Patricia Prieto

Patricia’s relationship with the Bennett community began as a parent of two upper school students. Last year her relationship grew when she joined the teaching team. Patricia graduated with a BA from Columbia College Chicago where she studied Fine Art. During her last year at Columbia, she took an interest in early childhood education and started taking early childhood classes to complete her BA. After graduating she started teaching at a Head Start Center in a 3-5 year old classroom. She co-taught there for twelve years. While working there she continued her early childhood education at her local community college and with ongoing professional development training.

Patricia is also trained to tutor children to read using the Orton-Gillingham approach. She utilized the OG multi-sensory approach in her Head Start classroom preparing the children with a foundation in phonological awareness. Patricia is eager to use her art background to inspire and encourage the children to experience the process of creating art. Along with her education and experience, Patricia is bilingual in English/Spanish. She hopes to extend and support the learning of Spanish in the classroom.