Welcome to Grade 4
Dear Students and Families,
We are excited for the school year to begin and are eager to get to know you and your child! We look forward to partnering with you and supporting your child through the adventures that await us.
The Grade 4 curriculum is interactive and motivational. We take a structured literacy approach to reading and writing. Students continue to build upon previous grades’ explicit phonics instruction using the orton-gillingham approach. We also examine the morphology of words and follow the units of study from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project to guide our explorations into text and writing. Students continue to learn Dimensions Math. STEM is inquiry-based and dovetails with the Next Generation Science Standards. Social Studies uses primary and secondary sources to explore current events, California’s Mission Era, and the Gold Rush. Toolbox and Social Thinking guide our social-emotional learning. Students continue to develop proficiency in Spanish.
Katie Schipper
Katie is excited to begin her third year at Stevenson and her 20th year teaching. She is originally from Colorado, where she attended the University of Colorado at Boulder and completed her graduate work at the University of San Francisco. Katie’s professional training includes Singapore Math, Teachers College Writing Workshop, Orton Gillingham, EDU – Therapeutics-Target Training Therapy, and Social Thinking. While in San Francisco, Katie launched her teaching career as a grade 1 teacher at Convent of the Sacred Heart Elementary School where she met her husband Anthony. They moved to the Monterey Peninsula, where Katie taught kindergarten and grade 2 at Santa Catalina School for 15 years. She is thrilled to continue her journey with the Stevenson community.
Katie Willis
This will be Katie’s second year at Stevenson and her 13th year of teaching. Katie, her husband Kyle, and her two sons Finn ‘35 and Bridger (2) moved to Monterey in 2021 to be closer to family. Her previous position was teaching fifth and sixth grade social studies and language arts at Lake Forest Country Day School in Lake Forest, Illinois–her hometown. All together, she has taught students in five different elementary and middle-school grade levels, at five different independent schools across the country and world. Katie’s professional training includes Teachers College Writing Workshop and Orton Gillingham. She also had the privilege of attending the Gardner Carney Leadership Institute this summer. She is excited about continuing to create leadership opportunities for the fourth-graders. Katie earned her BA from Georgetown University in English and studio art and her M.Ed from Marymount University. She cannot wait to begin her second year at Stevenson!
We look forward to connecting with you on August 23rd at orientation. Go Pirates!
Warmly,
Mrs. Katie Schipper and Mrs. Katie Willis
Grade 4 Teaching Team
