What is one of your goals for this year? What are you excited about?
“I love connecting with students and bringing language alive with them. I am thrilled to immerse students in Spanish through the successful TPRS method. I am excited to join this wonderful community at SFDS.”
- Colleen Darling, Seventh & Eighth Grade Spanish Teacher
“I’m excited to meet SFDS alumni and develop diverse programmatic offerings to engage them with the School. As we approach the 30th anniversary, I think it is especially important to re-connect with alumni we may have lost touch with over the years.”
- Vanessa Alexander, Director of Alumni Relations
“One of my goals is to keep learning from the students and other teachers by being open to different strategies, styles and suggestions. I am excited about being able to work in a community that strongly promotes diversity.”
- Gin Saepharn, Science Associate Teacher
“My goal for the year is to become a better teacher by getting involved and taking advantage of all of the great opportunities that SFDS provides to new teachers. I am most excited about becoming part of such a wonderful community and getting to know all of the students and families at SFDS.”
- Caitlin Dobson, Fifth Grade Associate Teacher
“One of my goals as a new teacher/team member at SFDS is to get to know my students and colleagues well and let them know I am there for them. I am excited to be in a community of curious educators.”
- Meghan Adler, Learning Resource Teacher, Fourth Grade
“My goal is to learn from everyone here – kids, teachers, parents – and use that knowledge to strengthen communications for SFDS. I’m excited at the prospect of transitioning from the corporate world of advertising into education, and using marketing and branding to further the success of a great school. It’s a bit intimidating but exciting at the same time.”
- Michelle Phillips, Director of Marketing and Public Relations
What inspires you about teaching?
“When I was a child, school was a hard time for me because the idea of multimedia or multimodal teaching wasn’t practiced. Watching today’s teachers focus their teaching with differentiated learning styles in mind encourages me to a part of this process. Being able to provide students with creative instruction and watch them grow, learn, and prosper through their challenges is a reward unto itself. I also can’t count the many times I have learned from students, and for me learning is the best part of teaching.”
- Gin Saepharn, Science Associate Teacher
“One of the many ways that teaching inspires me occurs when my students perceive and contemplate information in novel, unexpected ways. They are scientists, artists, athletes, writers, mathematicians, and sociologists, who are constantly helping me to see the world through a fresh lens. That realization elevates my appreciation for the small things in life, challenges what I perceive as conventions, and brings my awareness to the fact that people are so unique in the way we interact with the world.”
- Rosa Wang-McClung, Kindergarten Co-Teacher
“I am inspired by the human capacity for growth and change. I am honored that I get to witness this on a daily basis.”
- Meghan Adler, Learning Resource Teacher, Fourth Grade
I thought I got to know SFDS pretty well as an involved parent. However, this summer I was lucky enough to take part in what the faculty and staff does to prepare themselves for their students. That increased my respect and gratitude towards them even more. I feel very lucky that my two boys are supervised under such care and knowledge.
- Homa Hanjani, Director of Admission
What is a memorable/ formative experience that taught you something about teaching?
“One of my most memorable experiences was watching another teacher practically pick a table up, shake it, and drop it in the middle of class, unexpectedly. The class was shocked and the students sitting at the table were frightened but equally entertained. This dramatization of an earthquake wave was a reminder that teaching can be fun, spontaneous, and relevant all at same time.”
- Gin Saepharn, Science Associate Teacher
“I learned early on in my teaching career the power of sharing my love of books and reading with my students, and how it can be contagious. I remember years after teaching a student, who initially entered my classroom as a self-proclaimed “hater of reading,” I saw him in a supermarket with his friends. He had grown to be a 6 foot tall teenager, and came up to me to ask what new books I was reading, and if I liked the latest Harry Potter. I think it is so important to share our genuine passions with our students – to teach them about loving a subject and not just “learning it for school.”
- Meghan Adler, Learning Resource Teacher, Fourth Grade
Click here to read bios of new faculty and staff.
