Dear First Grade Students and Families,

Welcome to the fabulous first grade at Tallwood Elementary School! My name is Samantha Dougherty-Cooper and I will be your child's first grade teacher this year! This will be my sixth year teaching. I have taught special education for grades K-3 and I have spent the past four years teaching fourth grade. This will be my first year in first grade and I could not be more excited! My mom is a teacher and has been teaching first grade for the past 20 years! I have spend all summer picking her brain for great first grade ideas and I can't wait to get started!

I recently got married and I am in the process of legally changing my name from Dougherty to Cooper. I don't want to do that to the students part way through the year so I am going to be going by Mrs. Cooper from day one. However, my email is Samantha.Dougherty@vbschools.com.