Adult students are not the only ones starting classes in Morgantown this month, tiny ones are too, arriving for their first day of school Monday (Aug. 21) at the WVU Nursery School.
These young students will be part of an effort to elevate early childhood education at WVU under the leadership of longtime educator and new Director Ashley Martucci.
The Nursery School became part of the College of Applied Human Sciences earlier this summer, and the collaboration will expand opportunities for aspiring teachers on campus and utilize curriculum and best practices as taught in the School of Education.
“I am thrilled the WVU Nursery School will work in concert with not just the School of Education, but will also be a source for other collaborative efforts as we serve our land-grant mission,” CAHS Dean Autumn Tooms Cyprès said when the structural change was announced. “I believe our youngest students at the nursery school will benefit greatly from having the School of Education as a primary resource, and I believe it will also enhance and support our teacher preparation in the state.”
Martucci has served as a teaching and service associate professor in the School of Education since 2009. Most recently, she was the online program coordinator for the Child Development and Family Studies and the Early Childhood Special Education certification program. Her teaching has focused on early childhood, teacher education, international early childhood programs and arts integration.
Martucci earned her bachelor’s degree from WVU in 1999, master’s degree from James Madison University in 2001 and her doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction from WVU in 2009.