Pictured: A bench was dedicated in memory of former Newbridge Road Elementary School secretary Chris Kropp on June 22. From left are Principal Amanda Licci, music teacher Carol Ng, retired principal Marilyn Hirschfield, music teacher Dana Hirsch, Bill Kropp, teacher Courtney Meyers and Superintendent Marie Testa.
Photos courtesy of the North Bellmore School District
She was organized, she was fashionable, her family was her pride and joy and she was always kind and loving. Those are how Chris Kropp’s former colleagues remembered her during a bench dedication at Newbridge Road Elementary School in the North Bellmore School District on June 22.
Ms. Kropp served as a secretary in the Newbridge Road main office from 1999 to 2022, and passed away last September, just a few months after retiring. Now, she is immortalized with a bench in front of the school.
“Chris is the most special person to have ever walked through the doors of Newbridge Road,” said Director of Personnel Denise Fisher, who was the school’s principal from 2015 to 2021. “I know that Chris is with all of us today and I know that she is smiling.”
Music teachers, from left, Dana Hirsch, Lisa Uckardes and Carol Ng performed a music tribute to Chris Kropp.
Music teachers Dana Hirsch, Carol Ng and Lisa Uckardes performed a pair of music pieces, and Dianne Agoglia, Ms. Kropp’s colleague in the main office, did a poetry reading.
More than 60 people attended the afterschool ceremony including Newbridge Road teachers and staff, central office administrators, Board of Education trustees and Ms. Kropp’s family. Superintendent Marie Testa noted that the bench is a beautiful, tangible way to remember her.
“This bench will serve as a lasting reminder of the indelible mark Chris Kropp made on the lives of the Newbridge Road and North Bellmore communities,” Ms. Testa said. “The story of Chris Kropp can live on for generations.”
Dianna Agoglia, Chris Kropp’s longtime colleague in the main office, read a poem about her friend.
The school calendar was Ms. Kropp’s annual project and the 2023-24 calendar will be dedicated in her honor, Ms. Testa added.
Teacher Courtney Myers said that the initial plan was to plant a tree in Ms. Kropp’s honor, but ultimately they decided on the bench under Newbridge Road’s flowering trees. She thanked Facilities Director Richard Russo and the buildings and grounds department for installing the concrete pad and bench in time for the ceremony.
“I’m a firm believer that the little things make up the big things in life,” Ms. Myers said. “It is my hope that this bench will be a way to honor and remember all of the little things we will miss most about Chris.”
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