My name is Mrs. Curley and I am the Cotsen mentor here at Laguna Road. Before becoming a mentor teacher, I taught 3rd grade GATE.  I have also taught kindergarten, first, second, fourth and fifth grades! This year I will be stepping out of my classroom again to work alongside other teachers at Laguna Road who applied to work with the Cotsen Foundation.

Three years ago, Dr. Bak applied for our school to become a Cotsen school and we were accepted. This is a great honor and we are thrilled to work with the Cotsen Foundation for the Art of Teaching. The Cotsen Foundation for the Art of Teaching is a private foundation based in Los Angeles, CA. Their mission is to empower good teachers to become even greater.

In order to facilitate this experience, the Cotsen Foundation offers fellowships to teachers. These teachers go through an application process where they teach demonstration lessons and are interviewed by the foundation. Teachers who are selected work with a mentor teacher from their school and are given opportunities to attend the highest level of professional development with their mentor to work on best practices together. This year I will specifically be supporting teachers as they implement balanced literacy practices in reading and writing workshop.

I look forward to another great year serving at Laguna Road where we are committed to working together and supporting each other to provide the best education possible for all our students.