1st/2nd - Sarah Kairis
Sarah’s Class, 2023-2024
Dear first and second grade families,
Welcome, or welcome back, to a new school year in my class! My name is Sarah Kairis and I am so excited to get to know your families better this year. This will be my seventh year at Ann Arbor Open! I am also lucky to have a student teacher from Eastern Michigan University working with my classroom this year- Emma Bentley. Our class will begin at 8:15 every day. I look forward to welcoming students in through my classroom door at that time!
Outside of school, I am a mom to a nearly 3-year old girl, Lily, and a fur baby, Jax. I am finishing up a second master’s in administration at Concordia University. I am active in professional development, including completing a 2-year program in phonics and science of reading based instruction this fall, called LETRS.
My first priority as I begin my year will be, as always, to create a community where students feel welcome, safe, and heard. We, as a country, have been through a lot recently, and our kids are feeling the weight of it, perhaps even more than we realize. As educators we aim to nurture our students’ whole selves, both as complex individuals and as members of a justice-minded community. Towards this end, much of the first few weeks of school will be dedicated to community building, expectation creation, and the learning of procedures and routines to allow the rest of the year to run smoothly.
Curriculum night will be on Thursday, September 14th this year. I imagine this will be in person, so I will see you in the classroom then! Most of your questions will hopefully be answered that night, but if you have any questions before then, please feel free to email me!
As I’m setting up the classroom, we are looking pretty good on supplies to start up the year! We could use some more hand soap for handwashing before we eat. I also never turn down donations of Kleenex, dry erase markers, glue sticks, or popsicle sticks for crafting!
I am looking forward to the beginning of our year together. Throughout the year the first and second grade team will be working together closely to best meet the needs of all our students. We look forward to team teaching, collaborative lessons, and allowing students to meet and interact with all our teachers in a variety of different settings and lesson formats. More information to come on this, but I’m excited for the year ahead!
See you all next Monday,
Sarah Kairis (she/her/hers)- kairiss@aaps.k12.mi.us
My name is Sarah Kairis. I've been teaching at Ann Arbor Open since 2017. Before teaching first and second grade here, I taught Kindergarten at UPA in Detroit and Spanish to K-5 students in a variety of AAPS schools. In November of 2020 I had my first daughter, Lily! I also have a black pit bull, Jax, who is full of love and energy. I enjoy teaching, jogging, watching my daughter learn and grow, and (pre-Covid) traveling!
In my classroom, we follow the Responsive Classroom management method. I draw from a variety of curriculum for my math and literacy learning, including Lucy Caulkins, Fountas and Pinnell, Math in Focus, and Bridges. Writing, science, and social studies tend to be closely connected in my room, and draw from current events and student interest as often as possible!
Sarah Kairis
