Welcome St. William the Abbot Families! My name is Christi Abbate and I am honored to be teaching third grade at St. William the Abbot Roman Catholic School for the 2021-22 school year. Though I have vast past experiences, this is my first teaching position and I am thrilled for the opportunity to bring my knowledge, talents, and abilities to St. William’s. I come with an enthusiastic, positive energy that will be found in classroom #14 each day throughout the school year. 

As an educator, my beliefs include a student-centered classroom; teaching the whole-child, especially social-emotional learning and character trait development; a positive classroom environment that promotes student engagement and learning; and incorporating opportunities to apply knowledge to ensure success beyond the classroom. These core beliefs align with the mission of St. William’s as the St. William’s community and I are dedicated to academic excellence, spiritual development, the traditions of the Catholic Church, as well as the development of students as critical thinkers and lifelong learners. In accordance with the St. William’s values, in room #14 we will work hard learning and growing as individuals who are responsible, appreciative of diversity, accountable, collaborative, confident, respectful, polite, and well-rounded. 

Through my professional placements in a second-grade, fourth-grade, and high school life skills class, I gained valuable knowledge and experience in meeting the needs of individual learners. I was able to further develop my teaching philosophies at Touro College where I recently completed my Master of Science in Childhood Education and Special Education for Grades 1-6. As an undergraduate, I attended Binghamton University where I was captain of the Women’s Basketball Team. Upon graduation, I coached Division I Women’s College Basketball for several years.  I am still very active with basketball as a Co-Director of the CYO Travel Basketball Program at my parish, Our Lady of Lourdes in West Islip which is where I reside with my husband, our two daughters (ages 16 &11), and our dog. 

I look forward to the amazing school year that is ahead of us!