Meet the Teachers

Mrs. Gabelman-Teacher

Welcome to Peirce Preschool! I am so excited to be your child’s teacher this school year. It is an honor to be an educator at Peirce IB World School. I came to Peirce in 2005, teaching Kindergarten for four years, and then moved to Preschool! 

I am originally from Northeast Ohio, where I graduated in 2005 from the University of Mount Union with my BA in Early Childhood Education with an Art minor. In 2010, I graduated from Concordia University of Chicago with my MA in Reading as a Reading Specialist K-12 specializing in Early Childhood Literacy. I also have my English as a Second Language endorsement and graduate credits in Music Therapy and Counseling.

For the past 20 years, I have been a part of a non-profit teaching organization called The Richards Institute’s Education Through Music. This organization is based on the latest brain research on the best way for children to learn and thrive; through play! Using song-experience games, students actively connect important neurons and release healthy endorphins that get our brains to that fun play state! Within ETM’s leadership staff, I serve on our National Literacy Team to help support and teach teachers how to incorporate meaningful and purposeful literature connections to our song experience games. We will use a lot of Education Through Music within our preschool day, and I hope your children will love it as much as I do!

When not teaching, I enjoy spending time with my family in Ohio and Florida (my parents are snowbirds)! I love being out on the water, boating, skiing, tubing, and swimming. My husband Ben and I have been married since 2019. We enjoy traveling, golfing, and going to music concerts together. We do not have any children yet, but we hope to have some soon! I have other interests: live theater, baking, cooking, gardening, riding on the Peloton, college football, and being outdoors!

I look forward to meeting you and sharing our classroom with your child! Please do not hesitate to email me with questions you may have! KLHopkins@cps.edu (Hopkins was my maiden name, which stayed the same as my work email, so please don’t be confused if you see that email name. It’s me.)

“Today, you are YOU; that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is YOUer than YOU.” ~Dr. Seuss

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Ms. Mary- Teacher Assistant

Ms. Mary has been with Chicago Public Schools for ten years. She speaks four languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Albanian! She has lived in Chicago for 54 years and has three sons and six grandchildren! Ms. Mary loves spending time with her family, cooking, reading, walking, and watching TV. She is also a huge fan of Harry Styles and enjoys going to his concerts when he is in town!

A couple of things Ms. Mary loves about preschoolers are their honesty and watching them learn new concepts daily! You will see Ms. Mary every morning as she will be the one to greet your child at drop-off.