Meet Our Educator

Hello everyone ! My name is Jessica Woodard and I am the founder and owner of Bright Minds Learning Center located in District Heights, Maryland.

 

I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Morgan State University in 2008. Post graduation I immediately began teaching in Washington, D.C. and that is where my love of teaching continued to blossom. From there I realized that education was my destined path and decided to obtain my Masters in Early Childhood Education from The University of Phoenix in 2010. 

 

I decided to walk away from the traditional education setting in July 2020 after 13 years of teaching and it was the best decision I've made in my adult life thus far. The primary reason being the lack of ability to care for children and families as humans vs bodies in a chair for which the government pays for – but this is for a conversation another day!

 

Since August I have had the honor of supporting students in my home as they navigate through our new world of virtual learning. I am proud to report that ALL children have maintained a report card average of 3.00 or higher for 3 quarters! While in my care the students who are enrolled in a traditional school attend all virtual classes. They also engage in live small group instruction, creative play, and team-building with the other students in the pod. Throughout the year we have celebrated holidays and birthdays with celebrations within our safe pod. The children have not missed a beat and in their own words they never want to go back to a “regular” school and I never want them to either!