Division: Early Childhood (Main Campus)
Teaches: PreK
For the past 12 years, Porter Mason and Marissa Vergnetti have been co-teachers in a PreK classroom on GFS’ Main Campus. This teaching model is unique to the school’s Early Childhood (EC) division; while other divisions have teacher’s assistants accompanying the teacher, the EC classrooms are the only place where you’ll find two full-time teachers.
For Mason and Vergnetti, who joke about being “work wives,” the dynamic works exceptionally well. The long-time collaborators are able to share their classroom responsibilities according to their skills and interests (Mason handles most of the social emotional learning, while Vergetti organizes the bulk of the academic lessons). If a child needs special attention, one of them can provide it while the other can keep the rest of the class engaged in lessons. Sharing the classroom responsibilities helps prevent burnout. And, most importantly, the co-teaching model allows them to divide their 15-student class into smaller groups and spend more focused time with each child.
“We know them inside and out by the end of the year, because if there was something I didn't see, Porter has seen it,” Marissa says. “And when we're talking and strategizing and writing report cards, our collaboration really helps bring together the whole picture of each individual child and all of the wonderful things that they bring to our classroom.”
“There’s also usually a floater in with us during the day, so we always have two or more teachers in the classroom, which is wonderful,” Porter adds.
Because the three-, four-, and five-year olds are still learning the basics of what it means to be in school, having big feelings is not unusual. In these cases, one teacher can fully be present with the child and help them work through their feelings while the other keeps the classroom on track.
“In Early Childhood, children are learning how to be in school, how to identify emotions, how to use their words, how to share, how to negotiate—these things can be overwhelming at such a young age,” Marissa notes. “So, having two people who are both full-time and equally committed to the children allows us to address all of that.”