Kindergarten Team

Ms. Renée Haire

Instructional Assistant: Michael Hope

Renée Haire teaches kindergarten and has been at Randolph Elementary since the fall of 2020. She has taught kindergarten and preschool students in North Carolina and Virginia for several years. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Her four children attended Randolph. Renée enjoys reading, cooking, gardening, traveling, and spending time with her friends, family, and new grandson.Please change last part to: grandson and new granddaughter.

David Siu

Dr. David Siu

Email: David.Siu@apsva.us

Instructional Assistant: Maria Perez

David Siu teaches kindergarten and serves as Randolph’s instructional lead teacher. He started working at Randolph in 2009. Prior to coming to Randolph, David taught in District of Columbia Public Schools as well as Harvard University. He did his undergraduate work at Oberlin College and graduate work at Harvard and American University. David enjoys exercising, reading and spending time with his family.

Ms. Lydia Helgesen

Email: lydia.helgesen@apsva.us

Instructional Assistant: Marcela Ranz

Lydia Helgesen teaches kindergarten and has been at Randolph Elementary since the fall of 2022. She began teaching in 2007 and has taught kindergarten and first grade in public, charter, and private schools in DC and Maryland. Lydia did her undergraduate work at The American University and graduate work at George Mason University and the University of Virginia. In her spare time, Lydia enjoys reading, swimming, traveling, and visiting the many parks of northern Virginia with her husband and two children.

Ellen Killalea, Reading Specialist

Email: ellen.killalea@apsva.us

Ellen Killalea is a Reading Specialist at Randolph Elementary. She previously taught kindergarten, first grade and second grade. Ellen attended Virginia Tech and George Mason University. She enjoys spending time with her family and likes to hike, read, cook and walk her dog.

Lupita Rodriguez, EL Teacher

Email: lupita.rodriguez@apsva.us

Greetings! This is my fourth school year at Randolph Elementary! I have served as a third grade classroom teacher, a Kindergarten special education teacher, and a Kindergarten English language learner teacher. It is my second year as an English language learner teacher. I enjoy spending my free time with my family and my dog Coco. A fun fact about me is that when I was 9 years old I was stranded in a tropical rainforest with my family!

Jazmyn Beckford, Special Education Lead

Email: jazmyn.beckford@apsva.us

Jazmyn Beckford is a Special Educator at Randolph Elementary. This will be her first year at Randolph. Ms. Beckford is an Arlington native. Before Randolph, she was a Special Education assistant at Patrick Henry Elementary, in Arlington. Currently, she is working on her Master’s in Special Education from the University of Virginia. She attended Florida State for undergrad, studying Mathematics. Crafting, traveling, and eating good food are among her favorite things to do.

Ms. Kerry Abbott, Advanced Academics Coach

Hi Everybody! I’m Ms. Abbott, and I’m starting my 24th year of teaching in APS. I have filled many different positions including Communications/ Videography Teacher, Tech Coach, ITC, Architecture Teacher, Musical Director, and 5th Grade Homeroom Teacher.I grew up in Buffalo, New York. Go Buffalo Bills! I completed my undergraduate degree at Niagara Falls University, and my master’s degree at George Mason. I live in Arlington with my 2 daughters Abby (8th grade) and Eloise (6th grade). I am excited to be joining the Randolph Stars this year and I look forward to being a part of this wonderful community both professionally and personally.

In Kindergarten, students focus on oral language development through interactive read aloud, content knowledge building, morning meeting and play. Phonological awareness skills and phonics are taught daily to help students acquire foundational literacy skills necessary for beginning reading. General content knowledge and vocabulary are developed through thematic units using the Amplify Core Knowledge Language Arts resource. Beginning writing skills are included as part of phonics and Amplify CKLA. Letter formation is also emphasized in Kindergarten. Small groups both extend and reinforce necessary skills for all students.

In mathematics, Kindergarten students begin to develop important foundational numeracy skills. They build these skills through repeated practice with counting objects and by learning how to represent, read, and write numbers through 30. Students develop a sense of 5 and 10 and build fluency of relationships within 10. Students at this age model and solve story problems through 10 using both addition and subtraction. Children also explore concepts such as geometry as they learn attributes of shapes and patterns using their bodies and objects in the classroom. We want students to see the beauty and wonder of numbers and recognize that math is all around us!

The PYP trans-disciplinary framework offers kindergartners authentic opportunities to focus on key developmental abilities. Teachers create learning experiences and environments that meet the needs of our youngest learners. Play is a central focus of this approach that allows children to develop language, knowledge and the approaches to learning.