The St. John's Episcopal School Spotlight
The St. John's Episcopal School Spotlight is a monthly podcast that celebrates the people, programs, and spirit of our school community. Through conversations with faculty, students, parents, and special guests, listeners gain an inside look at life at St. John's Episcopal School. Each episode highlights the experiences, traditions, and opportunities that make our school a place where students learn, grow, and thrive.
The St. John's Episcopal School Spotlight
Kindergarten Beginnings: Growing and Learning with Ms. Garry
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In the first episode of St. John’s Spotlight, we sit down with Kindergarten teacher Ms. Garry to explore what makes Kindergarten at St. John’s Episcopal School so special. Hear how our youngest learners build confidence, develop friendships, and discover a love of learning in a warm, nurturing classroom community.
Hi everyone, and welcome to the St. John's Episcopal School spotlight, where we share the people, stories, and moments that make our community so special. I'm Lee Winter, Director of Admissions and Marketing at St. John's Episcopal School. Today we're kicking off our very first episode with a look inside kindergarten, the place where so many of our students begin their journey at St. John's. So I have Kristen Gary, our kindergarten teacher, here with us. Hi, Kristen. Hello. And we're gonna talk a little bit about what makes St. John's kindergarten program so special. So that is literally my first question is what makes our program at St. John's so special?
SPEAKER_01Well, first of all, thanks for making me the first and inviting me. Um at our heart, kindergarten is really just filled with joy and love. And we definitely, you know, here at St. John's, we use kindergarten to serve as a bridge between pre-K and the academic rigor that comes afterwards in first grade. Our class plays a lot, we work a lot, and we focus on learning how to learn. And kindness is at the heart of everything that we do.
SPEAKER_00I love that. So important as our kids are growing and developing to have that be our first treat. Um, what are some of the things students learn when they arrive in September for the new school year?
SPEAKER_01Um is actually really different from the rest of the school year. We don't do as many um sort of rigorous academics. We spend the first month or so learning to get to know St. John's as a school. We get to know our classroom, our routine, of course, our classmates, our teachers, and we're just learning to trust our surroundings, getting a really full sense of comfort before we really kind of delve deep into the academics. Those are actually a part of the first even week. We're doing some writing, reading, a little bit of math through play, but um, we really focus on that transition and getting used to kindergarten in the beginning.
SPEAKER_00I love it. Um, how do you as a teacher help the students transition into kindergarten?
SPEAKER_01Um, I do start throughout the previous year working with our pre-K teachers to make sure that the children who went to school here have the same sort of academic lessons and social emotional lessons to help them tie seamlessly into the upcoming school year. Um, but I'm always ready, obviously, to welcome anybody with open arms if they're not here. I have personally a strong pre-K background myself with teaching, so I'm able to use the knowledge of early childhood as we integrate these kindergarten readiness skills. In the spring at the end of our school year, the St. John's pre-K children come and join me for a really fun transition visit. We read books, play with toys, and get a feel for the new classroom in the kindergarten community. We have just yesterday we had our students come for almost a half-day open house and they got to see their cubbies, their desks, their students. We read books and just had a lot of fun. It helps the students feel a little bit more comfortable and confident for the first day. And I also sent out in the summer a document just highlights a lot of kindergarten readiness skills that families can work on over the summer as they get ready.
SPEAKER_00I love it. Um, what does a typical day in your classroom look like?
SPEAKER_01Typical day. A typical day is different every single day. I have a lot of flexibility when I teach at this age. Um, we do have a lot of specials, so those are, I guess, typical. Kindergarten participates in every special that the rest of the grades do. We have PE, music, STEM, Spanish, Art, Religion, and Chapel. Um, and then with our structure within our class, even though we're very, very flexible, I try to start just about every day with learning centers. And those are play-based centers that are based on social emotional skills, academic needs. Um, the children are working together in groups that I've chosen, and they play with math toys, reading and writing centers, and every day is a little bit different. Um, learning through play is definitely very important in kindergarten. And every day we also have academic lessons and reading, writing, math, and social studies is integrated in kindergarten after lunch and recess. We are wiped out. So we have a good 15-20 minutes of rest time and we don't have mats or sleeping, but we're we'll turn off the lights, dim the lights, play some really peaceful music. They're encouraged to read books or even just rest their heads if they need to before we begin reading again. And also just every day, one of the most important things for me in kindergarten is highlighting independence. So very quickly, straight from the morning to the afternoon, from the first day to the last day, children are encouraged to unpack their own things. They take care of their own belongings in their desks and you know, they problem solve amongst themselves before they ask for help, which I'm always there to help them, but lots of independence every day.
SPEAKER_00Super important. I love that. Um, what are some of your favorite project projects or activities that you do?
SPEAKER_01Well, every Friday we celebrate. We have Fun Friday. So instead of sticking to the curriculum, we review the curricular lessons that we've had that week and we sort of play really peppy music as we work. We review all of the week's lessons through projects and crafts, and maybe maybe even earn a video that's sort of theme-based on things that we've learned. Um, and we just love participating in all of the school events too, the holiday parties. Um, our class takes silly brain breaks all the time. Um, we're right next to the playground, so we're gonna be taking a lot of impromptu trips over to the playground to get our wiggles out. We just we like having fun.
SPEAKER_00I love it. Um, how do our students grow throughout the year in kindergarten?
SPEAKER_01Oh, they grow in so many ways. I think one of my favorite things as a teacher is looking back at the end of the year and looking back at their pictures from the beginning of the year. I think just physically you see the difference, but we just notice that their confidence grows tremendously through each year. And we've worked through the year to get them ready academically for first grade. And they they always are children who are reading in kindergarten are reading at a higher level. Children who come in not knowing their letters are reading by the time they leave kindergarten. So I think that's pretty exciting. And one of my favorite things to teach them is with grammar, they actually leave kindergarten being able to edit sentences for different grammar points that we've learned throughout the years, which is which is pretty cool. But mostly we're just growing socially and emotionally as as we're learning those academic skills.
SPEAKER_00That's fantastic. Um, what would you tell a family considering St. John's for kindergarten?
SPEAKER_01Well, just come and join us. We have a lot of fun. We're filled with joy and laughter and and kindness and silliness. So come and come and come and learn with us.
SPEAKER_00I love that so much. So thank you guys for joining us for the St. John's Episcopal School spotlight. Until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and keep shining. Bye. Bye bye.