Knoch Primary School prepares for back-to-school
JEFFERSON TWP — On Monday, Aug. 21, the hallways of Knoch Primary School were adorned with balloons, pastels and posters for the first day of school Wednesday, but were otherwise empty and quiet with the occasional squeaky shoe or buzzer from the office breaking the silence.
Teachers made final preparations in time to welcome students early this week after a summer of attending conferences, designing lesson plans and spending time with their families.
Julie Watts, a teacher who has been with the district 14 years, is an incoming kindergarten teacher, having previously taught second grade. She began her preparations for the fall in July, when she unpacked and decorated her new classroom.
“I’m looking forward to being more creative, like with arts and crafts,” Watts said. “I do a lot of things with nature. We have a nature nook in the back where we go on bird walks and scavenger hunts.”
Watts said she looks forward to teaching her kindergartners about bird identification.
“It’s something that all kids can enjoy,” she said. “You don’t have to have any special tools. Everybody can do it in their backyards, so it’s something I’m pretty passionate about.”
The most rewarding part of teaching is seeing how much her students grow throughout the course of instruction, she said.
Watts said she was inspired to become a teacher because of her fifth-grade teacher, Mrs.Wigfield, who seemed like a school leader and would offer creative activities for her students. That’s the kind of teacher her younger self would have wanted to become down the road, Watts said.
While some preparations are the same across the board, back-to-school isn’t the same for all teachers.
“I usually prepare a little bit differently than most teachers,” Mylee Sikorski, a life skills teacher with Knoch Primary School, said. “I have a lot of different students with different needs, so they come to me at all kinds of different levels.”
Most of her students’ needs are academic, as well as social and emotional, she said.
“A lot of students might struggle with social skills, so we work on social skills,” said Sikorski. She said her lessons vary from social-emotional learning through modeled behavior and play to teaching hygiene. Many of her students have individualized education plans, which Sikorski keeps in mind when decorating her classroom.
“I want them to feel like this is home away from home, and I want them to feel comfortable,” Sikorski said. “I have a little Calm Down Corner they might want to take a little break in every now and again. I want this to be a safe space for them.”
Her classroom also features a sensory bin and many visual reminders to keep students on task and comfortable. When it comes to decorating, she likes to keep it fun and interactive, she said.
“It’s probably a little crazy colors in here, but I try not to go too distracting,” Sikorski said. Anything eye-catching in her classroom is intentional and meaningful, she added.
“It might be my behavior board over there; it’s super eye-catching, but what are we taking away from that? Why is that important? I try to balance it,” Sikorski said.
Jade Thrower, who has worked in the district for seven years as a school counselor, said she looks forward to seeing students’ love for learning this fall.
“Especially the (kindergarten through third grade), that’s part of why I love where I’m at,” Jade Thrower said. “They get off the bus in the morning, and they’re so excited to be here.”
This year, the school will be re-upping its Positive Behavior Support Program, she said.
“I’m really looking forward to kind of re-energizing our program and helping kids to be even more excited about coming to school, getting the culture just very positive,” Thrower said. “From the staff down to the kids down to the parents, just the entire culture with the school.”
Thrower said she tries to find what motivates students when she addresses truancy or misbehavior.
“Every child is different, so you have to find what motivates them,” she said.
Fostering positive social interactions is just as important as academics, she said.
