This week, students across Bountiful Elementary are beginning their first rotation through Art, Library, PE, and Computer Science.
We call them Prep classes, but that name only tells part of the story.
These are classes with their own learning goals, skills, standards, and challenges. They are also taught by specialists who hold a unique place in our school: they teach every student, every week, often from Kindergarten through Sixth Grade.
A Different Kind of Teaching Relationship
That continuity gives our Prep teachers a perspective few others have.
They watch students grow from beginning readers into independent library users. They see creativity and confidence develop in Art, physical skills and teamwork strengthen in PE, and early problem-solving grow into increasingly complex coding and robotics in Computer Science.
They remember what was difficult before. They notice when something clicks. And over time, they get to see students become more capable, independent, and confident.
More Than What Comes Home
Sometimes the learning in Prep classes is easy to see.
A piece of artwork comes home. A library book appears in a backpack. Your child talks about a game in PE or a robot that did something unexpected in Computer Science.
But the deeper learning is often less visible.
Students are learning to create and express ideas, find and evaluate information, move and work with others, solve problems, use technology thoughtfully, and persist when something is difficult.
Those skills build over time because students return to these classrooms year after year.
Meet the People Behind the Classes
Over the next several days, we'll introduce our Art, Library, PE, and Computer Science teachers.
Linsey Holley
Tara Berge
Liz Hawkins
Jessie Edwards
You'll hear directly from each of them about what they believe, what students are learning in their classroom, what they hope children carry with them, and a little about who they are outside of school.
Each classroom looks different.
Sometimes a child needs the right book. Sometimes they need permission to experiment and make something entirely their own. Sometimes they need a place to move, practice, cooperate, and challenge themselves. Sometimes they need a difficult problem and enough space to figure it out.
That variety is part of what makes Prep such an important part of the elementary school experience and why this year's theme, Make It Matter, fits these classes especially well. A single class period may seem small, but over the course of a child's elementary years, those experiences add up.
Our Prep teachers have the opportunity to know students not just for one school year, but across many. And that gives even the small moments a chance to matter.