GREAT FALLS — The CORE School at Morningside Elementary School reflects on a successful first year, providing college students with real-world teaching experience while addressing the teacher shortage in Great Falls.
"This past year was like heaven," said Shannon Taylor, a teacher at Morningside.
Principal Jennifer Martyn said the school accomplished many things in its inaugural year.
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"Opening up a new school with new staff, with us. College program, with the teaching assistants coming in, pulling in students from all over Great Falls. To come in and create a community of learners together. Really proud of the work that we did this past year," Martyn said.
Rachel Cutler, chair of the School Advisory Board, said faculty and kids enjoyed a joyful atmosphere.
"The teachers are happy to be here, and they're so creative. I walk by classrooms and you've got kindergarten students listening to popcorn pop and watching, you know, the an optometrist speak to them. There's just so much action happening here all the time," Cutler said.
The students enjoy coming because of the care they receive, Cutler said.
"We had some visitors here, and the things that they talked about, made my heart happy. They feel safe. They feel loved. They feel respected. And they are. They love coming to school. We have great attendance," Cutler said.
Shannon Taylor explained having an assistant creates more possibilities in the classroom.
"As a teacher, it did help me to kind of open up my range of what I was able to do. A lot of times you'll read through the lesson and you'll think, oh gosh, it would be nice if I could do this or add in this, but having my teacher assistant in the room, it made it doable," Taylor said.
The teaching assistants are eager to learn, which will help prepare them for the future, Cutler said.
"They support each other. They're willing to jump in and really do anything that they're asked. They are, you know, soaking up all of these experiences and all of these experiences are making them more effective and will serve them well when they step into a classroom of their own," Cutler said.
As a result of CORE School, new opportunities are opening up for teaching assistants, Martyn said
"Our first cohort of teaching assistants are going to be interviewing for teacher jobs a year from January. And so it's amazing how much we've accomplished in a short amount of time to help. And really make a positive impact on the teacher shortage that everyone's talking about. But we have teachers that are truly prepared for the classroom," Martyn said.
