WOODBURY — After a 33-year-long teaching career, math teacher Laurenn Bertoglio will complete the current school year as her final one before going into retirement. While this is a loss for the Nonnewaug community, several factors contributed to her decision to retire and move to New Mexico.
“The district offered a special early retirement package this year that helped me pay for [Medicare insurance], so I decided to take advantage of it,” Bertoglio says. “Mostly though, three of my children, my three grandchildren, and two of my sisters are all in Albuquerque. I decided that, at this point in my life, being with my family is more important than working a few more years.”
Bertoglio values time with her loved ones and is eager to be with them, now more than ever.
“Maybe it had something to do with losing both my parents in the last two years, but I just feel this overwhelming desire to be close to [my family] again,” she shares.
With her last month being June 2025, students and teachers alike forlornly await her departure from the Nonnewaug community. Fellow math teacher and former math department head Ray Robillard describes it as “bittersweet.”
“I am so happy for her that she gets to spend more time with her family and enjoy a well-deserved retirement,” says Robillard. “However, I will certainly miss so many things, like the conversations about AP Calculus that we have, her practical take on my (sometimes too-outside-the-box) ideas at department meetings, and our shared love of TV shows like the Big Bang Theory and Ted Lasso.”
Senior AP Calculus BC student Ava Parks shares similar sentiments.
“I say it is great that she is moving onto a new chapter in her life,” Parks says. “She deserves … a big break from tiring calculus.”
Bertoglio said there’s a lot she will miss about Nonnewaug.
“I will miss all of the friends I have made here and all of the special students I have been lucky to share my days with,” Bertoglio says, returning the feelings of her students and fellow teachers. “There are many AP Calculus students I will never forget … [and] I will never forget my colleagues in the math department. They have been so wonderful to work with.”
Bertoglio is cherished across the school not only for her ability to teach challenging topics, but also for the genuine care she has for those she works with.
“Ms. Bertoglio’s attention to detail, preparedness, and depth of content knowledge make her a great teacher, but, most importantly … she cares so much about her students and their success,” Robillard says. “One simply needs to look at her wall of newspaper clippings to know how much she is a champion for her students.”
Parks says she’s been lucky to have Bertoglio as a teacher.
“I love her as a teacher. She is very patient when I struggle in class, and she is always available in person or through email to answer my questions,” Parks adds.
Bertoglio, who recently sold her house and bought one in Albuquerque, has a variety of plans for once she moves and officially retires.
“I am looking forward to spending time with all of my family, walking my dog a lot, and just doing whatever I want. I’m sure at some point I might do some tutoring or maybe teach a class at a community college, but for right now, it will be settling into my new house,” Bertoglio shares. “I also plan to travel some, maybe to Europe and California to see relatives, but I also plan to visit Connecticut frequently to visit my son [who] lives in Groton [and] will be getting married next year.”
Although Nonnewaug is losing a core member of the community, Bertoglio is ready to begin the next phase of her life. Not only is she excited for her own post-retirement plans, she is eager to see where her students go once it comes time for them to leave Nonnewaug as well.
“When I see former students graduate from college and go on to lead amazing careers,” she said, “I am so proud.”
