Weisberg Wins Acclaim for Innovative Teaching

Judges for the Lori Petrick teaching award gave Topanga kindergarten teacher Amy Weisberg all 10s, the highest possible score, after observing her with students. ‘She has an excellent classroom,’ they wrote in making their decision. A 27-year classroom teacher, Weisberg, said that she hadn’t seen any of the judge’s evaluations, but was pleased with the award and also for the recognition of the developmental kindergarten program that she instituted at Topanga Elementary School. She graduated with sociology major from the UC Santa Barbara and two years later in 1979 obtained an elementary school teaching credential. She student taught in kindergarten and sixth grade. ‘Kindergarten has always been my favorite,’ she said. ‘I like it. It requires lots of energy and you’re on all the time. There is no down time.’ After graduation, she taught in different grades in various schools located in North Hollywood and East Los Angeles before moving to Canoga Park. The school developed a special program for four-year-olds that addressed school readiness. The program called School Readiness Language Developmental Program (SRLDP) helped children who had not attended preschool or who had language issues. ‘It is amazing program,’ she said. ‘Children attended school for four days and on the fifth day the teachers either met with parents or attended programs with specialists in language and early childhood development.’ Weisberg worked with the program for 10 years before moving to Topanga, where she taught first and second grade until a kindergarten slot opened. Three years ago she started to develop a kindergarten that would be geared for the youngest children. Many private schools have a transitional or developmental kindergarten for those children, as does the Torrance School District. It’s believed that many four-year-olds entering kindergarten may need an extra year for maturation, instead of automatically entering first grade. Last year the program was implemented. Children who have graduated from Weisberg’s developmental kindergarten class have the option of going into a regular kindergarten class the following year or first grade depending on readiness. ‘I’m still teaching reading and math, but I use more manipulatives than pencil and paper,’ Weisberg said. ‘I do address all kindergarten standards because some move onto first grade. ‘I like to look at this as preventive intervention. It gives these children a bigger, broader base to start with and hopefully will prevent future problems in fourth, fifth and sixth grade.’ Weisberg, who has three daughters, 22, 17 and 15, doesn’t believe in rushing children into kindergarten. ‘I’m a parent who’s been through all that,’ she said. ‘I tell parents ‘you don’t want your child to be the smallest boy entering high school.’ ‘It is stressful for kids trying to keep up,’ Weisberg added. ‘The principal and parents have been supportive,’ Weisberg said, adding that hardest thing in implementing her program was developing an alternative developmental curriculum, so that students wouldn’t repeat the same curriculum in kindergarten the following year. In addition to teaching, Weisberg is also working on her master’s degree in education administration. If and when she retires from teaching at the elementary level, she might like to teach at the college level. Her advice to parents about their children’s education is ‘Get involved from the beginning and stay involved in middle school and all the way through high school.’ She is on the student theater and music booster clubs at Calabasas High School, where two of her daughters attend. (Her older child graduated with a theater major from UCLA.) ‘Volunteer for something,’ she said, ‘ so that you can be part of the school community.’ What if your children don’t want you to volunteer? ‘Who’s the boss?’ she asks. ‘The truth is they like to have you there, but they just don’t want to say it.’