FOREST HILLS PUBLIC SCHOOLS

NORTHERN TRAILS 5/6 NT

3777 Leonard NE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49525 ph 616.493.8990 fax 616.493.8995

January 28, 2020

To Whom It May Concern,

It gives me great pleasure to write a letter of recommendation for Ms. Natalie Tucker. Ms. Tucker served as an
MSU Intern in both special education and 6th grade at Northern Trails and demonstrated a solid understanding of
pedagogical strategies, an ability to be a self starter, a keen focus on building positive student relations, and a
knowledge of how to use as student’s IEP and both formative and summative assessment to impact student
achievement. From her first day in the building she has assumed every role of a 5/6 level teacher within a
progressive school. Northern Trails is a neighborhood school and then also hosts the district’s Mandarin
Immersion program as well as the Spanish Immersion program. As a school community we speak over 44
languages so Ms. Tucker experienced a diverse student population. Natalie is exceptional educator, however, at
Michigan Teacher of the Year

present Forest Hills Public Schools has not posted openings.

Ms. Tucker came to Northern Trails in August 2019 to student teach in our 6th grade special education classroom
and second semester as a 6th grade teacher on a two-person team. Through Ms. Tucker’s efforts, ALL students
(at-risk, SPED, general education) have grown academically with some exceeding the growth slope of their
grade level peers as evidenced by the NWEA-MAP results. Her work with this at-risk population demonstrates
candidly for me her ability to work to meet the needs of ALL students, make accommodations, and establish
positive partnerships with her colleagues. She also fully supported the needs of our 6th grade special needs
students while they participated in our 6th grade overnight camp to build our academic teams and foster
leadership at Camp Miniwanca.

Ms. Tucker brings a vision for student achievement and a gift for quickly working to understand the needs of
each of our students. She gravitates to the student that doesn’t fit easily into the “box” or the classroom. All
students receive her focused attention, passion for teaching, and willingness to make the extra effort to support
Dr. Susan L. Gutierrez, Principal

student learning. She has deep rooted relationships with some of our students, others would find tough to love.

In her role, Natalie set high expectations for ALL students because she believes there is no child she cannot
reach and inspire. She brings a positive attitude, a willingness to learn, and an ability to work either as part of a
team or as the leader in charge of a project. At her core is a strong notion of the professionalism required of a
classroom teacher, resource teacher, or her love – students with ASD. I respect Ms. Tucker for her willingness
to fully commit to the students receiving special education supports and their teachers as she coordinated
intervention opportunities through push-in, pull-out and small group learning experiences.
2002-2003

Ms. Tucker will bring to your school the gifts of a teacher whose passion it is to equip students with a lifelong
passion for engagement, quality relationships, appropriate communication, and the tools needed to become
successful life-long learners. Her professionalism, integrity, and passion for student learning unquestionably
make her an exceptionally valuable asset to any school. At present I do not have a teaching position to offer Ms.
Tucker, but we’d be thrilled to have her on our team. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any further
questions – I would dance on my desk in support of her!

Sincerely,

Susan L. Gutierrez, Ph.D.

Principal

Go Huskies!

Forest Hills Public Schools

Daniel Behm, Superintendent

6590 Cascade Road, SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546 Phone 616.493.8800 www.fhps.net