Our Teaching Philosophy:

We believe that by combining our educational resources and our individual areas of expertise, we will be able to focus on the content areas that hold the greatest teaching interest for each of us.

This approach will let our students experience the benefit of having more than one teacher all day, and it will bridge the gap between traditional elementary (self-contained) classrooms, and the "change for every class" regimen of the middle school schedule.

Our collective goal is to design classrooms that are enriching environments where confident, independent students will flourish. Our collaborative effort will focus on preparation for middle school. We will provide structured, interesting, child-centered (rather than curriculum-centered) instruction geared to the developmental levels of all our students.

Our classroom management is based on cooperative group learning, and our instruction is heterogeneously designed to provide the maximum instructional benefit for all our students.

We are all trained Responsive Classroom teachers, and our classrooms are community oriented environments where decision making comes not from the instructors but from a student body consensus. Our students, therefore, develop good choice making strategies, have a say in how their classrooms are run, and, hopefully, acquire strong leadership skills and qualities.

We are very excited about the learning opportunities and educational adventures that await the students who enter our classrooms.