in 2004.

Ms. Brumbaugh was an insightful educator who brought out the best in all of her students. She was a leader in teaching mathematical concepts to children and authored a book called “Big Magic Number Puzzles” which was published by Scholastic and used in her classes. Her students remember her calm, warm and supportive style. According to colleague Joan Farella at Greenacres, “She was a very good friend. She was a wonderful teacher and touched so many young lives.”

Ms. Brumbaugh lived in Pound Ridge and is survived by her husband James Brumbaugh.

We offer our condolences to both families and ask you to share your memories of the teachers below: