French and Spanish teacher Marie-Noelle Hicks announced that she was leaving Tam to take a position at Redwood on October 2. Hicks sent a brief email with the subject “today is my last day at Tam,” to her students and their families. Hicks is teaching third year and Honors Spanish classes at Redwood. 

“It was a hard decision as I truly enjoyed my Tam students and a team of wonderful colleagues… [but] a full-time position opened at Redwood and it was the right opportunity for me to make the switch in my personal and professional life,” said Hicks. “I moved closer to Redwood geographically and had worked previously with yet another great team of colleagues at [Redwood].”

Hicks stated that she learned last Thursday that Friday was her last day at Tam. Hicks began teaching at Redwood on Monday, October 5th.

Freshman Zoe Kahn, a student in Hick’s French 3-4 class was surprised to hear about the sudden change. “She hadn’t talked about leaving or anything. I thought it wasn’t true at first,” Kahn said. “I was really looking forward to learning from Hicks.”

Retired Tam Spanish teacher Fernando Cruz and current Spanish teacher Kelli McGiven have taken over some of Hicks’ old Spanish classes. Tam has not hired a replacement teacher for her two French sections.

“The Redwood community gave me a wonderful warm welcome upon my arrival so it has been a very smooth and easy transition for me,” said Hicks.