Derick Dreher and Gudrun Dauner 2520 Pine St. Philadelphia, PA 19103 April 12, 2021 Re: Melissa Comunale To Whom it May Concern: We are pleased to write in support of Melissa Comunale, the math and homeroom teacher for our son’s fourth-grade class this year at the Albert M. Greenfield School in Philadelphia. Teaching grade schoo! has always been a challenging job, and the pandemic has certainly not made it easier. With this in mind, we are truly impressed by Ms. Comunale’s success in creating a sense of ‘community with and among the schoolchildren in their exclusively online setting, despite the many distractions children have at home. She greets students early each morning with a message that has whatever information needs to be shared for the day, as well as an ever-changing phrase of encouragement we have taken to discussing with our child. Then, as part of their homeroom meeting, students fill out a short survey about their thoughts, interests, ideas, etc. (with the questions written seriatim by the students themselves) that generates discussion among the whole group. Our son finds these conversations interesting and has gained a sense of camaraderie with his class mates and teacher despite not being in the same physical space. In math class, the students recently finished a unit on multiplying fractions. We noticed that when Ms. ‘Comunale teaches concepts like this one, she encourages the class to answer questions without fear of being wrong, valuing participation (appropriately, in our minds) more than just aptitude. Frequently, she gives the students time during class to finish their homework, so that we are not overloaded with more homework (and more screen time) in the evening. In addition, Ms. Comunale sends out a weekly calendar of events and assignments, always including her contact information in case of questions. Finally, we have found Ms. Comunale to be a very helpful partner with parents like us. For example, in our quarterly conferences with her, she invariably has observations about our child that show she is able to assess his progress and suggest steps for improvement despite only engaging with him in an online setting. Similarly, we recently had a conversation with her about the advantages and disadvantages of returning to an in-school environment, including the ramifications for standardized testing. Throughout the discussion, she was respectful of our opinions and did not try to impose her own preference. In conclusion, we believe Melissa Comunale is an excellent teacher who would have a positive impact at any school. Please feel free to contact us if we can provide any additional information. Very truly, Derick Dreher, Ph.D. Gudrun Dauner, Ph.D. derickdreher@gmail.com udrun dauner@t-online.de