Ms. Jennifer Picagli joined the EHHS team on January 21st, 2025 as a special education teacher. She is the sister-in-law of Mrs. Danielle Picagli, an EHHS Math teacher. She previously worked for EHHS as a paraprofessional, ESY teacher, homebound educator, and long-term substitute teacher. Mrs. D. Picagli has been a math teacher here at EHHS for 10 years and she teaches Geometry, Algebra 1 and Statistics.
Ms. J. Picagli has always known she wanted to be a teacher, dating all the way back to when she was in kindergarten. Ms. Picagli worked for a small public school in Rhode Island for the last five years. She specifically worked alongside children admitted to the adolescent wing of the Yale Psychiatric Hospital to meet the requirements of the school, while still getting the help they needed in the hospital. While she did have other options she was considering, like architecture, she ultimately decided to go into teaching because she didn’t feel the same love for it as she did teaching. She shared, “I started as an English teacher, but while working at EHHS, I worked with a student who was dually identified, which is a special education and multilingual learner, and that inspired me to get both my special education and ESOL [certifications]. It took a while, but I feel like I am where I should be.”
Ms. Picagli likes to “read, watch TV & movies, cook, listen to music. I have music for everything. I like to do crafty things, and hang out with my family. I also love to talk. Sitting around a fire and going from topic to topic, that beats going out almost every time for me.” Ms. Picagli also attended EHHS as a student, so many of the teachers here also taught her. She wants to thank all of the staff and teachers who have helped her in her time here at EHHS. She also adds: “Every teacher I had [as a student] has helped me [transition to teaching.] I hope they forgive me for not listing each one.”
It is also important to appreciate Mrs. D. Picagli’s dedication to East Haven. Mrs. Picagli’s first year teaching was here at EHHS in 2015, and she has been here ever since. Mrs. Picagli had a 3rd grade teacher that suggested she would make a great teacher, and it has been her dream ever since. Mrs. Picagli says, “I love East Haven, I’m an Eastie for life. Even if there was a higher paying job with tons of benefits, I would not leave EHHS.” During Mrs. Picagli’s free time, she takes care of her family, including her 4 year old daughter. Her daughter takes up most of Mrs.Picagli’s free time, doing activities like dance school, hanging out with family and friends, traveling, and pickleball. When asked what her favorite part about teaching is, she said “When the kids have the lightbulb moment, when they don’t understand something. And then they get it. I feel like I did that.”
Mrs. and Ms. Picagli have known each other since middle school, but in high school they started to become friends as Mrs. Picagli got closer to Ms. Picagli’s brother. Ms. J. Picagli remembers interacting with Mrs. D. Picagli in high school: “We grew up in the same circle of friends. I remember sitting with her, my brother (Mrs. Picagli’s now husband), and our mutual friends outside the tech department in the west wing. It was a morning ritual.” They are both so excited to work with one another and are proud to say they can work with family when many others cannot. Both of them were excited to find out that Ms. Picagli would be joining the EHHS team. As they have grown up, they have seen themselves grow closer as friends, as well as sisters. Mrs. Picagli explains how her favorite memory with Ms. Picagli was planning her wedding. While they may have different hobbies, they are able to connect by both being the “go-to” people in their family. Ms. Picagli says, “If someone needs help, it is Mrs. Picagli and myself who tend to show up to the rescue.”
While working with each other has multiple benefits, there is one thing both Ms. and Mrs. Picagli have trouble with. As the year has gone on, students, staff, and teachers have been getting their email addresses mixed up. Ms. Picagli says, “We mostly laugh about it, but there is often a mix up in communications that leads us to ask our fellow teachers, staff, and students: “Which Picagli are you trying to reach? Math Picagli (Mrs. Picagli), or the other one (Ms. Picagli)?”
Mrs. Picagli has a few pieces of advice for Ms. Picagli as she is getting accustomed to a new job and environment: “You can’t care more than the students. Although it’s hard and we really want all the students to do well, don’t burn yourself out trying to make every student succeed. We try so hard, but you have to care about your life too. Make time for yourself.”
EHHS welcomes Ms. Jennifer Picagli with open arms back into our school and appreciates Mrs. Danielle Picagli’s dedication to East Haven. We cannot wait for both of them to succeed at their future goals, and are glad they came back to EHHS after many years.
When contacting the Picaglis:
Mrs. Danielle Picagli “Math Picagli” – [email protected]
Ms. Jennifer Picagli “The Other One” – [email protected]
