Hello and thank you for stopping by my page! My name is Ms. Merideth and this is my 4th year as a Special Education teacher here at CVPA. My classroom is room 313, but I work all around the building with a lot of different students, so the best way to reach me is by email. This year, I am excited to be co-teaching in the Math and English Department with Mr. Trester, Ms. Rench, and Ms. Schuh, as well as teaching the resource math and one of the study skills classes. 

A little about me as a human: I am a CVPA alumn and the oldest of 11 siblings. I'm always looking for a new board game to play or a new coffee shop to write at (if you have any recommendations). I'm happy to call St. Louis my home after growing up moving from state to state every year or two with my military parents.

A little about me as a teacher: I've wanted to be a teacher since I was 12 years old. Both my master's and bachelor's degrees in education come from Truman State University, where I also earned minors in Spanish and Psychology. My major teaching philosophy is grounded in the research of Growth Mindset, Love and Logic, and Zone of Proximal Development. In my own words it is: all students want to be liked and be successful and, if a student wants to achieve something, it is possible for them to do it. I do not believe in "bad kids" or "dumb kids;" but I do believe in poor choices. I work hard to help empower my students to recognize how their choices affect their outcomes, instill the confidence that they are capable of achieving whatever they set their mind to, and provide them with the skills/tools/support to help them achieve anything they want to strive for. One of my favorite word origin stories is the root of the word "school." It comes from the Greek word "scholē" which means leisure. This idea is the root of my second philosophy: that learning should be fun. To this end, I love to include gamification in my classroom in the form of review games, weekly community kindness quests, escape room assessments, and more. 

I look forward to working with you and your students in the 24-25 school year!

P.S. For any other educators or anyone interested in some research, I have a little library of book recommendations on Growth Mindset, Love and Logic, and Zone of Proximal Development and am happy to share!