Impact Teachers
Did you know that your generous contributions play a vital role in supporting our Monarchs’ academic success? Are you familiar with Impact Teachers and how our fund is supporting them? Monarch Families, Impact Teachers are the key to our educational achievements at MRES, helping ensure that every child has the opportunity to thrive!
For the 2025-26 school year, we have two Impact Teachers: Mrs. Emilia Moore and Mrs. Katherine Feasby. Both are highly qualified and experienced educators. Mrs. Moore, in addition to her role as an Impact Teacher, is licensed in special education and spends the other half of her time on campus teaching special education classes. Mrs. Feasby brings over 20 years of experience in elementary education.
Additional Layers of Support
The term “Impact Teacher” is not an acronym; instead, it reflects the significant influence these educators have—not just on individual students, but also on other teachers and the entire school system. Impact Teachers are fully licensed, highly qualified, experienced educators, who deliver continuous, progressive, targeted, collaborative support for students needing additional help or advanced challenges. They also conduct specialized assessments in math and reading and assist homeroom teachers wherever extra support is needed. Using their rich and diverse teaching backgrounds, Impact Teachers create their own lesson plans and materials and apply their teaching skills and methods on teaching students, just like other homeroom teachers would do. Having Impact Teachers is like adding extra sets of eyes and hands to support our students.
Personalized Assessment and Targeted Intervention
Impact Teachers begin their role by conducting assessments on students who are referred by homeroom teachers as potentially needing extra support in math or reading. These assessments are developed in alignment with California state teaching standards and the PUSD curriculum, while also being individually tailored to identify specific skills or foundational areas that students may be lacking. Following the assessment, Impact Teachers collaborate with the referring teachers to review the results and develop individualized support plans. When it is determined that students will benefit from targeted small group instruction (called Impact pull-out), they are assigned to groups of two to four students for focused learning sessions. Impact Teachers and homeroom teachers coordinate their schedules carefully to ensure that students who receive supplemental support will not miss the core academic curriculum provided by the main classroom or valuable social activities with peers.
The Power of Small Group Support
Small group support (Impact pull-out) is such an effective way of supporting individual students. Given the small group setting, the class is very efficient and therefore fast paced, focused on special skills that the students need to work on. There is such an engaging and positive, friendly atmosphere with immediate feedback being available in these classes. During my observation, I saw that, given their age and attention span, students’ minds naturally wander, but the teachers were able to sense this quickly and guide them back into the discussion seamlessly. Also, I've noticed that kids really enjoy being seen and heard. Given full attention, they become engaged and eager to share their ideas. Their eyes light up when they speak up and listen to others speak. In such a supportive, interactive environment, students truly feel encouraged to give their best effort and thrive.
Help for Students, Teachers, and the Entire School System
Impact Teachers also offer ongoing assistance to homeroom teachers in areas where additional help may be needed. For instance, during the 2025-26 school year, Mrs. Moore supports Mrs. Currey’s 4th/5th-grade combination class by teaching math to the 4th graders. Each day, Monday through Thursday, the class divides into two groups for math instruction: 5th graders stay with their homeroom teacher, while 4th graders go to Mrs. Moore’s classroom for their math lessons. Mrs. Moore is responsible for teaching, testing, and grading those students, just as Mrs. Currey is with her group. This arrangement allows both 4th and 5th graders to receive focused math instruction customized for their grade level and ensures they benefit from dedicated attention from their teachers.
It Takes a Village
Impact teacher’s support offers such effective and proactive strategies to support students. It enables targeted assistance to students so they can quickly strengthen their specific skills while continuing to learn the other academic areas with the rest of the peers. Here is an example: a fourth-grade student with limited English skills—having recently moved from another country—progressed from kindergarten-level reading to first-grade level in just three months thanks to ELL (English Language Learner) support and individualized instruction from an impact teacher. With continued progress, this student is likely to reach grade-level proficiency before the end of the school year. It is so beneficial for this fourth grader to be able to not miss his math lesson and other core curriculum or social activities with his peers, while rapidly improving his reading skills. Such personalized support is not achievable without Impact Teachers.
The Heart of Our School's Academic Excellence
In summary, I have come to understand that Impact Teachers are a crucial component of our school’s success. They offer targeted support to students who will benefit from extra help while allowing them to remain with their peers. Students, not only academically but also emotionally, benefit from having a space where such personalized attention is available. Impact Teachers’ adaptability enables schools to use resources efficiently and provides teachers with opportunities to collaborate, deepen their curriculum, and share ideas on how best to assist each student. It all adds up, making a significant difference across the entire school community. Our commitment to providing resources for Impact Teachers is one of the reasons MRES consistently demonstrates academic excellence!