Comings & Goings in the Lower School

We are preparing for the 2022–2023 school year in earnest already, and we do so with optimism for a bright future at SFFS. The vibrating spirit of professional and personal growth and change is alive and well in our school culture, unabated, and there are several internal shifts, and a few moving on transitions, that we want to share with you now. 

Moving On: 

For the past several years, Tracy Coleman and Erin Kendrew have been in a job share partnership in the 1st Grade, which will come to an end at the close of this year. Erin and Tracy have been such a deeply experienced and special team, and made the job share work beautifully in service to the students and families. Erin has made the decision to leap, and devote the bulk of her professional work outside the classroom, and in the realm of teacher coaching and mentoring. Tracy also spends half her time as a BATTI coach and supervisor, which she will continue doing next year. To no one’s surprise, the two of them are poised to make an impact as leaders in the field. We will share more about their next steps soon, and certainly be celebrating their incredible service for more than 15 years, each of them in various capacities at Friends.

Tanya Hernandez (Cotom) has served Friends as a TA, our Lower School Spanish teacher, and most recently as a 1st Grade lead teacher. Tanya’s poise and kindness have been gifts to the school for many years. Tanya, and her partner, Daniel, will be relocating to Fort Worth, Texas this summer, to pursue a job opportunity for Daniel. We are thrilled for them as they embark on this journey together, and know they will remain close community members here at Friends, as the Cotom family has deep roots at Friends forever.

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Internal Shifts:

With the 1st Grade team moving on, we had two lead teacher openings to fill. With that news, the Lower School team began to ruminate, and after a short period of reflection, the teachers decided to make some internal grade changes before we began our hiring process. Here is the news:

Noah Bowling: After many years holding down the fort on a stellar team in Kindergarten, Noah has decided it is time to loop back up to 1st Grade, where he has much experience—in fact, it is where he started his career at Friends 17 years ago. (It is also worth noting here that the two amazing Kindergarten TAs, Lily Layman and Jeremy Mikush, will loop up with the K children to 1st Grade, too!)

Gavin Odabashian: Our current 4th Grade teacher is thrilled to return to her first love, rounding out an amazing 1st Grade team with Noah next year.

Andrea Snyder: By her choice, and our good fortune, our current 2nd Grade teacher will return to her experiences and roots in Kindergarten joy, joining Nick McGrane on that team next year.

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Welcoming a New Hires:

In light of Frances Dickson’s departure, the Developmental Support (DS) Team will be undergoing some changes, too.

Stefani Wulkan will be joining the DS team as our other Lower School Learning Specialist. She has been in the field for more than 18 years, primarily in the East Bay, and for her this move represents a welcomed re-orientation towards students and learning in a school context. She will be focusing her work primarily in 3rd and 4th Grades, including the important transition into Middle School. In the Lower School DS realm, Stefani will work closely with Kim Gitnick, our other Lower School Learning Specialist, Rebecca Mallabone, our Lower School Resource Support Teacher, and Katherine Preston, our School Counselor.

To round out our Lower School teaching team next year, we are happy to announce two new lead teaching hires. We are incredibly lucky to have enticed them both to join our team next year.

Cathy Aragon, a long time former SF Day School teacher, and more recently the director of professional development programs at CATDC, will be joining Anhvu Buchanan in 2nd Grade as the other lead teacher. She is eager to return to the classroom, having missed students and the context of a vibrant school community too much. Her reputation, expertise, and leadership on the team will be incredible. 

Houston Holmes will join us from Texas and complete the 4th Grade lead teaching team. He has been teaching both overseas and in 4th and 5th Grade classrooms for the past seven years. Houston has been eager to move to San Francisco for some time, and we are more than confident that Houston’s positive spirit and his self described “calling” to teaching will find a wonderful home here at Friends.

We will share even more biographies about these new hires soon, as well as the placement of the rest of our assistant teachers as we begin the process of welcoming them into this amazing community later this summer.

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Lead Teams for 2022–2023:
Kindergarten: Nick McGrane & Andrea Snyder
1st Grade: Noah Bowling & Gavin Odabashian
2nd Grade: Anhvu Buchanan & Cathy Aragon (new hire)
3rd Grade: Luis Hernandez & Andrea Green
4th Grade: Maureen Ray & Houston Holmes (new hire)