Ashley Russo, Lower Primary Facilitator

Learning to read is such a monumental transition for students, and being a part of this educational milestone is what draws Ashley Russo to the Lower Primary classroom. “I love teaching kids to read!” she says. “It’s so amazing as they make progress and can turn letters and words into stories. It opens a door for them.”

Teaching a child to read is like opening a door to the most magical, inspiring and enriching realm imaginable: a place of refuge, knowledge, solace and companionship, a place to know the world and to know the self. Yes, learning to read is magical. But teaching to read requires skill and talent. Mrs. Russo’s facility at making texts accessible to young learners in the First Grade is crucial to the literacy learning arc at PCS, as students move from the play-based environments of EC and Kindergarten to working with words and texts in a more deliberate and analytical way in the Primaries.

“When they come to me, they’re so ready,” she says. “They want so much to be able to do it themselves. I just need to give them tools.” And working with children according to their interests and their timetables is one of the things Mrs. Russo loves so much about working in an independent school where the flexibility to follow (and amplify!) student interest is built into an emergent and project-based curriculum.

“At other schools where I’ve worked, we were given a manual for everything. The manual told you what to teach and when. And it included an actual narrative of what you were supposed to say to the children and possible responses.” But Mrs. Russo realizes that authentic learning can’t come from a manual. “I want to teach what the kids are interested in and hear what they have to say about their learning. It gives students ownership over their learning, and I love seeing how excited and invested in their learning they become.”

Currently, she and her students are immersed in designing dog parks as part of the “Civics: Communities and Citizens in Action Unit.” Mrs. Russo opened the unit with a consideration of how governments and citizens work together to create recreation programs: think Parks and Rec. “I thought for sure, the kids would want to make a playground or a park. I was all set to design a playground or fix up a park. But they wanted to do something for animals. So, we are! They’re so excited to be able to design and build models and do something for community dogs. It’s what matters to them.”

And, finding out what matters to kids is a big part of Mrs. Russo’s work in the classroom. “I want my students to feel valued and important, so I make sure that I connect with each of them every day. We talk to each other. About our families, about our weekends. I listen to their stories. The best is when they’ll try to figure out who my favorite is. They all think for sure it’s them! And, that’s how it should be.”