OPEPO Teachers
Kathryn Molotsky
Before becoming OPEPO’s math teacher, Kathryn was an organic farmer and piano teacher. The mom of three amazing kids, she has been living in Port Townsend for almost 30 years, and has loved every minute of it! Kathryn loves to integrate her love of animals and music into the classroom and often integrates these topics facts into lessons.
Fun Facts
Kathryn would love to have 100 farm animals, but doesn’t yet!
3 Things Kathryn Loves
- Music, especially piano
- Her animals, goats, and her dog
- Life!
Renee Neugent
Being a literacy teacher, it will come as no surprise that Renee enjoys books. She loves how reading lets us know about the world, and how writing gives us a voice and the power to create change. Before becoming a teacher, Renee studied cultural anthropology, environmental studies, and permaculture. Renee’s first teaching experience was leading nature education programs in her home state of Connecticut.
Fun Facts
- Renee’s mom and sister are also teachers.
- Most days, you can find Renee riding her bike to school.
- Renee has two cats and nine chickens.
3 Things Renee Loves:
- Her kids (including her students!)
- Traveling
- Being in nature
Teacher/Facilitator Responsibilities
- Using a child-centered approach as the basis of learning and community decisions.
- Providing activities that integrate areas of learner interest.
- Assessing each child’s learning style, special interests, and level of development.
- Working with parents and children to create and work toward academic and social/emotional goals.
- Helping children follow through in meeting their goals with periodic self-evaluation.
- Evaluating each child’s progress by maintaining a portfolio and writing an end-of-year summary.
- Helping children develop the social skills needed to express their feelings in appropriate ways, be sensitive towards others’ feelings, negotiate and reach consensus, and to work successfully in a variety of groups.
- Maintaining an environment conducive to learning by expecting students to take responsibility for care of materials and classroom.
- Giving a monthly “classroom report” at the Parent Meeting.
- Attending Parent Meetings and special committee meetings, where appropriate.
Accommodating diverse learning styles and interests also requires teachers to stimulate new areas of study within the scope of the district-mandated curriculum.