Weird. That’s the word Ms. Maria Elena DiPietro has frequently used to describe her transition to Archmere.

Coming from the corporate world and Padua Academy, Ms. DiPietro is filling the role Mr. Campion used to have in technology, running around constantly making sure that everyone’s computers, projectors, and wifi are working. She has acclimated well to working at a new school, thanks in large part to Mr. Campion’s guide and also having her father, Dr. Marinelli, as her boss.

DiPietro was drawn into the Archmere community due to the reputation that precedes the school and the community aspect that has been created. “What drew me to Archmere was the reputation that it is a school that encourages its students and there is a really tight-knit community,” DiPietro said.

Prior to working at Archmere Mrs. DiPietro attended Padua Academy  for high school and also taught there after graduating from college. “It was really weird at first because it was tough calling my previous teachers by their first names. It’s hard to put into words how unique an experience it is to go back to a place I graduated high school eight years ago,” DiPietro said.

In her first few months at Archmere, she has noticed the drastic difference in campus size her compared to Padua. “Getting used to in the size of the campus, that is a ginormous difference. I’m not used to having to leave my building to get to another building,” DiPietro said. “I’m getting better at estimating the time it takes me to get to certain parts of the buildings.”

DiPietro says that she has found herself in a “weird” situation after transiting to Archmere as she is here working for her father, Dr. Marinelli. “It’s not as strange as people might think because we so rarely run into each other,” DiPietro said. “I saw him in the hallway one day and didn’t know what to call him whether to say ‘Hey, Dad’ or ‘Hey, Michael,’ so we are still trying to figure that out.”

When she is not running around making sure that everyone on campus has access to the internet and things are running as they should, DiPietro spends lots of time with her cats. She enjoys them so much she envisions opening up a cat cafe as her dream job. “My life goal is to open up a cat cafe. I am a crazy cat lady,” DiPietro said. “That is my dream job to open up a cat cafe because I love cats and I think these cafes do a great job of getting cats adopted.”

“Everyone is here to work and learn and takes their education seriously and does it while still having fun”. DiPietro said.