Hello, my name is Mrs. O’Brien and I would like to take a moment to tell you a little bit about myself. I truly love teaching little children, and I have been doing it for nearly thirty years. I taught second grade for three years at St. Joachim in Frankford, and then left to have my children.  When my children were young, I taught preschool for five years at Lower Mayfair Recreation Center.   In 1990 I began teaching full time at St. Timothy School.  I taught first grade for 11 years, and then happily began the preschool program, which has now continued at Blessed Trinity School.

Each morning when the children arrive I realize how lucky I am  to have a job that I enjoy so much. However, this would not have been possible without the support of my family, friends, coworkers and the trust of the parents of my students.  It is unbelievable now to see a few of the students I taught, returning with their own children.  I have worked very hard to make our program a wonderful tribute to Catholic Education.  Over the years I  continued my education on a part time basis and have received a BS in Elementary Education at Chestnut Hill College, a Master’s Degree in Education at Holy Family University, and have been certified in Elementary Education, Special Education and Early Childhood Education.  I currently have four years of training  by The Children’s Literacy Initiative in the Message Time Plus Program.  This program has proven that through good literature children can begin to read and write at their own pace and begin a life long love of reading.

I would be remiss if I did not mention  my long time friend, and aide,  Mrs.Terri Driscoll.  We met when I taught her son at Lower Mayfair Preschool.  When her young daughter began kindergarten she volunteered in my classroom for five years and was a great help.  As I planned our new pre-kindergarten I knew that she would make a perfect assistant, and now we are beginning our 18 th year together.

Our program has changed a great deal in the last 18 years. It began with half-day programs and has grown into a full day program.  Every year is a little bit different depending on the enrollment.  When we added an additional class Mrs. Lau was the classroom aide with Mrs. Heston.  When Mrs. Heston left Mrs. Wolstenholme was a wonderful addition to our program.  But, as numbers changed so do the number of Pre-K classes we had.   In the past few years Mrs. W. has gone back and forth from Pre-K to Kindergarten.  However, this year Mrs. W. is back in kindergarten, and we are extremely lucky to have Mrs. Lau back again .     We all make a great team!

I am glad that I have been able to tell you about myself.  If I can answer any questions, just call school or email at JO’Brien@btrcs.org.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Jackie O’Brien