“We applied right away,” she said. “The Moral Focus curriculum was one of the biggest draws for us at the time and just how much more rigorous it is than what the public schools were around us. We just thought it would be a good fit for our kids.”
East Arbor has turned out to be a great fit for her and her children, as Vail is now in her 11th year at the school. Her investment in being part of education grew after having children of her own, prompting her to switch from working in daycare to teaching. That feeling has only strengthened after having both of her children go through eighth grade at East Arbor, which has outperformed the district for 10 years.
“I just knew I wanted to be a part of making a difference in kids’ lives,” she said. “For me, after I had my kids, I really understood the importance of school and being in that environment to help other kids. That was for the biggest thing for me on why I wanted to switch and become a teacher.”
Vail has found a passion working with special education students and students with behavior issues. Helping them grow has also allowed her to form strong relationships with parents and add to what is already a close-knit community.
“I feel like I was always meant to be a teacher so being a second career I am so happy that I found this,” she said. “I love the staff, I really love my co-workers. Everybody that’s here just made it feel more like a family and so it's just really nice.”
Teaching young children the fundamentals of how to be successful in school is especially rewarding. It is her guiding philosophy – to help them become good humans.
“Since I teach kindergarten, teaching them to get along and teaching them how to solve problems on their own and conflict on their own, that’s my philosophy,” she said. “If you teach them to do that, be a good person, be a good human, then the curriculum follows.”
Keep up the excellent work, Ms. Vail!
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About East Arbor Charter Academy
East Arbor Charter Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Ypsilanti, Michigan, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies (NHA®) network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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