Below
is a list of all the staff taking on new responsibilities and newly hired staff
members. I have said many times, “Reed
does not rebuild, we reload.” We have
several very eager and talented professionals joining the Reed Family. Of course, none of our new staff members
really seem new anymore. They have spent
numerous hours setting up their rooms and have met countless times with our
returning staff members.
As
with every year at this time, Dr. Jahnke and the Board Office Administration
are closely monitoring the enrollment at all the schools to determine how many
sections are justified. Classes are
based upon the district’s new class size policy that was adopted at the end of
last year. The goal is for all
Kindergarten through second grade classes to have 20 or less students and third
and fourth Grades to have 22 or less students.
In addition to students’ needs, there are many other variables that
impact staffing decisions, such as classroom space and available fiscal resources. Currently we are planning on four sections of
each grade, except first. We are planning
on five sections of first grade. We
actually started the summer expecting to have five sections of fourth grade. As a result of decreased of enrollment in
fourth grade, a fifth section is no longer justified at this present
moment. It is not atypical for
enrollment to change throughout a summer.
Regardless of the number of sections, we are prepared.
· Mrs. Rebecca Hamm, former Third
Grade Teacher, will be teaching Second Grade.
· Mrs. Rebecca Marcellus, former Math Teacher
Assistant, will be teaching our fifth section of First Grade. Rebecca earned her bachelor’s degree in
Elementary Education and her master’s degree in Literacy Education from the
University of Missouri. As a result of
her husband being transferred, Rebecca moved to St. Louis late last summer. She had taught third grade for four years in
the St. James and Columbia areas where she served in many leadership roles. Since she moved so late in the summer, there
were limited to no teaching opportunities available. Her misfortune in timing, served as a benefit
to Reed. As you can imagine, I was
extremely excited to have someone with so much experience in a Teacher
Assistant role. However, with time, her
misfortune has turned out to be an opportunity, as she will have her own
classroom next year.
· Mrs. Lindsey Poteet will be teaching
Kindergarten. Lindsey earned her
bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education and her master’s degree in Learning,
Teaching, and Education from the University of Missouri. Lindsey comes to us
from Columbia, MO where she taught for two years. She taught first grade and then had the
unique experience of teaching a Kindergarten & first grade multiage
classroom. Her experience has prepared
her to differentiate her instruction to meet a wide variety of learners.
· Ms. Katie Courtwright will be
teaching third grade. Katie earned her
bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Western Illinois University. Katie comes to us from Riverview, FL where she
taught for eight years and served in many leadership roles. She has already made significant contributions
to Reed this summer by sharing support materials to the staff.
· Ms. Lauren Hesser will be an
additional Special School District Resource Teacher. Lauren earned her master’s degree in
education from MO Baptist University.
She has worked with Special School District the last five years. During her first five years, she has proven
to be able to address the needs of a variety of learners and is a team player.
Special School District
Paraprofessionals, Teacher Assistants, and Supervisory Assistants will be
introduced in August.
 |
| Mrs. Lindsey Poteet - Kindergarten |
 |
| Mrs. Rebecca Marcellus - First Grade |
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| Ms. Katie Courtwright - Third Grade |
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| Ms. Lauren Hesser - SSD Resource |
I also want to say a formal good-bye to the staff members who are leaving us. The following staff members will be sharing the Reed spirit at other places.
· Alison Haar, Kindergarten Teacher, will be staying home to be a full time mom.
· Katie Guyre, Second Grade Teacher, will be a Reading Specialist in the Clayton School District.
· Shannon Carrillo, Special School District Para, will attend full time program at Washington Universtity.
· Katie Hoorman, Teacher Assistant, will teach fifth grade in the Ferguson Florissant School District.
· Caroline McGee, Teacher Assistant, will teach science at Rossman School.
· Kayla Klipfel, Teacher Assistant, will teach fourth grade in the Mehlville School District.
· Whitney Ryan, Teacher Assistant, will teach fifth grade in the Hazelwood School District.
