Pierina Austin, teacher, Margaret Mead Elementary School
“Students and parents have an active role in helping to build the foundation of our students for their future.”

Taking the learning that typically is reserved for a classroom space and extending it beyond those four walls is something that Pierina Austin prides herself on. As a teacher of a “Continuous Learning Environment,” or “CLE,” at Margaret Mead Elementary , Austin teaches students in three grade levels: kindergarten, first grade and second grade. The CLE allows Austin to focus not on the age of the kids that she teaches, but upon the learning process that takes place from day to day. Teaching in a CLE means that she has the same students in her class for three years, allowing her to get to know each of them personally and focus on their unique needs. Similar programs (sometimes referred to as multi-age classrooms) exist in other schools around the district but this is the only program offered at Mead. “By calling it a ‘Continuous Learning Environment,’ the focus stays on the learning that is taking place, not on the age of the kids,” said Austin.

Each year, as a new group of kindergarten students join their class, Austin matches up older students to serve as mentors for the kindergarteners. The mentor and mentee have time to meet and begin a connection before the start of the school year, which establishes friendships and makes it easier for the kindergarten students to learn the classroom rules and expectations before entering the classroom on the first day of school.

“My goal each year is to bring something new into the classroom, so that students are not just learning the same thing from year to year,” said Austin. Each year, the class is given a theme that all concepts will relate to throughout the year. This helps to bring concepts into focus for students. This year’s classroom theme has been “interdependence.” Students have gone on field trips and have had guest speakers to talk about the environment, weather, community, and other issues related to their theme. The last week of April, an oceanographer came to visit the class. Prior to that visit, Walter Kelley, a meteorologist with Q13 Fox came to visit the class. Austin’s class is also a King County Green Classroom. They have a worm bin that is kept outside of their classroom for composting. Her class is responsible for the upkeep of the worm bin.

Austin considers parents to be extremely valuable within the Continuous Learning Environment. “Within our class, we work collaboratively with parents and they are involved in so many amazing ways.” In Austin’s classroom, parents help to plan events, collect resources for students, create activities and are involved in understanding and discussing the educational process and what is best for students. Parent communication is on-going through newsletters, weekly updates, weekly knowledge of activities, emails and monthly parent meetings. Austin also keeps an up-to-date website. Parents have recognized Austin as well. In 2005, parents nominated her for a Teacher’s Insurance Teacher of the Year award. She won, receiving a plaque and a $1,000 gift certificate to be used in her classroom.

Austin attended Seattle University where she earned both her bachelor’s degree and Masters in Education. She has attended both Seattle Pacific University and University of Washington for extended education courses, as well as spent three summers at Columbia University Teacher College where she studied reading and writing practices. She has been with the Lake Washington School District since 1989 and has received her National Board Certification in Early Childhood / General Education. While with Lake Washington, she has taught at both Emily Dickinson Elementary and Mead. In 1997, Austin was a finalist for state teacher of the year.