First-year pre-K teachers participated in professional development at Springdale Elementary as part of the Tulsa Way Academy. The attendees included teachers just starting their career and experienced teachers who want to teach a new age group. They will teach in elementary schools across the district, and some will even teach in our dual language classrooms.

The training session centered on the Tools of the Mind curriculum, which fosters success in young learners by developing cognitive skills as well as social and emotional skills. 

The teachers spent the morning learning about important classroom practices in the school library before moving to Springdale pre-K teacher Alice Alsup's classroom to see how she implements the tools in her class. Alice has taught pre-K at Springdale for four years and was voted their Teacher of the Year in the 2021-2022 school year. 

In the afternoon, the teachers explored how their students can use make-believe play to learn in the classroom and discussed topics like play practice, play planning, and prop building.

This pre-K session is part of the many professional development opportunities available to our teachers. High-quality pre-K experiences can have a life-changing impact on our students. Students who attend pre-K are stronger readers by 3rd grade, have higher math scores in middle school, and are more likely to have strong attendance and graduate high school.

Click here to learn more about our Early Childhood Education program.