Miss Rachel is currently in her third year of teaching at Pine Peace School. She began as the Math and Science teacher for grades 4-6 in 1999. In her second year at PPS, she taught a combined 5/6 grade class and was responsible for all major curriculum areas. She developed the class newspaper project, which progressed into a 24-page monthly class newspaper with a circulation of 160. She was also awarded an Excellence in Science Teaching Award through the TAPESTRY Grant program and the National Association of Science Teachers for the REEF Project community service partnership with various local organizations. Miss Rachel is currently teaching all core curriculum areas to the 6th grade, a group of students whom she has taught since her arrival at PPS in 1999. In addition to continuing the class newspaper project, Miss Rachel developed and implemented the Social Studies Bazaar, a first-time event to celebrate social studies throughout the school. She is also working with three community organizations to create another community service learning opportunity for her class about birds!
Miss Rachel came to Pine Peace School after teaching in rural western Massachusetts. In Massachusetts, she most recently taught a combined 4/5 grade class in a small public school. She was responsible for 14 different curriculum areas and getting her 4th graders ready for the second year of the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) testing!
Miss Rachel has been working within schools in a variety of roles since 1992. In addition to her classroom teaching, she has worked as a classroom aide and a one-on-one aide for children with severe needs in the field of Special Education; a substitute teacher for grades 7-12; and a student teacher in a developmentally-based classroom in a nationally-known social/academic laboratory school. Her experience is as varied as the settings in which she has worked: private and public; elementary, middle, and high; rural and in-town; low, middle, and high economic status; and grade-based and developmentally-based, to mention a few. She has also been responsible for all curriculum areas, including arts, music, and physical education, over the years in differing capacities.
In addition to Miss Rachel's teaching experiences, she has been involved in providing professional development for other educators and community members; designing school-wide and district-wide curriculum; fund-raising; writing a column about her classroom experiences and activities for a local monthly newspaper; and actively working with educational, environmental, and communal non-profit organizations.
Miss Rachel is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. She received a double degree from the School of Education's Elementary Education Program and the Bachelor's Degree with Individual Concentration department which was entitled, "Understanding a Pluralistic Society." In addition to graduating with interdisciplinary honors, she graduated from the University Summa Cum Laude.
Not only is Miss Rachel dedicated to her work at school, but she is dedicated to her community. You can find her working all over St. John! She has been a volunteer instructor for the Kids and the Sea (KATS) sailing program, a monitor for the Coral Transplant Project, a scientific study administered by the Friends of the Virgin Islands National Park, and is in the process of implementing a bird survey for which she will be working closely with representatives from various local agencies.
Miss Rachel lives in Coral Bay with her husband, Micah, and their most favorite kitty in the world, Jasper! She enjoys snorkeling, hiking, traveling, reading, movies, playing cards, all kinds of crafts, and going to the beach.