Phone number: 662-253-0123

A Little About Me

My name is Leslie Allen.  Welcome to fourth grade Spotlight! Please allow me to tell you a little about myself.  I am a lifelong resident of Southaven.  My husband, Frank, and I have been married for over 35 years. We have three wonderful daughters: Brooke, the math coach at SIS, Adriane, a dental hygienist in Hernando, and Claire, a cosmetologist in Southaven. They are each married to one of our three amazing sons-in-law who are very involved in their respective communities. We have two granddaughters, Bennette (5) and Blakely (4). We also have two grandsons, Myles and Beckham, who each celebrated their first birthdays in 2023. Our new grandson, Jaxon, will arrive in April of 2024. Experiencing these brother/sister duos and cousins growing up together is pure joy.

I graduated from Southaven High School in 1986 and cum laude from Ole Miss in 2006. During that 20 year span I was busy raising my girls, leading Girl Scouts, homeschooling, teaching pre-school, tutoring at Hope Sullivan Elementary, and being an active member of their PTO.  I spent my first six years teaching fifth grade, the next seven years as the Science/STEM Lab activity teacher, and two more years teaching fifth grade science. This will be my third year teaching 4th grade gifted students. Except for my first two years at Greenbrook Elementary, I have spent my career here at SIS. I am looking forward to what this new year in Spotlight will bring. I am certified in both Gifted and Special Education. Currently, I will graduate with a master's degree from Ole Miss in May of 2024 in Curriculum and Instruction-Special Education-Special Populations-Gifted. 

My teaching philosophy is simple: make learning challenging and interactive, keep parents involved and informed, and bring real-world problem solving experiences into the classroom.  I like to incorporate group work and peer partner activities into my lessons while emphasizing individual responsibility.

My Favorite....

Things to do: read, tend to my vegetable and flower gardens, travel, spend time with my girls and the grands, try new Keto friendly recipes.

Vacation Destinations: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; the Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina; the National Parks in Utah; Sedona, Arizona; South Dakota

Snacks and Treats: Salted Caramel Mocha Frappuccino, Frozen Blue-Raspberry Limeade, Gibson's donuts (blueberry!), nachos (any kind)

Classroom Activities: anything STEM related, cultural/historic events, Breakout

• Design Squad at PBS Kids.org
• Treasure Engineering at Big Learning.com
• Sheppard Software.com
• Brainpop 
• Brainpop Jr. 
• Studyjams
• ABCya.com
• Crash Course Kids
• Generation Genius
• FOSS
• BreakoutEDU
• Chesskid
• Hoagie's Gifted Page
• Byrdseed TV