Moonlight Vpk -

She held up a hand. "No," she said. "You're going to need a teaching certificate. And I know a principal who owes me a favor."

Mrs. Albright, the veteran kindergarten teacher, thought she was losing her mind. Test scores, however, were rising. Little Elena had started reading chapter books. A boy named Marcus, who wouldn't hold a pencil, was now writing sentences about rocket ships.

Mrs. Albright's thermos slipped from her hands. It clattered to the floor. moonlight vpk

She stepped out, not with anger, but with tears streaming down her face. "You're the Moonlight VPK," she whispered.

He called it "Moonlight VPK" officially now, and he hung a sign above his door: "Even a rock can shine, if the light is right." She held up a hand

He was the best teacher Moss Creek had ever seen, and not a single soul had ever sat in his classroom.

And on the first night, twenty little chairs were not empty. And I know a principal who owes me a favor

The next fall, the school board approved a new position: Night Custodian of Curiosity. Virgil Paul Kincaid got a tiny classroom in the basement, no windows, but a door that opened directly onto the playground. He taught from 10 PM to midnight, for children whose parents worked late shifts, for the ones who felt like rocks during the day.