Kindergarten Teachers

Ms. Peterson was born and raised in Duluth, Minnesota.   She lived in Texas for 10 years and moved to Colorado in 1994.   She has been married for 23 years, and has 2 wonderful daughters who attend school in the Platte Canyon School District.   Ms. Peterson earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education at the University of Minnesota-Duluth in 1984.   She then taught in Texas for 4 years, and earned her Master’s Degree in Elementary Education in 1991 from the University of North Texas at Denton.   Ms. Peterson volunteered at Deer Creek for 10 years, and was a substitute teacher for a year and a half before becoming a kindergarten teacher.

Mrs. DeGroat was born in New York and moved to Colorado almost thirty years ago. She completed her bachelor's and master's degree in New York. She loves working with her students and helping them to grow, learn, and love reading. She runs a structured classroom with high expectations and consistent consequences. She provides lots of encouragement and positive reinforcement. In her spare time, Mrs. DeGroat enjoys being outdoors hiking, biking, snowshoeing, or cross country skiing.

Ms. Eckard has taught First Grade at Deer Creek Elementary School since 1996. She received her BA and teaching certification from Metropolitan State College of Denver, CO in 1993. In 2003, she completed her Master of Arts in teaching through Grand Canyon University, Phoenix, AZ.

Mrs. Smith grew up in Kentucky (That’s why she talks funny) and moved to Colorado about four years ago to be near her grandchildren. She has taught for 23 years. The first seven years was in a self contained special education classroom. After that she spent 12 years teaching fifth grade in Kentucky. She is married to Mr. Gary the custodian from last year that was known as Mr. Kentucky to Mrs. Ingeroll's class. She is now teaching a first and second grade combo class at DCES. Mr. Kentucky can often be found helping in her classroom. Mrs. Smith received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Murray State University in Murray, KY.