Jean Snyder, an experienced math and literacy specialist, brings to her students a passion for teaching and learning in all facets of life. Having retired from a 25-year teaching career with Montgomery County Public Schools, Jean looks forward to leveraging her classroom teaching experience at Somerset Elementary for one-on-one and small group tutoring. Jean has always approached teaching with the goals of sparking excitement for learning through hands-on exploration and helping students to become lifelong learners. Committed to her own professional development and continuous learning, Jean regularly participates in workshops, seminars, and word travel to share with her students.
Born and raised in a small Midwestern town, Jean always had a strong desire to travel and explore the world. She graduated from the University of Michigan with degrees in English and Spanish and a Secondary Teaching certificate. In her first career after college, Jean traveled the world for Pan American World Airways as a flight attendant, trainer, supervisor, and sales representative. A teacher at heart, Jean later pursued a Master’s degree from the University of Maryland in Elementary Education and began her second career as a 4th and 5th grade teacher. Her love for learning about absolutely everything—from world cultures to current events to math to literature to science—inspires her students and helps Jean to build a special connection with each learner.
Jean was part of her school’s leadership team and her upper elementary classroom experience has included work with many international students with limited English, students with a variety of special needs, and students with extraordinary academic abilities. Jean is a master at differentiating instruction to address varying skill levels and creative tendencies, while encouraging students to stretch to achieve their personal best as they become increasingly independent and organized. Special emphasis on helping students develop math concepts as well as computation skills has been central in her classroom. She sponsored and coached Math Olympiads, an after school math enrichment program, for many years and helps her students to become persistent, resourceful, and strategic problem solvers. Jean also loves helping students discover and develop their own personal stories through the integration of reading and writing.
She currently volunteers one day a week in an elementary school in Anacostia, DC, where there are many at-risk students. She also recently worked in the Foreign Language Enrichment Program at her neighborhood DC public school where her own sons formerly attended school K-6. Three days a week she conducted a before-school beginning Spanish class for second graders. She also serves as a substitute organist-pianist-choir director about once a month at her church.
In her free time, Jean loves to travel, play the piano, sing in a choir, read daily, in-line skate, and hike. She and her husband reside in northwest Washington, DC. They have two grown sons, one a teacher and one a lawyer (like mom and dad!).
