Eleven Pattonville staff members graduated from Webster University with a masters degree and Missouri state certification in ESOL. Webster University’s Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) program received a National Professional Development grant from the U.S. Department of Education. In this grant application, the university partnered with area schools including Pattonville School District.

 

The participating teachers were part of a two-year grant through the university that has now graduated nine cohorts over the past five years.  

• Courtney Cady, fourth grade teacher at Drummond Elementary School 
• Christina Curtis, instructional specialist teacher at Bridgeway Elementary School
• Erika Dietrich, kindergarten teacher at Drummond Elementary School
• Dempsey Fogarty, kindergarten teacher at Drummond Elementary School
• Kristen Gartland, kindergarten teacher at Willow Brook Elementary School
• James Gleason, English language learner paraprofessional at Bridgeway Elementary School
• Renate Kirksey, third grade teacher at Parkwood Elementary School
• Natasha Malone, fifth grade teacher at Bridgeway Elementary School
• Christian Metheney, math teacher at Pattonville Heights Middle School
• Whitney Strubhar, English teacher at Holman Middle School
• Madison Thorpe, math teacher at Pattonville Heights Middle School

The project title is Increasing Teacher Capacity through Communities of Practice to Serve English Learners. This grant is designed to increase the overall capacity of schools to serve English learners by increasing the number of ELL-certified teachers; strengthening parent, family, and community engagement; and providing teachers with more effective tools and strategies to support English learners.

Participation in the grant required a full two-year commitment and the grant covered the tuition for 120 teachers to complete the seven courses required by DESE to receive Missouri ELL Certification and one more graduate-level course that may be used toward an MA in TESL.