Teacher/Staff Spotlight: Nicholas Servedio

The School at Columbia University enters the 2024-25 school year with a very special milestone: the school’s first alumnus has returned to the community as a teacher! Nicholas Servedio, a student at TSC from Kindergarten through sixth grade, is now an Associate Teacher here, teaching in the 3B Classroom this school year. 

“I remember a lot from being a student here,” Nick said. “I can still name every homeroom teacher I had. For Field Day, Team Navy all the way. And the space of the school, the interior spaces of the building itself, remind me of when I was a kid. A lot has changed, but a lot has stayed the same.”

Nick went to Hunter for high school and then to Williams College in Massachusetts for his undergraduate degree, where he majored in English with a concentration in Africana Studies. After graduating from Williams, he won a Fulbright Scholarship and moved to Taiwan to teach English.

“It was an amazing opportunity and I absolutely loved teaching in Taiwan,” Nick said. “After my first year, there was an option to apply for a second year of teaching and I jumped at the chance. In addition to teaching, I was able to travel, both around the island itself and to Vietnam and Indonesia. It was great to connect with students and fellow teachers, eat delicious food, and practice my Chinese. My experience overall was very positive.”

Nick credits TSC with helping him become the teacher he is today. “TSC helped me grow into myself, helped me outgrow the shyness I had as a kid and gain confidence in myself. If you had told me in fourth or fifth grade that I would one day be traveling solo to Taiwan to live and work, I never would have believed you.”

When his time in Taiwan ended, Nick started looking for teaching opportunities in New York City and was delighted to find TSC was hiring associate teachers. He applied and was hired for the two-year position, in which associate teachers partner with lead teachers in classrooms. Associate teachers typically teach in one division for their first year at TSC, and then in a different division for their second year, so that they gain experience with students at many grade levels. He was placed in 3B for the 2024-25 school year and he remembers the Grade 3 curriculum and its curricular theme City well from when he was a student here. 

“There are so many memorable field trips in third grade here! I’m really enjoying reuniting with the curriculum, now from the teacher side. Third grade is a great year, kids are starting to learn more about themselves and how they fit into the city. I remember that focus from when I was a student here.”

Former teachers of Nick, who are now his colleagues, also remember his time as a student here.

“I first taught Nick when he was in fifth grade and I was a Music teacher here,” said Rachel Klem, now Intermediate Division Director at TSC. “Nick played the flute with Ms. O’ Shea in the Grade 5 Band that year! When Nick and his class moved up to sixth grade the next year, Nick joined the Klem Advisory. I was lucky to have him in Music again that year, and I remember Nick being an excellent alto recorder player.”

In addition to being back at TSC, Nick is happy to be back in New York, as much as he also misses Taiwan—and the perfect weather there. “I’m a little bit nervous about going through winter again!” he laughed. “But no, I grew up on the Upper West Side so it’s really wonderful to be back. The places in the neighborhood here are familiar and beloved to me. Actually, our class theme this year is 3B bagels (from Absolute Bagels)!”

He is open to different possibilities in his professional career. “I’m currently getting my masters in English education at Teachers College Columbia University, and I’m also considering going back for an MFA in creative writing at some point. I’m not exactly sure what the next 10 years will hold for me, but I do know that I want to keep learning how to be the best teacher I can be.”

“I think it’s testament to the strong sense of community here and our academic program that one of our students has returned to teach,” Dr. Sonya Somerville, Head of School, said. “We are thrilled to have Nick back and I hope that he is the first of many TSC students who go into teaching and return to contribute to our community in new ways.”

“I’m really excited for this year,” Nick said. “It’s good to be back at TSC, good to be in New York, good to be with my family and friends … good all around!”