O.B.

GATES ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

10001 Courthouse Road Chesterfield, Virginia 23832
(804) 768-6195 Fax (804) 768-0697
June 10, 2017

To Whom it May Concern:

Mrs. Collins exemplifies the qualities and characteristics of a well-rounded educator that works not only with the diverse student
population, but also with the entire school community and all stakeholders. Mrs. Collins is the Literacy Specialist at Gates
completing her second year. During her time here, she has implemented and led our teachers and instructional support staff in
developing best practices for all children while developing literacy skills. To begin with, Mrs. Collins started her journey full
speed ahead pushing teachers into analyzing data and setting up Tier 1 and Tier 2 literacy instruction through the guided reading
practices of Jan Richardson. She set up a flood in model where the Instructional Assistants, PALs tutors, Special Education
teachers, and herself, travel to each grade level providing Tier 2 and Tier 3 strategic supports for ALL students who enter the
school year not meeting grade level expectations in literacy. The flexible grouping changes she makes with students performance
throughout each nine weeks as the data supports guide student improvement. She constantly monitors the data and assists teachers
in creating strategic interventions, supporting best practices. Mrs. Collins has focused primarily on assisting students in grades
Kindergarten, first, and second with strategic phonics and decoding strategies from a conference she attended in October. After
attending the conference, Mrs. Collins immediately began implementing the program with the materials from the company that
were given to her so she could pilot them with a diverse group of students including those that are deaf and hard of hearing. She
strives to meet the needs of the challenging, diverse community at Gates along with collaborating with all staff for the most up to
date literacy practices.

In addition to working with students each day, Mrs. Collins also supports the teachers, instructional support staff, and
administration. Mrs. Collins has provided professional development to the teachers monthly during Professional Learning
Communities for all grade levels. After instructing teachers, she then offers teachers opportunities where she would go into the
classrooms modeling lessons and co-teaching to support Balanced Literacy. Mrs. Collins also provides ongoing professional
development to the instructional support staff in a variety of ways. All instructional assistants have been trained in the Jan
Richardson guided reading model and Read Naturally fluency instruction to assist teachers during the flood in model for each
grade level. She works with Chesterfield Technical students that volunteer and train at Gates to teach them strategic ways of
assisting teachers in sight word/vocabulary development and fluency stations. Mrs. Collins has assured that all staff including our
Resource teachers, music, art, and librarians, has the knowledge and materials to support literacy throughout each day who also
assist teachers with reading and writing development by pushing into classrooms to provide Tier 2 intervention support. It takes a
village to raise a child and our entire school is focused on literacy development due to Mrs. Collins belief that all children have
the right to enjoy reading!

Mrs. Collins planned a professional development day with Lori Oczkus, literacy consultant and author of Reciprocal Teaching at
Work: Strategies for Improving Reading Comprehension. This opportunity allowed teachers to observe Lori in action teaching a
lesson as well as being part of that lesson, with our students. This lesson was followed by a debrief session where the teachers
could collaborate with Lori, share take away strategies, and ask questions.

Lastly, Mrs. Collins works with the entire school community including parents and the PTA to promote school wide literacy
development. She assisted with reading fundraising with the PTA raising over $8000 for our school in the Learn2Earn reading
fundraising where students collected pledges for minutes read. She then also sponsored two more reading initiatives with our
business partner Omega Learning and Fly Squirrels baseball team. Our Read Across America Day is not just one day, but an entire
week of celebrations with over 100 business, local media, and central office personnel reading to our students. Her passion for
reading stretches beyond the classroom and into the community promoting the importance of literacy in our community!

Mrs. Collins has earned the trust and respect of not only her students, but the entire school community. Feel free to contact me if
you require further information.

Sincerely,

Giuliana N. Brink
Principal, O. B. Gates Elementary