Cassandra Santos has taught at the Early Childhood Center since 2013. She taught as an assistant teacher in the 2s, 3s, and 4s classes as she completed her undergraduate degree. She has been the lead teacher of the 5/6s since 2019. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the City College of New York with a concentration in Childhood Studies and a Master's degree in Education from Sarah Lawrence College. Cassandra’s interests include children's literature, experiential learning, and creating equitable and inclusive environments. She is passionate about lifelong learning and believes in collaborative, democratic, and inclusive education that empowers students to play an active role in their own learning journey.
Graduate Courses 2023-2024
MSEd Art of Teaching
Children’s Literature and Artistic Development
Graduate Seminar—Summer
This course emphasizes the role of children’s literature in classrooms and schools. We look at story as world-making; as an opportunity to encounter the experience of others; as a window on play, place, and period; as a reflection of cultural heritage; and, finally, as a motivation for literacy. Readings pair picture books and novels with nonfiction texts. There will be samples of simple narratives for the emerging reader and novels for fluent elementary-school students. The place of literature in the classroom involves careful choices on the part of teachers, who must support the interests and heritage of young readers, intrigue them through pictures and text, and eventually lead them to discover new worlds within the covers of books. Throughout the course, we will consider the importance of reading aloud (both fiction and nonfiction) and the ways in which stories inspire artistic expression.