It is so exciting to begin a new school year with eager learners. I am happy to continue my fourth grade experience at Springbrook. I am a graduate of URI with a double major in Elementary Education and Psychology. Upon my graduation from college, I taught kindergarten and grade three in Bradenton, Florida for two years. After that, I substitute taught in a variety of long term positions in the Westerly School District and also served as the FastForWord teacher at Tower St. and State St. Schools. I also worked as the Talent Development Coordinator for Springbrook School and Tower St. School. Furthermore, I taught grade two for three years and grade three for one, both at State Street School in Westerly. Last, I taught fourth grade at Springbrook for the 2015/2016 school year.

My philosophy of education has much to do with inquiry-based learning. The questions children have within our curriculum and studies often drive most of my instruction throughout the school year. Students in my classroom will always be heard and respected as individual learners. 
This will be my first second year teaching fourth grade in the Westerly School system. Focusing only on Science and Writing this year will be a thrilling opportunity for me.  Diving into the curriculum alongside your children will be a great adventure. Miss DeJesus and Mrs. Roberts are also excited to plan their lessons with myself so that the children are getting the best education possible.

As you are aware, I will be teaching the children Science, Writing, Grammar and Wordly Wise (Vocabulary).

In Science we will be discovering new and exciting ideas in the Science and Writing curriculum. I am happy to announce that I will be a teacher leader through U.R.I. and attending trainings to further benefit your children.  The GemsNet Science kits are embedded with the new generation science standards.  We will be working with the Soils, Rocks, and Landforms kit for the first half of the year and Environments for the second half.  We will also be exploring ,many other areas of Science and many of these areas will be based on student inquiries.

This is the third year of our Being a Writer Program.  Being a writer is a hands on approach to writing and encourages the children to write about their interests.  They will be peer editing and using nonfiction and fiction text to guide the writing process. We will use what we learn in Wordly Wise and grammar throughout our writing and science work.

Also follow your child's day with classdojo.com

If at any time during the school year you would like to contact me, please do so by school email- npendola@westerly.k12.ri.us or by contacting the main office at 348-2298. I will make every attempt to respond to you as quickly as possible.