Stephanie Merrill of Durham, who has taught at Durham Community School for nine years, now is the teacher for the school’s first pre-K program.
Merrill, 33, was the lead teacher for the former Laugh & Learn Childcare program, introduced when Durham Community School was built in 2010. The state mandated that the school eventually incorporate a preschool class into its plans, and this past summer, Regional School Unit 5 budgeted for it.
There are 27 children in the full-day, pre-K classes – 14 going on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 13 on Tuesday and Thursday. Emily Johnson is the educational technician.
Merrill, a native Mainer, grew up in Lebanon. At a young age, she was fascinated by the classroom experience.
“There was a good chance that you would find me down in the basement of my childhood home, pursuing my lifelong dream,” she said. “The difference that set this basement aside from others was the chalkboard that hung on the wall near the oil tank, the large desk topped with an old-fashioned typewriter, and a jar of writing utensils. There was also a small table where my sister, or whoever was at my house that day, would sit, and a shelf full of teaching supplies that I had accumulated over the years when my teachers would clean out their classrooms in hopes of becoming more organized. Their junk would then become my treasure and be added to my collection of teaching material in my make-believe, yet so real, classroom.”
Staying the course, Merrill earned her degree in elementary education at the University of Maine at Farmington in 2005. She then obtained a master’s in education at New England College in Henniker, N.H.
Merrill and her husband, Travis, have a 19-month-old daughter, Violet, and are expecting a baby boy in January.
Merrill answered questions regarding the pre-K program at Durham Community School for the Tri-Town Weekly.
Q: This is the first year for the pre-K program at Durham Community School. Could you trace its beginnings?
A: As an educational technician, long-term sub, coach, literacy boost before-school teacher, after-school book club and adventure writing coordinator at the Durham Elementary School, it was all in my plan to start the first public preschool program at the new Durham Community School in 2010. Though the funds were not available to provide all families access to high-quality, developmentally appropriate public preschool, I began Laugh and Learn’s Preschool Program at the new Durham Community School. I also taught the kindergarten Jumpstart Summer Program, focusing on literacy, and after over eight years all my hard work and effort paid off.
Q: What, in your opinion, are the benefits of preschool education?
A: With such high demands in kindergarten, I believe that the transition to public kindergarten is more effective when children have experienced a high-quality preschool program.
Q: Did you do screening for applicants? How did that work?
A: We screened the children in May to determine enrollment. Class size and teacher-to-child ratios are 16 students and one certified educational technician. Due to size constraints, enrollment criteria includes students must reach the preschool age of 4 by Oct. 15 and they reside in Durham. Screening would be used to determine priority enrollment as needed.
Q: What do you like about teaching young children?
A: Teaching is my passion. It is a great feeling to go to work every day. I am very committed and dedicated to my profession; therefore, it is seldom that I am out of my classroom. According to my philosophy of teaching, I believe that for optimal learning to occur, students need to be provided with a stable, empathetic social environment. It is my responsibility to immerse them in a challenging environment that is structured where consequences are logical, instant, consistent and relevant. The first year of school is crucial in building the foundations of a child’s lifelong learning journey.
Q: What do you do with students who are ahead of the others? How do you plug that in?
A: As in any classroom, there are varying needs/abilities. I differentiate my instruction to reach all children’s individual needs. I not only align my teaching to meet Maine’s Early Learning and Development Standards, but use progress monitoring to inform my instruction and document student growth.
Stephanie Merrill teaches the first-ever pre-kindergarten program at Durham Community School.
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