Jennifer Connolly always knew she wanted to be a first grade teacher. While teaching pre-kindergarten at St Mary’s, she met a Warrensburg teacher and discovered an opening for her dream position at the Warrensburg Central School District. She is now in her sixth year of teaching first grade at the Warrensburg Elementary School and a core part of the school community. Nominated for Staff Spotlight because of her great enthusiasm, compassion, and ability to empathize with students, meet first grade teacher Jennifer Connolly!
Starting her career as a substitute teacher, Connolly experienced teaching different subjects, age groups, and district sizes. She felt her teaching skills and career goals would be most compatible with teaching first grade.
“My favorite part of working with this age group is the excitement they have for learning. They are so excited to come to school,” Connolly shared.
Connolly was working as a pre-kindergarten teacher at the St. Mary’s School in Ballston Spa when she met Warrensburg first grade teacher Jessamyn Clifford. One of the students in Connolly’s pre-kindergarten class was Clifford's daughter. Clifford shared that there was an opening in Warrensburg for a first grade teacher and encouraged Connolly to apply.
Connolly’s positive experiences with her own teachers while growing up inspired her to go into education. Connolly’s third grade teacher Mrs. Burn saw her passion for reading and gave her space to explore. Going into fourth grade, she saw her teacher Ms. Goth engage with the needs of her students on an educational and social level. Connolly hopes to not only educate her students, but to connect with them on a deeper level as well. She wants her students to know that she is there for them as they experience the ups and downs of life.
Connolly understands the social needs of her students and prioritizes group work as a classroom technique. She has tried a variety of teaching styles and found that technology and games help her students learn the most. Group work gives students more one-on-one time with the teacher and creates friendships among the students. Students can collaborate, share ideas, and learn from one another while improving their social and communication skills.
For first graders, she has found that students learn to read more easily and engage with the material better in small groups. Connolly, an avid reader who prefers thrillers, hopes to share this joy with her students, just as her teachers did with her. She is currently reading “First Lie Wins” by Ashley Elston. She follows Reese Witherspoon’s recommendations through Reese’s Book Club.
Ms. Connolly has two children. Her daughter Aubrey is 18 and studying to be a nurse at the Adirondack Community College. Her son Luke is 15 and attends high school in the Glens Falls City School District. The family has a dog that they rescued from a high-kill shelter in Georgia using the services of Adirondack Save-a-Stray.