First Grade (1A): Mrs. Valli Chadwick

I love teaching first grade at All Saints. I have a sincere appreciation for children and enthusiastically embrace the challenges of early childhood education. I believe in the importance of positive reinforcement and creating an inclusive community in the classroom that encourages children to learn and explore in a safe, nurturing, and inviting environment. Emergent learners need visual stimulation to further enthusiasm for learning and a literacy-rich environment to support the development of reading comprehension and fluency connections. I believe that the classroom experience should provide a predictable structure for effective growth and inventive strategies to ignite student initiative to learn and embrace new ideas.

I grew up in Tacoma and graduated from Bellarmine. I attended the University of Washington and received my BA in Art History. I returned to school and received my Master in Education from City University in Tacoma. This will be my second year teaching first grade at All Saints. My internships included: a 3/4 split gifted class at Bethel elementary school in Spanaway, a 7th grade Language Art class at Edgemont Junior High in Edgewood, and a kindergarten class at Hilltop elementary school in Edgewood. I did my student teaching in kindergarten at Hilltop and loved this age group and their unique abilities of readiness for the step up to first grade. I drew from this experience my desire to focus on and teach first grade.

I have owned and operated a picture framing business in Tacoma for 18 years. I am artistic and fairly good at working with my hands. My husband Ben and I have been married 20 years and we live in Edgewood with our two children Haley (14 years old) and Benjamin (9 years old). I have lived in France for a year of my life and loved the European culture. I enjoy children’s literature, artwork, and their imaginative expression of thought through writing and conversation. I love going to art museums, browsing for antiques, and spending time with my family and friends. I have a grateful heart and a good work ethic. I am so happy to be a part of All Saints elementary school and truly feel privileged and blessed to be a first grade teacher.