Four-Year-Olds
The Jones’ Superstars and Peterson’s Superstars Classes
Monday – Friday
The Binkley 4-year-old classes are a place where learning, creativity, and exploration are encouraged. Our curriculum gently prepares our students with the academic and social skills necessary for a successful start to Kindergarten.
Skills are interwoven into a play-based structure with a focus on thematic units. Some examples of these units include All-about-Me, Friends, Seasons, “Letter Bag,” Space, Dinosaurs, and Holidays.
The Superstars classes also enrich their curriculum with 3 engaging and fun specials: Music with Mrs. Alberda, PE with Mrs. Leonard, and a teacher-led Drama class! Read more about those here.
Mrs. Jones – Lead Teacher
Jenny Jones has been teaching the 4’s children at Binkley Preschool since 2006. She has a BA in Early Childhood Education and, before coming to Binkley Preschool, taught First Grade for several years before becoming a Supplemental Reading Support teacher for Kindergarten and First Grade students in the Durham Public Schools. She loves working with 4-year-olds and fostering their natural curiosity and excitement towards learning and enjoys the opportunity to help prepare her students with the skills necessary for a successful entry into Kindergarten. She lives just outside of Chapel Hill with her husband and has 3 grown daughters who all live in North Carolina. She feels very fortunate to be a part of the supportive Binkley family for so long.
Mrs. Peterson – Lead Teacher
Angela Peterson joined the Binkley Preschool family in 2009 as the parent of a 3-year-old. She was immediately taken by the program’s warm approach to each child and the honoring of the special time of development preschool is for families. Since then, Angela has supported her two children through the Chapel Hill Carrboro K-12 School System, actively volunteering and navigating the world of unique educational needs. More recently, she has circled back to Binkley, first as a full-time substitute teacher, and now as a lead 4-year-old’s teacher. Angela draws on her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education to guide students toward kindergarten readiness, and her twenty-plus years of parenting to nurture curiosity, kindness, and the confidence to problem-solve in her class. Her love of the preschool years and spark for the creative make her feel particularly at home in the Superstars classroom. After coming to the area for a planned two-year stay, Angela and her husband, son, and daughter have called Chapel Hill home for 15 years.
Mrs. Benedict – Assistant Teacher
Jody Benedict has called Binkley Preschool her work home for 13+ years
having recently returned following six years in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro
Schools as an inclusion facilitator. She completed a Masters Degree in
Recreation Therapy from UNC-CH and has focused most of her work
experience on preschool education and special needs. Jody believes
that play is powerfully important for self-discovery and social emotional
development, and loves watching preschoolers grow more confident in
themselves each year through the process of play. Jody lives with her
husband in Chapel Hill where she grew up as a Tarheel, and enjoys
hiking, being on the water, and time with her two children and local
extended family.