Equitable Education at Lea Hill Elementary

Candace Kapakos, resource room teacher, and Melissa Stuckey, 5th grade teacher, have been co-teaching at Lea Hill since last year. Their inclusive approach to education creates a safe classroom environment that removes barriers and increases access for all of their students. What does their co-teaching system look like? Well, they meet once a week to co-plan deeply and also communicate often through email, as well as “on the fly”. They co-teach ELA three days a week, math every day, and two days a week, Candace leads the class meetings. 

    They have implemented four co-teach models (parallel, stations, team, and one teach, one support) and the model they use depends on the goals for the lesson and needs of the students. They alternate their roles in the classroom and make grouping decisions weekly based on exit tickets.“We continue to do what we feel is benefiting the kids the most. If something we try shows improvement for the kids, we keep doing it.”

Their greatest challenge is finding that very important time to plan deeply. They fill in the gaps by communicating with each other while teaching and making adjustments even in the middle of lessons. And their greatest rewards? The environment they’ve created and learning from each other… “feeling safe and welcome in that room and knowing I can go in it and the kids will be happy to see me and are not surprised when I show up.  I love watching Melissa teach because I am still learning even in my 9th year of teaching and she has so much to offer.”