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Welcome to my page! My name is Erica Jones and I am the current Director of Pre-K/Program Coordinator for our Voluntary Pre-K Program. I also serve as one of the Pre-K classroom teachers.
Our program serves children who qualify under state guidelines who will be four years old by August 15th of the school year.
If interested, please complete and submit an application and an income verification form quickly as our spots fill up.
About our program:
The Voluntary Pre-K program teaches the Tennessee Early Learning Developmental Standards using Kaplan's Connect 4 Learning curriculum to instruct and state approved sounds' first supplemental materials to inform literacy instruction.
Our program hours are from 8:00 am until 2:00 pm daily and parents are required to sign in and sign out the child daily. We follow the Newport Grammar School's calendar. For qualified students, there isn't a fee or tuition as this is a state funded program.
About me:
My teaching-related education includes a Master of Science (M.S.) in teacher education earned in 2014 from the University of Tennessee with a concentration in elementary education. I was blessed to learn as part of an urban multicultural program and take additional graduate coursework for an add on license in early childhood special education for children ages birth to age eight. I am currently a doctoral candidate working towards a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) in learning, design, and technology (LDT) at the University of Tennessee. I recently presented my pilot research at Middle Tennessee State University at the Southeastern STEM Education Research Conference.
I have worked with children in many roles over the years. From volunteering at local multiple vacation bible schools (VBS), to working with children in orphanages and schools in Africa while serving as a Marine, to volunteering as a camp counselor in California for the local MDA Camps (Muscular Dystrophy Association), to assisting with special needs children helping at reprieve camps aboard Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. I have enjoyed all the experiences I have been afforded.
I am originally from a small town in Southern Mississippi. I have also lived in California, North Carolina, and spent some time overseas. However, I have called East Tennessee my home for some time now. I have two bubbly and handsome boys who both are warriors for life and whom I love to spend time with. I enjoy hiking and loved leading our school's hiking club for middle-schoolers and their parents for years in the past. I am a proud Marine Corps veteran and I am a die hard VOL for life.
While caring for two children of my own, attending grad school full-time, working my full-time teaching job, serving as a graduate assistant and teaching graduate level courses for UT, I can relate to how wild and crazy life can get at times.
Feel free to reach out to me if I can be of any assistance.
Erica Jones
