Pre-K

Role As a VPI teacher, my job is to teach students the foundations of literacy and numeracy as well as foster their social and emotional learning. I want my students to learn independence in the classroom so they can begin to take care of themselves and become problem-solvers. I love reading and playing with my students. I will work with Mrs. Fargo to ensure all our students are receiving the best education. Professional Background I went to James Madison University for both undergrad and graduate school. I received my Masters of Arts in Teaching in 2014. I have been teaching VPI in Arlington since 2016. Hoffman-Boston is my favorite place to be. 😊 Personal Interests I enjoy going to the beach with my family, hanging out with friends, or spending time alone at home. Literary Connection One of my many favorite books is Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? It was a favorite of mine as a child and I still love reading it today. I enjoy the different animals in the story, especially those with unexpected colors.

My name is Ms. Keyda Walker. I am the PreK special education teacher who will be co-teaching with Ms. Peterson this school year. It is going to be a fun year full of joyful learning alive in our classroom. I was born and raised in the east of the river located in Washington, D.C. I received a bachelor’s degree in human relations at Trinity Washington University. I am currently working on my master’s in education policy. I have over twenty years working in the education field. This is my second year working for Arlington Public Schools.

Professional Background I have been teaching children since I had my first child. I started working in Arlington Public Schools in Extended Day in 2001 and, while there, I also started substituting. In 2004 I started working in the classroom as an instructional assistant. Personal Interests I enjoy cooking, watching movies, spending time with family and friends. I love eating seafood and traveling. My passion is working with children just to see their faces after they have accomplished a task that they have set out to do. It is a joy!

Role Hello! My name is Helena Taylor and my role as a VPI teacher is to support my students’ education in any way I can. My goal is that all my students make a full year of progress: from being shy to working together with friends, from struggling to hold a crayon correctly to drawing pictures with many details, and from not knowing the difference between numbers and letters to recognizing many uppercase and lowercase letters (including their sounds) and numbers. Professional Background I received my Master’s Degree in Elementary Education from University of Jana Evangelista Purkyne in the Czech Republic. I taught there for 4 years before coming to the USA. Here I started teaching preschool at a private school and fell in love working with the little ones. In 2009, I joined the VPI Team at Hoffman-Boston first as an assistant and then, after receiving my Virginia Teaching License, as a teacher. I feel fortunate working with such a great group of enthusiastic educators. Go All-Stars!!! Personal Interests In my free time I enjoy the outdoors. I went hiking, jogging and biking with my family and friends during the pandemic quite often. Recently I started playing pickle ball and it’s a lot of fun. On rainy days, I like to solve puzzles, listen to audible books and cook with my daughter. Literacy Connection There are many early childhood books that I like. I picked Chicka Chicka Boom Boom written by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault and illustrated by Lois Ehlert. This book is a great example of how learning the alphabet can be fun. If you have never seen the Chicka Chicka Boom Boom video from Scholastic, you should watch it with your preschooler. The melody is very catchy and you will be humming it for the rest of your day. Just like I do with my students when I teach lowercase letter recognition.

Professional Background My name is Dalila Adams. I joined HFB last school year as a Pre-K Assistant. This was my first experience in Pre-K. Lots of fun and learning! I have been employed with APS since 2005. I started as an Administrative Assistant at Barcroft Elementary and later began to work with students. It is what I really enjoyed, so I became a Special Education Assistant after taking the Para Pro Exam. Prior to working in Pre-K, I supported third through fifth grade in content areas (math, social studies, science, reading and language arts). I became a familiar, friendly face as we spent a lot of time together, even after school. I supported the Homework Club providing further assistance in Math and Reading. Personal Interests Here is a bit more about me: I have three sons who attended APS. The youngest graduated in 2017. I am a Nationals fan and enjoy watching baseball. Art is something I enjoy too. I have taken to clay art slab classes at Kenmore Middle School. Creating art out of clay is my favorite! Making Christmas ornaments and cross stitching are other hobbies I have. Reading is another interest of mine. Literary Connection I have read many children’s books. These are some of my favorites for beginning readers: Goodnight Gorilla and In A People House. I have read many book series such as: The Spiderwick Chronicles, Magic Tree House, Percy Jackson and Artemis Fowl. Now I am reading A Lincoln Cavalryman and The Civil War Letters of Henry Suydam. I chose this book because history is an interest of mine as well.