Faculty/Staff Directory

What a gift to be a part of the PHS community! I’ve lived in the Bay Area for 22 years and raised my children—Max (25), Reid (22), and Kaia (18) in Berkeley. Max works for Coinbase in the City, Reid is a rising senior at Bowdoin College, and Kaia is a student at Berkeley High. They attended Prospect Sierra School in El Cerrito, where I also worked as the Director of Advancement and Partnerships for 11 years. While there, I helped produce a TEDx conference on Compassion in Education and co-founded the Bay Area Rainbow Day Camp for gender creative youth ages 5-18. I’ve consulted with nonprofits and schools on trustee education, strategic planning and fundraising and currently design curriculum and learning and development experiences for Intune Collective, a strategy and transformation company in San Francisco. I believe in progressive education and know that PHS is an amazing leader of progressive education. I look forward to getting to know more people in the community as the Interim Development Director, working closely with Lisa, the Board, and the Development Office.

Presidio Hill values students' abilities as original thinkers and encourages them to take an active role in their community. I appreciate that the school culture encourages engagement with topics pertinent to our students' lives, building curriculum around what interests, inspires and motivates, rather than simply preparing them for their next academic steps.

I am inspired by a spirit of possibility imparted by my family, an understanding that success results from collective efforts, and a belief that one's work is potentially limitless in scope. I believe that learners of all ages thrive when they experience ownership over their process, reinforcing an intrinsic motivation for lifelong, life-wide, and life-deep learning that extends beyond school walls. After first becoming acquainted with PHS over 10 years ago, I am thrilled to join a community defined by its warmth, commitment to progressive education, and spirit of collaboration.

Presidio Hill School is an amazing place to work. The dedication of the teachers, administrators and staff that I witness daily is truly inspiring and the exhuberance of the students contagious. The parent community is smart, savvy, fun and diverse. All these factors and a progressive learning model make my job representing PHS an easy one!

I am most excited that Presidio Hill School knows that authentic learning occurs outside the traditional four walls of a classroom. As a Native Hawaiian educator "Kū i ke ao," is a proverb that embraces the world in which one lives. Our world is a hands-on, dynamic, living classroom. This involves embracing diversity, having empathy and taking action. As a collaborator in your child's education I will encourage them to take risks, dream big, and be kind. 

PHS is a magical place steeped in a rich history that embodies the heart of the progressive San Francisco that I deeply love and cherish. Everyday I wake up and say to myself, “I’m working at my dream job!” I am grateful and humbled to be part of a community where teaching and learning, kindness and inquiry, political activism and personal autonomy are inextricably linked.

We look to create a culture of keeping sports and physical education fun and to provide a platform for learning life lessons through sports. In PE classes, we promote sportsmanship, teamwork, and personal growth over a "must win" attitude. We also embrace the vital role that students play in helping design the curriculum in a supportive, caring and encouraging setting.

I love how PHS accepts and encourages diversity because I feel all children have the right to learn, grow, and feel safe within a classroom. Progressive education connects adults, nature, community and most importantly the children together. I am happy to be a part of a school that truly allows children to develop into curious and open minded individuals.

I am ecstatic to join the PHS faculty this year!  I am passionate about cooperative learning - the more talking and interacting students do in school, the better!  I prioritize critical thinking, inquiry, autonomy, and reflection when creating our learning community.

I am thrilled to be joining the PHS community! I fell in love with Presidio Hill the moment I stepped onto campus: the vibrant, colorful art on the walls, the easy camaraderie of the faculty, and the exuberance and thoughtful curiosity of the students. It was clear to me that PHS kids are given the freedom to explore, to create, to question, and to be themselves, with a caring and nurturing community to support them. And classes in the Presidio? Sign me up! I’m a Bay Area native and a long-time English teacher, and I’m genuinely excited to become a part of a community so deeply rooted in the Bay and so committed to joyous learning. I know that we are all uncertain about what next year might bring, but I’m looking forward to meeting the challenges with creativity, passion, and hopefully a lot of laughter and love. 

John Dewey famously asserted that "education is not preparation for life, education is life itself" and the spirit of that maxim is alive and well here at Presidio Hill School, where children and adults embrace and learn from one another as symbiotic members of a distinct community of individuals. As I see it, the humanities classroom should be a place for students to actively explore, investigate, collaborate, and inquire about themselves and the world around them, past and present. I feel grateful to be part of the PHS community, where such exploration extends far beyond my classroom and in fact, is ingrained so deeply in the mission and overall ethos of our school. 

Presidio Hill intentionally celebrates individual learning styles and unique viewpoints. This engenders an inclusive and caring community for all. I enjoy that students are provided the opportunity to reflect on their own learning and encouraged to become a part of the learning process. As a science teacher, the curriculum allows me to teach to my passions, this flexibility creates a program where I can respond to the needs and curiosities of the students. This approach allows students to build personal connections with the natural world, thus providing students with inspiration, skills and desire to become global of the world around them. 

I was drawn to Presidio Hill School for its mission to provide children with an education that is creative and child-centered, and I am inspired by its community of open, welcoming, and passionate individuals. I believe that education should be ever-changing, where children and adults are working together to develop a lifelong love for learning. At PHS, students are able to develop their creativity, explore their own voice, and learn how we are all active members of our society. I believe learning can and should be fun! Dr. Seuss said it best, “You’ll never be bored when you try something new. There’s really no limit to what you can do!”

Hola, wonderful PHS community! I am very happy to have the opportunity to be working with all of the faculty, families, and most importantly the students at PHS. I’ve always dreamed of working at a school like PHS that’s progressive, inclusive, and promotes curiosity. I am a passionate, dedicated, and enthusiastic educator who truly cares about empowering children through learning Spanish; I strongly believe in a bilingüal education. Here is a little bit about me: I was born and raised in Mexico City. I earned my B.S. in Biology from Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana (Mexico), and a master's degree in Environmental Education from Universidad Iberoamericana, (Mexico). I also have additional training in the TPRS (Teaching Proficiency Through Reading and Storytelling) and CI (Comprehensible Input) methods of instruction. After being an environmental education teacher at La Salle Elementary School (Mexico), I immigrated to the USA, where I’ve taught Spanish in preschool through high school at educational establishments all throughout the Bay Area. I enjoy hiking and spending time with my eighteen-year-old son who goes to college this school year. I’m excited to join this amazing community and can’t wait for what lies ahead! 

I was once a middle school student at Presidio Hill. I teach because I want to give PHS students all the positive experiences I enjoyed here. I am aware that I am a role model for them and strive to embody the traits I admired so much in my PHS teachers.

I strive to work collaboratively with learners to raise their critical consciousness and engage in contemporary and historical issues from a variety of entry points. I value the student-centered, progressive approach to education at PHS, and I look forward to supporting students in their social, emotional and academic growth through readings, discussions, art, music and projects. In my spare time I am most often traveling, volunteering, exploring farmers markets, reading, dancing and appreciating animals. I am very excited to join a community of fellow progressive educators and get to know the students and families at this wonderful school!