Teachers make a school. With last week’s Teacher Appreciation Week, you proved that through your generous support of the staff. The best teachers take life-long learning to heart, finding ways to embody a “growth mindset,” a concept detailed in the research of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck. Dweck describes a growth versus fixed mindset. My takeaway from her work is that I want to attract and retain teachers who are always learning, growing professionally, and developing a more diverse “bag of tricks” to support students.

With that in mind, I want to recognize several teachers who embody that growth mindset.

Ali Colman, Adriana Maisano, and Xia Ling have trained to become certified Montessori infant/toddler lead teachers. Their program, through the Montessori Institute - New England, included classes every Saturday for the year. Gennica Etienne will complete her Montessori certification through the New England Montessori Teacher Training Center this month. Deidre Hayman has completed her Montessori certification in infant/toddler through the North American Montessori Center.

Erica Klarman and Riah Schauder took part in a program called Level Up, which required weekly evening class involving 100 hours of coursework on child growth and development as well as classroom practice with external coaching sessions leading to Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) certification. Independently, Aisling Lavelle completed her EEC certification through North Shore Community College.

Dounia Kabbaj earned her master’s degree in Education from Gordon College, majoring in early childhood with a Montessori emphasis. Dounia also completed a certificate with Acadience Reading, a universal screening and progress monitoring assessment that measures the acquisition of early literacy skills from kindergarten through sixth grade.

Our weekly yoga instructor for elementary students, Maureen Johnson, earned her Ed.D in Curriculum and Instruction: Special Education. Congratulations, Dr. Johnson!