Third Grade
Holly Bosse and Pia Tsuruda
The third grade teachers welcome you to third grade. We are excited about teaching your children. Third grade is an exciting, creative and busy year. We are the transition year between the primary and upper grades. We encourage students to be responsible, independent workers while fostering creative thinking skills.
We continue the Open Court Language Arts Program with its strong emphasis on word analysis, comprehension and grammar. We enhance our language arts program with the study of several children's literature selections. In our writers workshop students develop writing skills by wriitng their own stories and poetry. Third graders also learn cursive writing.
The highlights of our third grade math program include mastery of multiplication and division facts, long division, fractions, decimals, and a greater understanding of number sense with an emphasis on problem solving.
In social studies we study Santa Barbara history and geography. Students are fascinated by our study of Chumash life. We take numerous field trips to local historical sites including Lake Cachuma, the Presidio and Stow House.
Six specialists enrich our program: computer, art, science, music, physical education and library. Several special events make third grade memorable. In the spring, students perform a musical production under the direction of Mrs. Brown, our music specialist. We combine science, art and poetry in a month long Moon Journal project.
The third grade teachers work closely as a team to plan an exciting and challenging curriculum.
Holly Bosse
I'm starting my 22nd year with GUSD - the first 5 were at La Patera and now 17 at MTV. I have 2 Master Degrees from UCSB: one MEd and one MA, Educational Administration. I've been a cooperating teacher and BTSA mentor many times and also worked for UCSB for a number of years as a facilitator for their graduate students in their last graduate class thesis project. I'm a Tri-County Math Fellow, and I have received SBCEO Disseminator grants 3 times in my career (2002, 2008, 2015). I am a former Vice-President of UTPG, our teachers' union, and I have pretty much always been the site rep. I am also the teacher in charge in your absence so don't hesitate to ask.
I have taught grades 3-6, and this is my second time teaching 3rd which I also taught at La Patera. I have taught combination classes in 4/5 and 5/6. I started my career as a bilingual 4th grade teacher before Prop 227.
My interests and hobbies include surfing and being a beach bum, golf, baseball, football, doing puzzles and crosswords, and reading or watching any mystery/suspense. I am an IRONMAN triathlete, but caught a virus 6 years ago that left me deaf in my left ear and with vertigo. So I can't compete in triathlon but I still exercise quite a bit. Brian, my husband, and I have been married for 21 years. Summer, our daughter, is a PiPhi at Cal and will be studying abroad in Italy starting in January. Collin, our son, is starting SDSU. He is the #2 ranked longboarder in California (LA to SLO division) so being down in SD is perfect for him.
I enjoy working with my colleagues at Mountain View. I am looking forward to learning from my students and adapting my teaching style to third grade level. I will always have high expectations of my students because I feel like that speaks to a belief in them that they can strive and reach high goals. But, I want to be mindful that those challenges are age-appropriate. In this data-driven era, I want to balance the students' experiences with opportunities to build upon their creative natures as children and to inspire them to be motivated and curious.
Pia Tsuruda
I was born in Austria, where my family still lives. My brother passed away in 2011. In my early 20s, I moved to Italy and lived near Firenze for almost five years. In 1996, I moved to the U.S. following a job offer. Twenty years ago, I married Ben and made Santa Barbara my home. Together we've embarked on our greatest adventure yet - raising our daughter, Kira, who joined our little family in 2015.
I got my start in education in my teenage years tutoring elementary school students in my hometown in Austria. In college, I spent my summers as a camp counselor for at-risk youth. After a 10-year detour into the world of linguistics, working as a translator for companies in Italy and the U.S., I found my way back to my true passion - working with children. I have been fortunate to work with sixth and third grade students in the Goleta Union School District since 2003. I currently consider myself a “master juggler,” working hard on finding a balance between being a thoughtful teacher and a loving mama to a spirited toddler.
I love being a teacher. I consider it a privilege to be with children every day. I believe that kindness is a choice. It’s quite simple really; we need to make it a habit to choose kindness. Our children are watching and learning from us how to be kind and thoughtful members of society.
Three things that you didn't know about me:
1) I ride a motorcycle.
2) I frequently dream in German.
3) I love the Golden Girls