By Town Crier Staff Report

Third-grade teacher Pam Duarte, from Montclaire School in Los Altos, has been named Teacher of the Year in the Cupertino Union School District.

An individual is chosen every year from each school in the district to receive an award for demonstrating “special skills, talents and abilities,” said Nancy Woods, principal of Montclaire.

“Pam was selected by the teaching staff,” she said. “She is an outstanding teacher and is supportive in the classroom as well as (with) teachers and staff.”

She said Duarte “went beyond the normal expectations” and was in constant contact with her students outside the classroom, as well as with her former students.

Chris Chang Weeks knew Duarte when her son, Alec Weeks, was in Duarte’s third-grade class last year.

“She is a great teacher - very loving and caring,” Weeks said. “She started as the secretary of the school and worked her way into getting teaching credentials.”

Duarte began teaching as a long-term substitute for a second- and third-grade combination class, Woods said. She was then a teacher intern at Santa Clara University and interned for a short time at Montclaire.

Woods also said Duarte implemented a “Character Traits Program,” where she would recognize and incorporate her students’ quality traits in the classroom and on the playground.

“I have a great deal of respect for her. She’s all you want in a teacher and more,” Woods said.