Here at The Franciscan School, we are driven to provide an excellent learning experience for all our students. In our elementary grades, Instructional Teaching Assistants (ITAs) are integral to the learning communities, providing meaningful support to students and the classroom teacher. Principal Dawn Smith shares, "This support structure enriches the academic journey and reflects TFS's commitment to individualized attention and quality education for its students.”

Each kindergarten through 3rd-grade classroom has its own ITA, which helps provide a more personalized learning experience and enables more attentive instruction. In grades 4 and 5, the ITAs contribute to the grade-level team, fostering collaboration and assisting with students' diverse needs.

Many seasoned educators have contributed to these learning communities as ITAs, including Mary Feely (Kindergarten), Theresa Guntow (2nd), and Grace Gates (3rd). Ms. Feely has been at TFS for 19 years, Ms. Guntow for 24 years, and Ms. Gates for 17 years. Each of them has served in different roles during their time at TFS, displaying their compassionate, “can-do” approaches. 

As students enter Kindergarten at TFS, they often arrive at different levels. ITAs help provide specialized attention to each student, meeting them where they are. As students grow at TFS, ITAs work with students in small groups that accommodate individual learning needs. Students enjoy these opportunities to ask more questions and be challenged in a certain subject.

ITAs are an extra set of hands and a second pair of eyes for classroom teachers. They allow teachers to focus on areas needing more attention and take care of other tasks so they can teach without distractions.

ITAs provide invaluable support throughout the day, such as escorting students to lunch, covering lunch and recess, monitoring the classroom during instruction time, answering questions, providing medical attention or walking them to the school nurse, handing out bandaids, leading small groups, reviewing homework, making copies, and otherwise helping their lead teachers with anything they need. ITAs are superstars!

As a kindergarten ITA, Ms. Feely shares, “Of all the roles I play as an ITA, the most important to me is providing love and comfort to the kids. We often have big emotions in kindergarten, and sometimes a hug or a little walk through the courtyard while taking deep breaths is what is needed most.”

Ms. Gates shares why the community at TFS is so unique. “TFS has such a great sense of community. In all my years being here, I have witnessed time and time again people stepping forward to help when needed.”

Ms. Guntow, who first served for 15 years in 4th grade and now for 2 years in 2nd grade, tells us, “My favorite part of the day is helping students in small groups and seeing them socialize during lunch and recess. I see their personalities outside the classroom, which brings me so much joy.” 

Ms. Feely shares that recess is her favorite part of the day: “Watching the kids run and play with so much joy and inhibition is a lot of fun. Today's world is full of stress and anxiety. Recess is their time to put all of those stressors aside and play in an unstructured way. It is also a great time to foster positive friendships and to use their imaginations. They learn how to take risks, problem-solve, and interact with others in a safe environment.”

Join us in thanking all our Instructional Teaching Assistants for the support and love they provide our students and teachers. We simply could not be TFS without you!