Kindergarten Teacher
Email:
Margaret_Torres@dpsk12.net
Department(s):
Kindergarten
Disneyland is great, but for her, the happiest place on earth is a kindergarten classroom. She has been fortunate in her career to teach kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade, and to be a support person as an interventionist, gifted and talented specialist, and a teacher coach. Being a kindergarten teacher, however, is what makes her excited to come to work each day. She loves having the opportunity to look at the world through a five-year-old’s eyes. .
She has a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Gifted and Talented education. She is a two-time National Board Certified Teacher and has been humbled to win a variety of teaching awards over the years.
She has a wonderful and very patient husband. She met him as her ballroom dance teacher, and they opened their own dance studio together where they happily taught until they had three children. At that point, she transitioned to teaching school instead of tango, while he continues to dance every day. Their kids are now vibrant adults, and she is content knowing that she helped add three amazing humans to our planet. As empty nesters, their dog Otis has way too many toys.
In her spare time, she loves to travel, read, go to the theater, watch Survivor and cooking shows, go on walks and mountain hikes, and play any game that involves cards or dice. She has a front-yard fairy garden that people go out of their way to see and a backyard vegetable garden that occasionally produces something to eat. She is also an avid researcher and loves to investigate anything that helps her understand how the world works or what has happened in the past.
Her goal is to encourage independent, curious thinkers and problem-solvers. She takes tremendous pleasure in meeting each learner where they are academically and taking them further than anyone thought they could go. While doing this, she believes in the power of play and provides a play-based learning environment with a plethora of opportunities.