If they’re around students, they call each other “Ms. Schreiner” and “Mrs. Schreiner.” But Caitlin admits when the kids aren’t around, she calls her colleague “Mom.”
Caitlin Schreiner always knew she wanted to be a teacher, just like her mom.
Renee Schreiner came home from her job as a Philadelphia School District teacher tired, but fulfilled, with stories of smart, kind kids.
Yet even when Caitlin was a little girl playing the teacher in games of school with her siblings, she never imagined she’d be her mother’s colleague someday. But now, she’s Ms. Schreiner, the first-year teacher in Room 223 at Duckrey Elementary, just a floor above Mrs. Schreiner, the veteran in Room 130.
“She’s always wanted to be a teacher, even with the challenges and changes in the profession,” Renee, a first-grade teacher, said. “She wasn’t discouraged, and I really never have been.”
The pair have always been close; they FaceTimed every day when Caitlin was living at college. Now they live together, commute to work together, and even eat lunch together. (School talk goes over much better in the faculty room than at home, where the noneducators among the Schreiner family are less keen to discuss reading strategies and classroom management tips.)
If they’re around students, they call each other “Ms. Schreiner” and “Mrs. Schreiner.” But Caitlin admits when the kids aren’t around, she calls her colleague “Mom.”
It’s only a week in, but working together “has been wonderful,” said Caitlin, a third-grade teacher. (Renee is a sought-after mentor, an excellent teacher, said Duckrey principal David S. Cohen.)
“I’m happy to have her with me, especially because the first year is the hardest for a teacher,” said Renee. “There’s so much unknown, and to have people you know support you, that means a lot.”
Caitlin knows she has an enviable support system — not just her mom, but a faculty that’s known her for years.
“It’s just a super supportive school,” said Caitlin, 22. “People are always popping in, seeing if I’m doing OK, asking if I need extra help.”
It’s not a one-way street, though. Renee has learned things from her daughter, who graduated in the spring from La Salle University.
“She’s fresh out of college, and she has great ideas,” said Renee. “Going to her room, I got some good ideas myself, because you always have to keep learning as a teacher.”
Watching Caitlin throw herself into teaching, and relishing it, is a little like looking in a mirror and seeing her younger self, said Renee, 51. And Caitlin wants to continue following in her mom’s footsteps — Renee plants roots at a school and stays. (She spent the first half of her career at L.P. Hill, a now-closed school in Strawberry Mansion, and has been at Duckrey in North Philadelphia for the last 10 years.)
Cohen first met Caitlin when she was in middle school and would visit her mother, working with students and grading papers.
When a third-grade teaching job came open in the spring, Caitlin immediately came to mind, said Cohen.
“We always want someone who’s walked these halls, who has experienced kids here. It was a natural,” he said.
Besides, Duckrey has a history of attracting members of the same family. Besides the Schreiners, there are two sets of sisters working as teachers, the Brauns (art and third grade) and the McGoldricks (kindergarten and second grade).
“I think that speaks volumes of the school — if you want to have your daughter here, your sister here, it’s a place where kids want to be,” he said.
Duckrey’s students do get a kick out of the Schreiners’ relationship, even if it’s a bit confusing at times.
“I’ve taught some of her students,” Renee said, “and they’re so confused. They’ll say, ‘Your sister’s my teacher.’”
Caitlin uses her pupils’ knowledge of her mother to her advantage.
“I will refer back to her, or use her as help,” said Caitlin. “I’ll tell them, ‘I can’t wait to show Mrs. Schreiner how far we’ve come.’”
