What does it mean for a teacher to welcome all children? This article explores this question by first documenting my own difficulty as an elementary school classroom teacher to welcome one particular child who had recently immigrated from a refugee camp. I explain how the theory of hospitality both addresses the failures of my own teaching and provides a framework for better instructional practices I drew upon with subsequent students. Specifically, I highlight three key features of hospitality: first, how a teacher, as host, can provide a welcome for every student; second, the ways a teacher might welcome students by making space for them to both express themselves and learn about the pre-existing culture of the school; and, third, the responsibility of the teacher to thoroughly welcome without knowing the student. Drawing on philosophy, the example from my teaching, and the works of other teacher researchers, the article showcases how inclusive education pivots on the ability to welcome the student who is unfamiliar to the teacher.