Mrs. Tammy Robinson

Whether she is taking photos of students building a block tower, helping students with puzzles or card games, or carefully preparing each child’s backpack to go home with the day’s artwork and memos, Mrs. Tammy Robinson brings a warm professionalism to her work in St. John the Evangelist’s preschool program. Mrs. Robinson joined Mrs. Pat Herron this year in teaching St. John’s youngest students in the preschool class for three-year-olds and in the morning and afternoon Junior Kindergarten classes for four-year-olds.

Family Ties

Mrs. Robinson heard about St. John’s need for a preschool teacher through Peg Daly, her sister-in-law and a St. John’s parishioner. Tammy’s 15 years of experience in early childhood education made her a great fit for the job. Mrs. Robinson hails from Pennsylvania, where she grew up in Mechanicsburg and earned her degree in Early Education from Penn State University

. Her professional experience includes running her own home-based day care business and serving as director and teaching preschool in a church-based child care center.

Tammy’s husband Rob is a long-time Silver Spring resident and a parishioner at St. Bernadette’s. They have three daughters and two sons ranging in age from 17 to 24, and two granddaughters who are 2 and 4 1/2. Tammy’s youngest daughter, Amy, attends the Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington.

To the delight of St. John’s preschoolers, a second Mrs. Robinson is a familiar face in the classroom: Tammy’s mother-in-law, Mrs. Margaret Robinson, substitutes in the preschool classroom. The children have taken to calling Tammy the “real” Mrs. Robinson, while affectionately dubbing Margaret the “other” Mrs. Robinson and sometimes even the “pretend” Mrs. Robinson.

A Strong Foundation

Although teaching at St. John’s is her first experience working in a school setting, Mrs. Robinson loves the K–8 environment, the integration of prayer into the daily routine, and her students’ enthusiasm for coming to school each day. And she values what she sees as St. John’s excellent preschool program.

“I’m really impressed with the concepts we introduce to the children,” she said. “At Thanksgiving, the children learned about Native Americans and they could actually carry on conversations about the Wampanoag Indians!”

Tammy also notes that the five-day Junior Kindergarten program, which St. John’s offered for the first time this year, has been enjoyable for the teachers and very successful in building strong bonds among the students.

She hopes that the preschool program provides all of her students with a good start, the basic foundation they need to be prepared both academically and in their faith. An avid reader of novels, particularly Christian-based mysteries and romances, Tammy especially enjoys sharing her love of reading with the students.

“Most of all, I hope that the children will always look back at Mrs. Herron and myself with positive, happy feelings about their early school experiences.”

Based on the many contributions Mrs. Robinson has made in only a few months, that hope will very likely bear fruit in the coming years. Welcome, Mrs. Robinson!