Ben Pierce and Nikki Loria: A team approach to Kindergarten After 15 years of teaching in SPA’s Lower School, Ben Pierce still can’t believe how fast kindergarteners grow. “They are literally changing in front of your eyes,” he says. “You can say goodbye to them before Thanksgiving break, and when they come back five days later, they actually look different.” That rapid rate of growth—emotional, physical and intellectual—is what keeps Pierce and his new teaching partner Nikki Loria energized about the role they play as SPA’s first teachers to a classroom of 19 young learners. “There are so many jobs out there where you don’t necessarily feel you’re making much of a change—but here you can see it happen,” says Pierce. “When kindergarteners come in every fall they’re babies, and by the end of the year, they are experts in how to do school.” In fact, the whole concept of kindergarten is evolving nearly as quickly as the kindergarteners themselves. “There’s no question that kindergarten has become much more academic, and that’s why it’s great to have Nikki’s perspective here at SPA,” Pierce says. Loria, who was one of several new kindergarten teachers hired after long-time teachers Molly Kleven, Jayne Nelson, and Jane Zeddes retired, is a graduate of the University of Minnesota who started her career in public and charter schools before joining SPA in 2013. “I come from a very standards-based methodology, having been a public school teacher where kindergarten is a very academic experience,” she says. “Here at SPA, the Lower School has revitalized the way they look at kindergarten academics over time, so I bring a standards focus to some of our work, especially with the reading and writing curriculum I worked with at the U of M.” Pierce says his new teaching partnership with Loria has encouraged him to try some new things in the classroom, such as asking students to work more independently and to collaborate on group projects. “You become a different teacher every time you begin a new partnership,” he says. “With academic standards ramping up, kindergarteners are expected to be operating on their own while the teacher is with a small group, and this year, they’ve really proven they can do it.” One aspect of SPA’s Lower School curriculum that hasn’t changed is the value of play, and that is clear in Pierce and Loria’s classroom. “To have fun and enjoy school, kids need to be outside twice a day, making their own choices, navigating socially—that’s all crucial,” says Pierce, who adds that SPA’s team-teaching model in the Lower School is the key to making that transition to school positive for young learners. “I think there’s a recognition that kindergartens everywhere are ramping up their academics, but doing that with one teacher and upwards of 30 kids in a class is a challenge.” “What I love about teaching here is that with 19 kids and two teachers you can honestly do anything,” says Loria. “We can meet kids exactly where they are academically, and we can do the fun and innovative activities that get them really excited about school. That is every teacher’s hope,” she says, “but here it’s not just a hope— it’s a reality.” u
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