Krista Howell, PK-4 teacher

11078056_10102677688392818_7687292790376651116_n“The thing I love most about teaching/working at SWS is… the relationships!!  Being a part of SWS means being a part of a huge community where not only your colleagues care about you and vice versa but so do the students, families, neighbors and alums.

The thing I am most proud of is… making the switch from private to public school teaching and really committing myself to being a Reggio-inspired early childhood educator.

In my free time I enjoy spending time with my great group of friends from UNC, traveling with friends or family or just spending some time alone relaxing.

A visitor to my class could expect to see lots of social interaction between children and between children and teachers. Documentation of learning throughout the room. Laughing and experiencing the joy of discovery and connection with others. Thinking made visible through the use of art. Children exercising their right to explore and discover.

I am passionate about making this world a better place and therefore I see no more important place for me than in the classroom teaching and learning from our youngest learners and thinkers. Early childhood is where the foundations of who our children become happen and I am passionate about helping children, alongside their families, develop into the best versions of themselves. I learn something new from my students everyday and am grateful for their insights, creativity and exuberance that they bring to our lives. They remind me everyday: ‘Nothing without joy!'”

Read Ms. Krista’s blog posts


Ms. Krista has participated in:

  • ​Harvard Project Zero, Children Are Citizens Pilot
  • Washington International School Institute for Teachers
  • North American Study Group to Reggio Emilia, Italy, 2014, Participant

Before coming to SWS in 2013, Ms. Krista was a Co-Lead Teaching Fellow at School Takoma Education Campus and a Co-Lead Teacher at the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center. Her education includes:

  • ​DC Teaching Fellow/TNTP Academy, DCPS Regular I and II Certification in Early Childhood Education
  • Northern Virginia Community College, Early Childhood Education and Teaching Coursework
  • Oxford Seminars, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Certificate
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Bachelor of Arts in Romance Languages, Minors: Women’s Studies and Social and Economic Justice