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Can you believe the 2021-2022 school year is coming to an end? Durham PreK teachers, teacher assistants, and directors have been working hard all year to increase classroom quality for children in Durham County!

Durham PreK is a local investment by Durham County Government in high-quality early childhood experiences for all children in Durham. Classroom quality is dependent on a number of factors, and two of the ways Durham PreK prioritizes is are having a highly-qualified workforce and strengthening teacher-child interactions.

Durham PreK lead teachers are required to have or be working toward an NC Birth-through-Kindergarten (B-K) License, and Durham PreK directors are required to become certified Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS©) Observers to support their teachers. This year, many lead teachers worked toward their B-K Licenses and many directors achieved their CLASS© certification. You can find the full list of celebrations below!

In addition to all of these accomplishments, many assistant teachers also worked with their Technical Assistance Specialists to begin higher degree programs, too! We are so proud of their hard work in and outside of the classroom.

We want to extend a special "thank you" to the Technical Assistance Team for supporting Durham PreK teachers, teacher assistants, and directors every day! They work year round to make sure Durham PreK staff have the resources and support they need to succeed.

They shared the following accomplishments your children's teachers have achieved this school year. We hope you'll join us in celebrating them!

Teachers who Enrolled in an Early Childhood Education Degree Program

One of Durham PreK's priorities is to have highly-qualified staff who are best prepared to teach your children during their pre-K year. To reach that goal, Technical Assistance Specialists support the higher learning plans of each teacher in need of an additional degree or certification, or those who want to further their education at a higher level. Many teachers and teacher assistants started their degree or certification programs this year.

Congratulations to each of you!

  • Tierra Garret, a teacher assistant from Brown's Early Learning School, enrolled at Durham Technical Community College with a scholarship from T.E.A.C.H.
  • Felicia Strater, a teacher assistant from Childcare Network, Inc. #57, enrolled in the Birth-through-Kindergarten program at Gardner Webb University.
  • Vianey Campos , a teacher assistant from Another Beautiful Beginnings Child Care Center, enrolled at Wake Technical Community College. She will begin her practicum in the fall!
  • Rena Salguero, a lead teacher from Yates Baptist Child Development Center, enrolled in the Birth-through-Kindergarten program at East Carolina University. She completed her student teaching with Wake County Public Schools!
  • Tiandra Johnson, a lead teacher from Childcare Network, Inc. #166, enrolled in the Residency Licensure program at the University of Mount Olive.
  • Adrienne Davis, a lead teacher from Childcare Network, Inc. #166, enrolled in the Birth-through-Kindergarten program at North Carolina A&T.
  • Sharelle Torian, a lead teacher from Triangle Day Care Center, enrolled in the Birth-through-Kindergarten program at Catawba College.
  • Debbie Timmons, a lead teacher from Randy's 5 Star Academy is enrolled in the Birth-through-Kindergarten program at the University of Mount Olive.
  • Angie Nichols, a lead teacher from Primary Colors Early Learning Center, has been accepted at the UNC Greensboro Birth-through-Kindergarten program for the fall semester!

Directors who Achieved CLASS Observer Re-certification

Durham PreK Directors must attend a CLASS© Observer training and pass their certification assessment as one of the program requirements. CLASS© is an "observational instrument developed [...] to assess classroom quality in PK-12 classrooms." It assesses teacher-child interactions through classroom organization, social-emotional learning, and instructional support. Durham PreK uses CLASS© observations to help determine classroom quality during the RFA process, so when directors are certified observers, they are able to utilize their training to support their teachers.

Congratulations to each of you!

  • Dalphia Murphy from Randy's 5 Star Academy
  • LaDrenna Jackson from Leathers Meachem Head Start
  • Amy Boyette from Children's Campus at Southpoint
  • Brenda Carter from Oxford Manor Head Start
  • Ada Terry from Childcare Network, Inc. #57
  • June Shillito from Yates Baptist Child Development Center
  • Kara Turner from Primary Colors Early Learning Center

Community of Practice Highlights

Durham PreK teachers participate in a Community of Practice where they share experiences, learn from each other, and collaborate on new ideas. Each month, one of the teachers presents on an topic in early childhood education they're passionate about or on a lesson they did with their students.

January

In January, Ms. Morgan from Creative Schools at Davis Park was the "Featured Teacher," and the theme was Vocabulary, Literacy, and Play. She shared the ways in which she incorporates these in her classroom's center time with her colleagues.

March

Ms. Gina Allen from White Rock Child Development Center was the "Featured Teacher" for the March Community or Practice! The theme of that month's meeting was "creativity," so Ms. Gina shared the different strategies she used to promote creativity, curiosity, and imaginative play in her classroom!

This presentation inspired Ms. Sharelle and Ms. Beverly at Triangle Day Care Center to incorporate some of Ms. Gina's ideas into their classroom! They used cardboard boxes, stickers, cupcake liners, paper plates, crayons, and markers to express their creativity and make their own cars. Then the whole class used their cars to drive around the classroom!

April

In April, Ms. Kimberly Toth from Primary Colors Early Learning Center was the "Featured Teacher." The theme in April was Physical Development, so Ms. Kimberly presented her strategies on promoting fine and gross motor skills in her classroom!

While teachers in Durham PreK classrooms teach in a variety of different settings (in Head Start classrooms, at community-based programs, or in DPS elementary schools), the Community of Practice meetings give them an opportunity to work together, and as the name suggests, build a community.

Personal Highlights, Celebrations, and Accomplishments

One special aspect of technical assistance is the relationships that are built between teachers, teacher assistants, and directors and their Technical Assistance Specialist. This relationship is the foundation for a supportive learning environment, and it includes sharing personal wins with each other! Below are some of the many personal highlight that your teachers have celebrated this year.

  • Mrs. Kiana from White Rock Child Development got married on April 9th. "Best wishes and congratulations on your marriage!" - from Technical Assistance Specialist, Kamika Henderson
  • Ms. Angie from Primary Colors Early Learning Center celebrated the birth of her baby girl in April! Congratulations, Ms. Angie!

Can you believe the 2021-2022 school year is coming to an end? Your students have worked hard all year, and so have our Durham PreK teachers and directors! Our Technical Assistance Team shared the following accomplishments your children's teachers have achieved this school year! Check them out below!

Teachers who Enrolled in an Early Childhood Education Degree Program

One of Durham PreK's priorities is to have highly-qualified staff who are best prepared to teach your children during their pre-K year. To reach that goal, Technical Assistance Specialists support the higher learning plans of each teacher in need of an additional degree or certification, or those who want to further their education at a higher level. Many teachers and teacher assistants started their degree or certification programs this year.

Congratulations to each of you!

  • Tierra Garret, a teacher assistant from Brown's Early Learning School, enrolled at Durham Technical Community College with a scholarship from T.E.A.C.H.
  • Felicia Strater, a teacher assistant from Childcare Network, Inc. #57, enrolled in the Birth-through-Kindergarten program at Gardner Webb University.
  • Vianey Campos , a teacher assistant from Another Beautiful Beginnings Child Care Center, enrolled at Wake Technical Community College. She will begin her practicum in the fall!
  • Rena Salguero, a lead teacher from Yates Baptist Child Development Center, enrolled in the Birth-through-Kindergarten program at East Carolina University. She completed her student teaching with Wake County Public Schools!
  • Tiandra Johnson, a lead teacher from Childcare Network, Inc. #166, enrolled in the Residency Licensure program at the University of Mount Olive.
  • Adrienne Davis, a lead teacher from Childcare Network, Inc. #166, enrolled in the Birth-through-Kindergarten program at North Carolina A&T.
  • Sharelle Torian, a lead teacher from Triangle Day Care Center, enrolled in the Birth-through-Kindergarten program at Catawba College.
  • Debbie Timmons, a lead teacher from Randy's 5 Star Academy is enrolled in the Birth-through-Kindergarten program at the University of Mount Olive.
  • Angie Nichols, a lead teacher from Primary Colors Early Learning Center, has been accepted at the UNC Greensboro Birth-through-Kindergarten program for the fall semester!

Directors who Achieved CLASS Observer Re-certification

Durham PreK Directors must attend a Classroom Assessment Scoring System© (CLASS©) Observer training and pass their certification assessment as one of the program requirements. CLASS© is an "observational instrument developed [...] to assess classroom quality in PK-12 classrooms." It assesses teacher-child interactions through classroom organization, social-emotional learning, and instructional support. Durham PreK uses CLASS© observations to help determine classroom quality during the RFA process, so when directors are certified observers, they are able to utilize their training to support their teachers.

Congratulations to each of you!

  • Dalphia Murphy from Randy's 5 Star Academy
  • LaDrenna Jackson from Leathers Meachem Head Start
  • Amy Boyette from Children's Campus at Southpoint
  • Brenda Carter from Oxford Manor Head Start
  • Ada Terry from Childcare Network, Inc. #57
  • June Shillito from Yates Baptist Child Development Center
  • Kara Turner from Primary Colors Early Learning Center

Community of Practice Highlights

Durham PreK teachers participate in a Community of Practice where they share experiences, learn from each other, and collaborate on new ideas. Each month, one of the teachers presents on an topic in early childhood education they're passionate about or on a lesson they did with their students.

January

In January, Ms. Morgan from Creative Schools at Davis Park was the "Featured Teacher," and the theme was Vocabulary, Literacy, and Play. She shared the ways in which she incorporates these in her classroom's center time with her colleagues.

March

Ms. Gina Allen from White Rock Child Development Center was the "Featured Teacher" for the March Community or Practice! The theme of that month's meeting was "creativity," so Ms. Gina shared the different strategies she used to promote creativity, curiosity, and imaginative play in her classroom!

This presentation inspired Ms. Sharelle and Ms. Beverly at Triangle Day Care Center to incorporate some of Ms. Gina's ideas into their classroom! They used cardboard boxes, stickers, cupcake liners, paper plates, crayons, and markers to express their creativity and make their own cars. Then the whole class used their cars to drive around the classroom!

April

In April, Ms. Kimberly Toth from Primary Colors Early Learning Center was the "Featured Teacher." The theme in April was Physical Development, so Ms. Kimberly presented her strategies on promoting fine and gross motor skills in her classroom!

While teachers in Durham PreK classrooms teach in a variety of different settings (in Head Start classrooms, at community-based programs, or in DPS elementary schools), the Community of Practice meetings give them an opportunity to work together, and as the name suggests, build a community.

Personal Highlights, Celebrations, and Accomplishments

One special aspect of technical assistance is the relationships that are built between teachers, teacher assistants, and directors and their Technical Assistance Specialist. This relationship is the foundation for a supportive learning environment, and it includes sharing personal wins with each other! Below are some of the many personal highlight that your teachers have celebrated this year.

  • Mrs. Kiana from White Rock Child Development got married on April 9th. "Best wishes and congratulations on your marriage!" - from Technical Assistance Specialist, Kamika Henderson
  • Ms. Angie from Primary Colors Early Learning Center celebrated the birth of her baby girl in April! Congratulations, Ms. Angie!

Can you believe we are already approaching the New Year? Durham PreK classrooms have been working hard this year to learn, develop social skills, and prepare for kindergarten! Teachers and directors have also been dedicated to their professional development goals to support their high quality practices. Let’s check out some highlights from a few of our Durham PreK centers!

At White Rock Child Development Center, Mrs. Gina and Ms. Kiana engaged students in a STEM lesson about foundational physics and mathematics ideas! Students made predictions about which ball would roll the fastest down the hallway, then they tested their hypothesis by rolling balls of different sizes and weights to see what really determined their speed! This introduced children to the scientific process of asking questions, making predictions, and testing for results. This kind of inquiry- and play-based learning is something Durham PreK values in each classroom. Click here to read more about learning in Durham PreK.

The students at White Rock Child Development Center and students at Randy’s Five Star Academy both learned about pumpkins to celebrate the fall. At White Rock, the children visited a pumpkin patch together and each picked out a pumpkin to decorate for the fall festival contest. At Randy’s Five Star Academy, students learned about the life cycle of pumpkins and turned their dramatic play station into a pretend pumpkin stand. Dramatic play is a classroom station that encourages imagination, creativity, and problem-solving around ideas or places children love – like the pumpkin patch!

In addition to our hard working teachers and students, we want to shout out a few of our dedicated directors! Directors Amy Boyette (Children’s Campus at Southpoint) and LaToya McCrimmons (Durham Public Schools) passed their Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) Observer training! CLASS is a classroom evaluation system Durham PreK uses to assess classroom quality and to inform professional development plans between teachers and their coaches (technical assistance specialists).

The last two years have been difficult for us all, including teachers, classroom assistants, directors, students, and families, but we are proud of the effort each and every one of them has put into providing quality care to all Durham PreK children and families.

We hope you have a happy holiday season!

The North Carolina Child Care Stabilization Grants will be available soon through DCDEE to assist child care programs with the fixed costs of child care and compensation support for staff. This grant is available for all licensed private child care programs, family child care homes, and faith-based child care programs in North Carolina. The application for North Carolina Stabilization Grants application will open on October 11, 2021!

Application Website

We hope that you can find one of these times to attend and learn more about these funds that are available to you! All of these trainings and the link to the trainings are available on the website listed above.

There will be multiple webinar trainings for providers to learn about how these funds are to be used, who is eligible to apply, how to apply, and what information you will be required to submit with your application. The trainings dates over the next few weeks are listed below:   

Stabilization Grants Webinar Trainings

Monday, October 4, 2021

12:00 pm, Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00)

Tuesday, October 5, 2021

2:00 pm, Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00)

Saturday, October 9, 2021

10:00 am, Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00)

Monday, October 11, 2021

12:00 pm, Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00)

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

6:00 pm, Eastern Daylight Time (New York, GMT-04:00)

Event password: TRAINING

Durham PreK is committed to high-quality early education, and one way we support that is through weekly technical assistance and coaching with Durham PreK teachers and directors. Each month, we highlight some of the incredible work our teachers and students are doing. Check out the highlights from March and April below!

Classroom Highlights

Another Beautiful Beginnings Child Care Center

In December of 2020 Durham PreK completed CLASS (Classroom Assessment Scoring System®) in all of our Durham PreK classrooms. Rosalind scored well in the Emotional Support domain, which looks at children’s social and emotional functioning in the classroom, and Classroom Organization, which includes a broad array of classroom processes related to the organization and management of students’ behavior, time, and attention in the classroom.

"TA support is such a positive tool allowing the teachers to access weekly support as they work on strengthening their instruction and interactions with children."

Rosalind and Nita, her Technical Assistant, identified the Instructional Support domain as an area of growth. They created a professional development plan with goals centered on ways to shift her focus on the content of learning activities to the implementation of those activities and how to measure their effectiveness for supporting cognitive and language development. Since working together, Rosalind has successfully incorporated what she's learned from Nita!

Nita said, "I witnessed the following: Rosalind using strategies and questions to help children obtain a deeper understanding of concepts through the use of problem solving, exploration, and applying knowledge to their real life experiences."

Nita says they will continue to work on this domain for the remainder of the year.

Childcare Network, Inc. #166

Lead Teacher Tiandra Johnson is currently participating in our Making the Most of Classroom Interactions (MMCI) cohort. MMCI is a 12-session comprehensive training using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS®). In their weekly TA meetings, Nita and Tiandra discuss the prior session’s dimensions and brainstorm ways to make to incorporate what she learned into her classroom.

Connecting TA to the 12-week program allows the opportunity to reinforce what is learned and to support implementation in the classroom.

Tiandra has grown exponentially in the area of classroom interactions. Tiandra has submitted videos for Nita's feedback, and has taken the strategies and suggestions Nita has offered to heart and included them in her lessons.

Great improvement has occurred for the following dimensions:

  • Regard for Student Perspectives - which looks at how the teacher intentionally and consistently places emphasis on children’s interest motivations, and points of view.
  • Instructional Learning Formats - which looks at how the teacher makes the most of children’s interest, engagement and ability to learn from lessons and activities.

Triangle Day Care Center

Ms. Abigail and Ms. Britteny have been working towards promoting students' higher-order thinking skills and cognition. They have implemented several activities that align with the CLASS dimension Concept Development - indicator Analysis and Reasoning!

One activity was a sound experiment that used different size glasses and explored with their students what sound empty glasses made versus glasses with water added. The students were also able to make predictions on what would happen when colors are mixed together.

As a STEM project, while talking about buildings, their class read The Three Little Pigs, and each student was able to use marshmallows and toothpicks to build a house. When they were done building, the wolf (a hairdryer) tried to blow each house down. If the "wolf" blew it down, students used their creative thinking skills and came up with a way to make their house sturdier.

Ms. Sharelle and Ms. Beverly have provided opportunities for students to take on different responsibilities in their classroom. Each student can pick a different classroom job, such as line leader, calendar helper, light helper and a new job called "mask manager". These opportunities align with CLASS dimension: Regard for Student Perspectives - indicator Support for Autonomy and Leadership.

During the month of March Ms. Shamika and Ms. D'Asia's class focused on the use of advanced language while introducing the topic natural disasters to students. During group time discussions, new vocabulary introduced to students were earthquakes, volcanoes, tornado, damage and danger. Visuals and videos were used to clarify the new vocabulary terms. These examples of new vocabulary being introduced to students is aligned with CLASS dimension Language Modeling - indicator Advance Language.

What a wonderful glimpse into the classrooms at Triangle Day Care!

Teacher Testimonials

"I’m so grateful.  Everything is really great and is very helpful to me.  Any feedback I can get, I learn a lot from it to make me a better teacher.” - Kimberly Toth, teacher at Primary Colors Early Learning Center

“I like CLASS as an assessment better than ECERS. It focuses on teachers, their interactions, and what they are doing with children. It gets the children talking [and] having conversations, and expressing themselves will go a lot further when they go off to kindergarten. ECERS component looks at the way you talk to the children and the interactions. CLASS takes it to another level and broadens that.  PAS is a useful tool that can help directors with leadership skills and other areas like effective staff evaluations, staff observation and policies in place." - Karyn Wilkerson

Happy Birthday!

Kiana McMillan - March 17th

Cassandra Wise - March 19th

Brenda Jones - March 23rd

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Brenda Stephenson from White Rock CDC! Brenda S. was the $50 Kaplan raffle winner at the 2021 ASK Conference. Brenda shared that she is planning purchase an item for her classroom.

Cassandra Wise received a certificate from Durham Tech for completing the Teaching Adult Learners 6-week course.

Ms. Murphy at Randy's Five Star Academy, Inc. has implemented a new system for recognizing staff for their years of service. She treated all staff to dinner and each staff that was recognized had the opportunity to spin the wheel for a chance to win a prize. Some prizes were free pedicure, manicure, or lunch provided by the director.

Thank you to all of our wonderful Durham PreK Directors, Teachers and Teacher Assistants, and to the Durham PreK Technical Assistants for sharing these highlights with us.

Do you want to add a shoutout for a teacher? Comment below and let us know!

The A.S.K. (Advancing Skills & Knowledge) Conference is going virtual in 2021 with a week of online learning for early care and school-age education professionals! From Saturday, February 20 through Thursday, February 25, choose what sessions you’d like to attend, but registration will cover the conference in full.

Early bird registration is $27.00 per attendee and ends January 5, 2021. After that, registration will cost $35.00 per attendee and closes on February 1, 2021. View the agenda and features of the 2021 ASK Conference below or read all of the conference workshop descriptions here.

“This conference keeps getting better.  I’ve been attending for 15+ years, since it was ‘Day for Day Care’ on the UNC campus.”

— 2019 ASK Conference Attendee

ASK Conference Agenda

Saturday, February 20, 2021

Session I: 8:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

Session II: 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Keynote Session: 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Monday, February 22, 2021

Lunch & Learn: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Evening Sessions: 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Lunch & Learn: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Evening Sessions: 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, February 24, 2021

Lunch & Learn: 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Evening Sessions: 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, February 25, 2021

Evening Sessions: 7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Click here for the full list of sessions.

**Registration covers the whole conference from Saturday, February 20, 2021, to Thursday, February 25, 2021.**

Early Bird registration (ending January 5, 2021): $27.00

Regular registration (ending February 1, 2021): $35.00