I am Mrs. Gardner and am thrilled to be your second grade teacher. I have been teaching at Saint Mary School for seven years and love being part of the Saint Mary School family. 

I am a career educator and hold a master's degree in elementary education, a bachelor's degree in general education and an associate's degree in early childhood education. I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to teach in both private and public school systems in New York City and on Long Island. I look forward to bringing the best of my experiences to the second grade.

My teaching experiences are vast and rewarding. I started my career as a substitute teacher in a Long Island School district, where I taught all subject areas grades K-12 district wide. This experience helped me prepare for a new role as a special education teacher at a public school in the Bronx. I taught for two years as a resource room teacher supporting students in math and reading in grades K-5.  Afterwards, I was assigned  K-2 special education classroom teacher and taught for six years. This experience was extremely fulfilling as I instructed and guided students with behavioral issues, speech impairments, and learning disabilities. After eight productive years in the Bronx, I undertook a new adventure accepting a teaching  position at a private school on Long Island where I taught sixth grade and second grade. Later, I took a sabbatical from teaching to raise my children.

I returned to teaching in 2015.  After several years of teaching third grade, I am excited to return to second grade where I can help guide the spiritual development of our children through the Sacrament of Holy Communion. This will be a very exciting and important year! 

My goal for our class is to promote a comfortable and collaborative learning environment where students can grow academically, spiritually, and socially.