Cupid strikes in a Lockhart ES classroom: an HISD love story

In this week’s I am HISD, which features district students, graduates, employees, and other team members, we talk to in-coming Harvard Elementary School Magnet Coordinator Jennifer Moore about how she met her husband (Travis ES Principal Tom Day), why she’s taking the leap from the classroom into administration, and who the next person from her family will be to enter the teaching profession.

So, I hear that you and your husband are a true HISD love story. Tell me a little bit about that.

We met in 2002 on the campus of Lockhart Elementary School. I was a first-grade teacher and my husband, Tom Day, was assigned to Lockhart for his Alternative Certification Program (ACP) Field Week. Tom was assigned to my classroom for the week, along with another ACP intern. Later that summer, he was hired as a new first-grade teacher at Lockhart and I was assigned to be his mentor—which at that time, was a three-year commitment.

Somewhere along the line, we moved from being colleagues to being friends. When we started dating, I transferred to Garcia Elementary. Tom and I married in 2006 and one of my bridesmaids was a teacher from Lockhart. She still teaches in HISD.

How fun! Is your husband still teaching there?

No. Tom is now a first-year principal at Travis Elementary School. Prior to that, he was an assistant principal at Black Middle School. We think it’s funny that we now work just about a mile away from one another.

Wow. So he’s a principal and you’re a teacher. Do you find it difficult not to talk shop at home? How do you find a balance for that?

Some days it does seem like we eat, breathe, and sleep school at our home. In our early days together, we would often spend Friday evenings together grading papers over a take-out meal. Today, we still look to one another for proofreading or a professional opinion on a matter. Our son has really helped us find more balance on the weekends. While the school work must be done, our number one priority is our family. We try to plan special outings together to explore all that Houston has to offer. Some of our favorite activities are hiking, fine arts, and historical sites.

You just finished your fourteenth year as a first-grade teacher and your sixth at Harvard Elementary, and in 2013, you were named Harvard’s Teacher of the Year and one of HISD’s 12 Teacher of the Year finalists. But this fall, you’ll move into the magnet coordinator position there for the 2014–15 school year. What made you decide to accept a role in administration, when you’re so clearly good at teaching?

I really love teaching, especially watching the students grow throughout the year. As this year closes and I prepare to say good-bye to my students, I know that I will dearly miss this part of education – the relationships that are formed in the classroom. I also have enjoyed the leadership opportunities I have had in HISD: sharing best science practices at my campus through HU-LINC, writing Social Studies curriculum, and most recently, leading the Rigor Institute. I thrive on the challenge these roles have given to me and have discovered that I enjoy helping other teachers learn and grow, too.

I hear you’re already nurturing the next crop of educators at your house. True?

Yes. The next generation is on its way. Our son, Elliot, just finished kindergarten at Harvard and tells us he wants to be a teacher when he grows up.

If you know a graduate, student, employee, or other member of Team HISD who should be featured here, please email us at info@houstonisd.org.