Hats off to our March Teacher of the Month, Christine Armstrong!

826 Valencia is proud to present the March Teacher of the Month Award to Ms. Christine Armstrong! Ms. Armstrong teaches a group of fourth and fifth graders at Alvarado Elementary School. She engages with students by discussing current events and encouraging students to make up their own minds about the issues. She empowers her students to speak up and provides a positive, creative environment for them to do so.
March Teacher of the Month

During class time, Ms. Armstrong meets each of her students where they are. One parent declares, “She manages to get incredible academic achievement from each student according to their abilities.” Parents and students can see Ms. Armstrong’s hard work and dedication in all that she does.

Of all the classes that Ms. Armstrong teaches, the consensus is that history is the most fun. A student exclaims, “In history she tells us what really happened, not just what the textbook says.”

Ms. Armstrong also incorporates field trips into her curriculum, and brought her class to Fort Ross during the school year to re-enact an important period in American History. One parent writes, “The students are introduced to cultural and historical references through frequent field trips to museums throughout the city. Most memorably, her class ‘lived’ the history of Russian settlers and Native Americans circa 1850 at Fort Ross State Park.” One student says, “All of us being in costume made me really feel like I was experiencing the early eighteen hundreds.”

Students even made a video, where they highlighted their favorite things about Ms. Armstrong’s class. What students appreciated the most was that their teacher respected them as if they were adults. As one student explains, “She treats us like mature, intelligent people and not just like little kids.”

Finally, parents feel that their students are now well equipped to meet new challenges along the road. One parent raves, “I am confident that my daughter will leave Ms. Armstrong’s class with a full roster of academic and social strategies to thrive in middle school.”

826 Valencia thanks Ms. Armstrong for all that she does both for her school and for her community!

Read about our Teacher of the Month program.