Mrs. Therese Green
Reading Interventionist & Academic Support

"The most important and foundational skill that most enables children to learn is their ability to read" says Mrs. Therese Green, the new Learning Interventionist & Academic Support Teacher for SJL Academy. Her passion is the emerging Science of Reading and helping students to learn to read so they can access the world of wonder through books. One of her favorite quotes is from Dr. Seuss which illustrates this passion, "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” She especially enjoys working with students who face challenges in reading.

There are many famous stories of self-taught figures from history including Abraham Lincoln, Leonardo da Vinci, and Thomas Edison. Lincoln had sporadic formal education but read himself into deep learning and knowledge. To echo Mrs. Green's words, the great Civil Rights leader Frederick Douglas asserts, "Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." And indeed, internal freedom is the goal of a Catholic liberal arts education. Douglas was a former slave who did not learn to read until age 12 when he paid a group of boys to get him books and provide him basic lessons. He believed he had true freedom when the vastness of human knowledge was opened to him through books. Appreciating and being transformed by beautiful, timeless literature is a central curricular goal of SJL Academy. Quality literacy instruction is essential to this aim and Mrs. Green will play a major role in it.

She will be working in the Early Childhood Program in the morning and then will also be available to work with students 1 on 1 in the elementary school. She brings a great deal of experience and training to this important position. She has her undergraduate degree in Education with a certification in Early Childhood through 6th Grade from the University of St. Thomas (Houston) where she graduated at the top of her class receiving the Outstanding Graduate Award in her subject matter. She began her career at one of the top-rated special education schools in the country, The Briarwood School. She has successfully tutored many students with learning differences including dyslexia through her work with the Center for Academic Therapy and in her private tutoring services. She was also the Reading Specialist at Pines Presbyterian Preschool.

She has additional training through the renowned Neuhaus Education Center and with Southern Methodist University as well as the Institute for Multi-Sensory Education. Furthermore, she has a background in Montessori Education (primary) through the Association Montessori International (AMI). She is currently completing her Masters in Education in Reading from the University of Mary in North Dakota (Spring 2025). She has homeschooled two of her five children, helping them to become fluent, avid readers.

We are blessed to have such an experienced and diversly trained educator at St. James!