Literacy Magic in PreK Classrooms

A 10 minute visit to Ms. Stefanie’s Franklin School Pre-K classroom during centers reveals a classroom filled with student centered, hands on learning. What you might not realize at first glance is that the work each child is engaged in has been meticulously planned by Ms. Stefanie, the classroom teacher who holds a masters degree in education with 18 years of teaching experience in both general and special education.

Ms. Stefanie and her two classroom paraprofessionals, Ms. Lianne and Ms. Maggie, are a dynamic team who orchestrate the magic that happens at center time and every minute throughout their 5 hours and 15 minutes together each day. This is just one of the many Franklin School educator teams engaging in innovative teaching, one piece of which is now supported by an Innovation Grant from the Melrose Education Foundation.

This grant awarded to the Franklin School complements the district’s roll out of a new literacy curriculum. Grant funds supported planning time for Franklin educators to develop and disseminate these meaningful curriculum updates via a specially designed website, making adoption easier and ensuring time for educators to collaborate and reflect on their professional practice and student learning goals. 

The Melrose Education Foundation is proud to support this intentional work at the Franklin School, especially as it aligns with district-wide literacy initiatives. Thanks to the generosity of the Melrose community, grants like this have an impact on the innovative teaching and learning happening in classrooms every school day.