Welcome to 6th grade! 

I am so excited about meeting you and get to know you this school year. I can’t wait to see you and look forward to a great school year. 

So who am I?

I am a comic geek, Star Wars nerd, Disney fanatic who loves to read, write, and game. I am the youngest child in my family. My sister is 2 years older than me and teaches 8th grade math in Richardson ISD. My mom is a retired teacher who taught in Allen for over 25 years. She started at Reed Elementary. She then opened Norton Elementary and then opened Kerr Elementary. She is starting her 6th year of retirement and, together with my dad, loves taking road trips to various places throughout the US. My dad did training for a security company before he retired and now works with BSA, training adult leaders in Circle Ten. At home, I have a fur baby, Gibbs, who is a Black Mouth Cur dog (he turns 7 this year!). He's a rescue from Operation Kindness, a no-kill animal shelter that has been part of my family for 7 years now. I love pets! Please feel free to share pictures of your pets with me and tell me all about them. Pets are very much members of our families. My family loves getting together to watch college or pro football (Go Bucks! and Go Steelers!) as well as playing board games. My sister and I game online together with a small group of friends who live around the country from the state of Washington, to Pennsylvania, down to Florida. If I am not doing those things, I am most likely reading Nelson DeMille's John Corey Series or a Star Wars Novel, writing, watching Anime (the classics like Sailor Moon, Gundam Wing, Orpheus, or Rurouni Kenshin), or watching other shows like Sherlock Holmes Mysteries, Law and Order, Disney + shows, etc. While in elementary school, I was an army kid who was never in one school for more than 2 years. When my dad retired from the army, we were in central Texas for 5 years before moving up north to Plano where my parents still live today. I graduated from Plano Senior High School in 1997.

On the education front, this will be my 22nd year in education and my second year at Vaughan. I started in Allen at Boyd Elementary in 2001 and taught 6th grade there for 5 years. I then moved down to 5th grade at Kerr for 2 years before moving to Rountree where I taught 5th grade for 7 and a half years. From there, I took an opportunity in Richardson at Liberty Junior High as an Instructional Coach. I served Liberty for a year and a half. I then moved to Thurgood Marshall Elementary and finally Audelia Creek Elementary before coming back to Allen ISD last year. Most of my years have been in 5th and 6th grade teaching Math and Science,  but I have also worked at the middle school level. I have served as an Instructional Coach and team lead for many years at different campuses here in Allen as well as Richardson. You will easily tell, I am passionate about math, science and developing leaders! My degrees are in Social Science from Marquette University (Bachelor's) and in educational leadership from Southern Methodist University (Master's) with certifications in Math, Science, G/T, ESL, Elementary Generalist (all subjects), and Administration.

This is an awesome time to be in 6th grade and the year is going to be full of adventure! Last year was full of great things and I cannot wait to hear about your journeys. We are looking forward to working together as we sail into your last year of elementary school here at Vaughan. Together with Ms. Bennet (Reading Language Arts) and Ms. Cassetty (Science/Social Studies), I am excited to help you along in your journey this  year. All three of us are ready to embark on an amazing year full of growth and learning.

If you have any questions, please reach out and let me know. I look forward to getting to know you all more this year and helping you on your journey to success!

Mr. Fornadel