I'm Kendra Denny Maurer, counselor at Madison Elementary. I've been in education for 30 years; initially as a teacher, and as a school counselor for the past 22 years. I love my job, in part because there is never a dull moment and each day presents new surprises and challenges. I consider myself very fortunate to look forward to work each day.
I have worked at Madison since 2011 and I am grateful to know every student by name and many of the parents, as well. The nature of my job is to be a support to all students and families, as well as teachers. I am in classrooms every day, teaching lessons and doing class meetings. I also work with students individually and in small groups on a variety of issues and offer support in areas of social/emotional growth, self-regulation and academics. We have integrated mindfulness and self-regulation into our daily routines at Madison. All students have learned basic self-calming strategies and many classrooms have taken it to a higher level. Ask your child to teach you "sharkfin" - I think you'll be amazed at the calming effect! We are using Zones of Regulation curriculum school-wide and many of our students have become quite skilled at naming their emotions, setting daily goals and self-evaluating their progress.
While certainly not a parenting expert, I have raised one precious girl into a pretty terrific young woman. I believe parenting is the most important job in the world and consider parent support an important part of my job. I welcome phone calls or e-mails, should you ever have questions or concerns or if you simply want to brainstorm about a parenting challenge.
