RPS新闻详情

The first day of school brings high energy, excitement, and sometimes a few tears — but those feelings are especially big in preschool. 对许多孩子来说，上幼儿园的第一天也是他们第一次离开家人一整天。 通常，看护人比他们的孩子更容易流泪。

‘I’m the person that starts them off with that positive experience with school’

RPS幼儿园的老师对这种情感转变并不陌生，尤其是对家庭成员来说。 “I love on the parents, too,” says Ms. Jolisa Mathis, the lead teacher for three-year-olds at 马丁·路德·金幼儿园. “You reassure and nurture them, too: They see you do that and they know their child is in good hands.”

马西斯女士在RPS幼儿园当了31年的老师，她对孩子和家庭的爱是她在课堂上所做的一切的中心。 “Ms. Mathis has a heart of gold. The families and students she comes in contact with – she’s instructing and guiding them all. She understands what they need, and makes sure the children are well,” says Principal Crystal Hartsfield. “She’s an awesome partner for families.”

Ms. Mathis has taught hundreds of students, most from 里士满’s East End. A favorite part of her job is building long-standing relationships with families — teaching not just the siblings of past students, but now, also the children of past students. 对于每个孩子，她都有一个目标：确保他们热爱学习。 “I’m the person that starts them off with that positive experience with school,” she explains. 即使他们上了初中或高中，她知道他们可以回到早期的记忆中去寻找学校里的快乐和兴奋。

Starting from week one, Ms. Mathis uses books to help students grow social-emotional and language skills — this week, for instance, they’ll be reading 拉玛拉玛想念妈妈, about Llama Llama’s first day at school.

“They’ll see themselves in Llama Llama, and see that Mama always comes back,” she explains. 它帮助他们在建立学术基础的同时学会调节自己的情绪。 By the end of the year, children in Ms. Mathis’s class will have learned their letters and letter sounds, think critically about the world around them, and know how to speak up for themselves and solve problems. “I always tell them, you’re such a big thinker,” says Ms. Mathis.

That MLK PS — and all RPS preschools — has such a strong academic focus is something that might surprise those removed from the early-education world. 在学校的每一天都很重要，因为学生们学习了为未来成就奠定基础的关键技能。 “People hear ‘preschool,’ and they assume ‘daycare,’ they think ‘babies’,” says Principal Hartsfield. “Every day my students prove they are Tiny Titans and they soar. Folks underestimate how capable they are.” 每一天，我们的学龄前儿童都在学习。

“I just love Ms. Mathis,” says Diya Robertson, whose son Kingston is following in his older brother’s footsteps in Ms. Mathis’s room. “My older son was so shy, and now he’s so outgoing. That’s all Ms. Mathis, and pre-K.”