A Great Start to the School Year in Ms. Dela Cruz’s Classroom

In 2021, Ms. Dela Cruz shared her perspective about why pre-k is so important. Now, more than four years later, she is still teaching pre-k at Yates Elementary School! She has experienced some personal loss over the past several years, and she explains that her classroom has been a sanctuary during such a difficult time. Other members of the Yates community stepped forward to support her, and she even bonded with some of them who had also been going through similar experiences with their loved ones. 

These strengthened bonds led her to look forward to coming to Yates, and this year is shaping up to be one of her best years yet. We caught up with her to learn more about why this school year is off to such a great start. Read more below.

What has your reaction been to the first few months of the school year? 

It has been great and has been a lot of fun! My students have so much energy and really love to learn. Many of them have entered my classroom with impressive prior knowledge, so we have a strong foundation that we are building on. I love finding ways for learning to be collaborative. I hope to develop my students’ communication skills, and their ability to create common goals and work together to achieve them. 

Are you doing anything differently this school year that you haven’t tried in the past? 

I’m starting my students with certain reading and writing skills earlier than I have in the past. Typically, sight words and word families are reserved for the spring after students master letters and letter sounds. But it seems like my students are ready for this! They’re very curious and are already asking us about spelling when writing in their journals. They’re also starting to identify words independently. I can definitely tell that they are going to be ready for kindergarten! 

Can you share more about how the play-based components of your classroom are supporting student learning this year? 

Play is an essential part of our school day because that is how our pre-k students learn! We have materials throughout the classroom that support the skills that students are working on. For example, we have various math and literacy games to keep the children engaged. My students love using magnetic tiles. They explore math and science concepts like shapes, physics and spatial awareness by building towers. Gross motor skills are also very important, so I make sure that students have a lot of time to explore spaces physically. They have no fear and will jump all over our playground equipment! 

What are some of your goals for the rest of the school year? 

Social-emotional learning is so important for my students. I hope to help them develop ways to navigate different types of social situations. Let’s say they’re working on a group project and don’t agree with their peers. I want them to figure out how to voice their opinions while also respecting the opinions of others. I’d also love to see them learn how to give feedback to each other and value everyone’s ideas. 

What have been a few of your favorite memories of the past few years? 

I had a student in my class many years ago who returned to my classroom on her graduation day. She had written me a note thanking me for the great experience that she had in pre-k. I remember that she was terrified to start pre-k and now was leaving elementary school with so much confidence, hope, and optimism. Stories like this shine a light on why teaching is such an amazing career. 

Another former student of mine who is in high school now came back on report card pickup day because his sister is a student at Yates. He shared everything he remembered about my classroom, from Clifford the Big Red Dog to Pajama Day to Green Eggs and Ham. Students are making memories in my classroom that they will remember forever. 

What is your message to your students? 

It's such a joy to spend time with you every day, to come to school and to see all the ways that you surprise me with how much fun you have, how well you collaborate with each other, and how much you're learning and growing. I know that you can achieve so much, not just in our classroom, but also as you continue on into kindergarten and beyond!