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Welcome to fifth grade!  Fifth grade is an exciting year filled with new independence and increasing abilities.  It is a year when academic concepts from earlier learning continue to be reinforced and expanded upon, while physical, intellectual, and social-emotional needs are shifting due to rapidly changing brains and bodies. I truly enjoy working with students at this age and all the rewards and challenges we encounter together in the classroom.

This will be my 17th year in Deer Valley Unified School District. I have worked with children in a variety of capacities over the past 25+ years, from birth through adolescence. I taught 2nd and 3rd grade for many years at Sunset Ridge School. I received the honor of becoming a Deer Valley Education Foundation Teacher of the Year in 2018. In 2020, I made the transition to 5th grade at DVUSD's online academy. After three years of teaching 5th grade online, I jumped back into the classroom and joined the Las Brisas learning community in the 2023-2024 school year. I absolutely love teaching 5th grade!

My husband and I are the proud parents of four adult children: two sons and two daughters. Our family continues to grow, as our oldest daughter got married in 2023 (giving us an exceptional son-in-law) and our oldest son got married in 2024 (adding an extraordinary daughter-in-law). We are grandparents of adorable twin grandsons, who will turn two years old in September. I love spending time with my husband, our children and grandsons, as well as our extended family and friends. In my free time, I enjoy cooking, traveling, going to local events, reading, watching movies, visiting with friends, and exploring new places and things. 

I value parents being actively involved in their child's education and work diligently to keep a bridge between our classroom and home. As a teacher, it is my mission to educate and help every child who enters the classroom to discover his or her potential. I have high expectations of all students. It is my desire to not only teach students about the topics in our curriculum, but also to prepare them to become productive, healthy, happy, and engaged members of the world as they grow in the years ahead. I strive to provide a classroom that is nurturing, safe, enriching, and enjoyable for all members of our classroom family to thrive. I understand that children learn at different rates and with different modalities, so I strive to meet each student's needs by utilizing a variety of techniques and strategies. I hope that every child will become a lifelong learner, armed with the tools necessary to adapt to the ever-changing world around them.

 I truly believe in the importance of keeping the channels of communication open, and creating relationships with students and parents, which ultimately benefit learning. If you ever wish to contact me, feel free to reach out to me at any time using my email address: katherine.gottlieb@dvusd.org. I will be sending newsletters and frequent communication regarding classroom-related information.