Kindergarten is a year of firsts and growing independence. At The Franciscan School, the kindergarten teachers work together to make those first steps a positive experience for students and families. They are the first faces our little ones see when they come to the TFS campus.

With three kindergarten classes, consistency is a priority. The teachers meet weekly to coordinate curriculum and pacing, share ideas, and talk through opportunities. They also check in throughout the day when questions come up, or they need to talk through a challenge. “We collaborate and try to have fun and run ideas off of each other to come up with best practices,” shared kindergarten teacher Barb Dobner. By learning from one another, they keep finding ways to support their students and strengthen both their collective and individual teaching.

One tradition that brings the kindergarten team’s work to life is Prayer Buddies. Each kindergartener is paired with one or two eighth-grade students for the school year. This builds special relationships between the youngest and oldest students at TFS. Younger students have older peers to look up to, and the experience gives eighth-graders an opportunity to lead by example.

In the classroom, the teachers balance academics with the need for children to move, play, and explore. Students have two recesses a day, along with specials in music, art, media, technology, PE, and Spanish. Singing, dancing, and playing also make their way into classroom lessons, giving students different ways to learn and making learning fun.

When asked to describe the kindergarten experience in three words, the teachers chose: ”loving, learning, and sharing: we are called by Jesus to love, learn, and share with one another.

For parents preparing to send their children to kindergarten, the teachers offer a simple message: expect lots of grace, lots of love, and growth in independence each day. By the end of the year, students will have grown in ways that reach far beyond the classroom, and their families will have seen just how much can happen in one kindergarten year.

We love our kindergarten teachers!