Faculty Spotlight: Kindergarten Teacher Jaime Katz

Tell us About Yourself:

I graduated from Penn State University and this will be my 9th year teaching Kindergarten! I taught abroad in Australia (kindergartners are called preppies there!), at Abington Friends School, moved to D.C., and taught at the Lowell School before moving back to PA. This will be my second year at BFS!

Tell us about your educational philosophy and why you love teaching Kindergarten:

Kindergarten has such a special place in my heart because it’s a time of endless possibilities – it’s where the lifelong journey of curiosity, creativity, self-discovery, and learning comes to life!

One of my favorite memories happened at the end of my first year of teaching… I realized pretty quickly why I love this age group. After six months of student inquiry transforming our entire classroom and all of my lesson plans into a very official ‘Kindergarten Astronaut Training Program,’ the final piece of our giant spaceship was measured, trimmed, and duct-taped into place. As the entire class quickly huddled together inside it, I remember hearing a student whisper excitedly to another student, “YES! She totally forgot to make us do work today!” Disclaimer: I had.. and plenty of it; but that’s how learning should always be when you’re five years old and having so much fun that you don’t even realize you just completed the last unit of the math curriculum. That’s why I love Kindergarten!