Meet Our Grade Level Teaching Assistants

Dear 2nd Grade Families,

We would like to introduce Ms. Kenia Mendes and Ms. Renata Duarte. They are our grade level teaching assistants. Kenia supports Mr. Tarigo and Ms. Mendonça's class and Renata supports Mr. Maykut and Ms. Ziegert's class. 

In our classrooms, they often work with small groups or support individual students with a specific assignment. They also supervise recess and lunch, help with logistics, paper work, class materials, field trips and passes. They are a very important piece of our wonderful 2nd grade team. 

Hi, my name is Kênia Mara Mascarenhas Mendes and I am a Second Grade Teacher Assistant. I am married and mother of two wonderful girls. I have worked at Graded since August 1994. I was born in São Paulo, but I have lived in Minas Gerais, and in the USA.

I am a Graded alumni, class of 1987. My mother was a Portuguese teacher at Graded for 27 years. Maybe you remember Dona Neuza. I have two undergraduate degrees, Nutrition and Pedagogy. I also have a Master degree in Education from Michigan State University. I love to travel and my passion is reading! My favorite thing in the whole world are children, it is a privilege to work with them.

Hi, my name is Renata Duarte and I’ve been working at Graded for more than 12 years. I work in Elementary School as a 2nd grade teaching assistant. I am from São Paulo, Brazil. When I was 19, I lived in England and later on I lived in Germany for a few months. When I was a child I would like to be a journalist, so at University I studied both Journalism and English. I have a degree in English Language & Literature and also in Pedagogy. I started my teaching career as soon as I came back from England and have never stopped teaching! Besides working at Graded, I have taught in Brazilian schools from Kindergarten to High School but my real passion is to be around children. I practice Yoga and ride a bike and  I also love cooking and baking. It is always exciting for me to be trying new recipes and search for new ingredients and flavors. I am sure you have already tried one of my delicious cupcakes, if not… you should try them !!