COW HOLLOW SCHOOL
65 Funston Avenue (The Presidio)
San Francisco, CA 94129
Tel: 415-921-2328
Fax: 415-921-4015
FAMILY PAGES

Our Team

Cow Hollow School operates using a combination of both membership support and professional staff. Parents share their talents, skills and enthusiasm in many ways—helping with school activities and field trips, maintaining the school, serving as an officer or on a committee, coordinating fund raising events, and much more.

Darcy Campbell, School Director

Darcy has over 23 years of experience working with teachers, families and children in the Bay Area. She has more than 17 years of Site Administration experience and has taught and learned from children three months to twelve years old. She teaches early childhood and elementary education courses at San Francisco State University and City College of San Francisco. She is a strong advocate for children and specializes in reflective, responsive, collaborative teaching and parenting practices. She is an active member of and presenter for the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Darcy received her graduate degree in early childhood development from SFSU.

The Nest
2-year-old classes

Mabel Young, Teacher

Mabel received her Bachelors of Science in Human Development and a minor in Education from the University of California at Davis, and her Masters in Early Childhood Education from San Francisco State University. After graduation she worked at John Muir Elementary School, and then transitioned to the Presidio Child Development Center.

Karen Covington, Teacher

Karen received her teaching certificate from the Montessori Institute Northwest in Portland, Oregon. While at the institute she attended a corresponding Master's program in Human Development at Marylhurst University. After receiving her credentials she taught at Marin Montessori School and Sparrow Creek School. Karen plans to begin an MA program in early childhood special education at San Francisco State in the Fall of 2007.

Little Garden and Big Garden
3-year-old morning class, 4/5-year-old afternoon class

Elisa Pagliarulo, Teacher

Elisa graduated from the University of California at Davis with a B.S. in Human Development (emphasis on Early Childhood Development) and a minor in Education. While attending college she was a student, intern, volunteer, and research assistant at UC Davis’ Center for Child and Family Studies, and has worked with more than ten childcare programs (including nursery schools, crisis nurseries, and special needs preschools) and in-home care for over 30 families.

Sage Herman, Teacher

Sage received her B.S. from the University of Vermont, which embraces the Reggio Emilia philosophy of constructivist education. She has taught at preschools and childcare centers in Massachusetts, Vermont, Peru, Colorado and Connecticut. She most recently directed a pilot arts summer camp for pre-k through second grade in Westchester, NY.

The Tree House
3-year-old morning class

Bryn Potter, Teacher

Bryn Potter joins the the Cow Hollow  community this fall. She holds a BA in Studio Art from U.C. Santa Cruz with a concentration in Photography.

After completing her BA, she returned to school to study Early Childhood Education. She currently holds 41 ECE units, and a Child Development Site Supervisor Permit from the State of California. Bryn has completed the majority of her ECE coursework at Cabrillo College in Santa Cruz, where she completed two years of teaching internship in the lab preschool. Most recently, she worked as an Infant/Toddler teacher in San Francisco, and as caregiver to her school-aged niece and nephew in New York. She is passionate about children's open-ended creative experiences, social and emotional development, and about anti-bias approaches to education.

Bryn also studied Spanish language throughout her education and is working towards fluency. 

Amy Horvath, Teacher

Amy received her B.A. in Developmental Psychology from San Francisco State University and is currently enrolled in the Early Childhood Education Masters Program at San Francisco State University. She worked at a laboratory preschool on campus with 4 and 5-year-old children. The play-based program focused on child- and family-centered curriculum and the development of the children, as well as the staff.

The Bay Room
4/5-year-old classes

Shawna Thompson, Teacher

Shawna received her B.S. from Oregon State University in early childhood development and education, with teaching experiences in developmental, play-based, culturally responsive programs. She continued to develop a strong philosophy in constructivist education and teaching for social justice at Lewis and Clark College, where she earned a Master of Arts in Teaching. She presented at a workshop session on Parent Participation at the NAEYC conference in 2005, drawing from our unique program. Shawna is a fourth-year returning teacher at Cow Hollow School.

Petra Fraties, Teacher

Petra received her B.A. in Child and Adolescent Development from San Francisco State University and is currently enrolled in the M.A. program in Early Childhood Education at San Francisco State in January 2007. She began her journey in the field of early childhood education three years ago and has had the pleasure of working in two play-based preschools.

Tanya Ellsworth, Assistant Teacher

Tanya graduated from City College of San Francisco. She plans to transfer to San Francisco State University and pursue a career in Early Childhood Education. She has part-time experience working with small children in a variety of professional settings, including the Jumpstart program. Though she's fluent in English, Tanya's native language is Russian she grew up in the former Soviet Union.

Intern Teachers

The intern teachers will volunteer weekly, helping to implement projects, take dictation, observe, learn, play, and collaborate.

Gabby Aguinaldo

Gabby is currently a student at San Francisco State University, and will graduate this spring with a B.A. in Child and Adolescent Development (specializing in Young Children and Families), as well as a minor in Speicial Education. She has been working with children of all ages for the past five years ranging from coaching volleyball, to after school care, to working as a teacher assistant in a preschool classroom. She is especially interested in learning how to use observation techniques to enhance children's learning experience.  

Nicole Serra

Nicole is a senior at San Francisco State University studying for her BA in Child and Adolescent Development. She is a mother to one year old Jaya Isabella and has worked with infants, toddlers, and school age children since the age of 17. Her love for music and dance has inspired her to pursue the goal of opening her own preschool educating children through the arts. She hopes to gain, from my experiences at Cow Hollow School, an understanding of healthy staff communication, how to observe and document thoroughly, and how to listen to and provoke curiosity in children.  

Marlies Tumulo

Marlies is currently a senior at San Francisco State Uinversity. She will graduate in May with a B. A. in Child Development (concentration in the Young Child and Family) and a B.A. in Psychology. She has worked with young children in a professional setting for 5 years in various different types of classrooms. She is particularly interested in project-based programs and programs that are Reggio Emilia inspired, as well as special education programs. After graduating in May she plans to attend GRaduate school to obtaim a M. A. in Education.  

Specialist

Julia Hunt Nielsen, Music Specialist

Starting this fall Julia will teach music at CHS one day per week for each class. She looks forward to sharing her voice, passion, and musical experience with the amazing children, faculty, and parents of Cow Hollow School. As a voice teacher, she is always honored by the opportunity to care for young voices. And as a musician, she looks forward to making music with so many talented little colleagues.

Dr. Julia Hunt Nielsen, a classically trained soprano, pianist, and harpist, has been a music educator in the Bay Area for over a decade.

As a member of the San Francisco Girls Chorus faculty since 2000, she has taught voice, ear training, and musicianship to choristers in the advanced and pre-professional levels. In her private voice studio, she has taught dozens of individual singers, both children and adults, to develop healthy vocal technique. And as a volunteer, she has worked with some of San Francisco’s youngest citizens as well as its oldest, singing with groups at several city preschools, children’s day camps, and nursing homes.

As a professional soprano, Dr. Nielsen gave her New York debut recital in 2001 at Carnegie Hall in Weill Recital Hall as the first-place winner of the Center for Contemporary Opera’s international competition for opera singers. She has appeared in leading operatic roles regionally with Festival Opera, Stockton Opera, Eugene Opera, Sonoma City Opera, Pocket Opera, and San Francisco Opera Guild, and as a soloist in concert with the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, the Oakland/East Bay Symphony, the Stockton Symphony, CenterStage, and the Lake Tahoe Summer Music Festival. Internationally, she has performed with the Rome Festival Opera and the AIMS/Graz Orchestra in Austria.

Dr. Nielsen received her masters and doctorate degrees in voice from Indiana University, and her B.A. with honors from Stanford University.

Administration

Sarah Kaminsky, Office Administrator

Sarah started at Cow Hollow seven years ago as one of our first teachers. She received her undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley, her California Clear Teaching Credential from SFSU, and her Masters degree in elementary education from SFSU. She also earned a Directors Permit from the California Department of Teacher credentialing. Sarah was a varsity member of UC Berkeley’s women’s soccer, and supports and participates in San Francisco and Marin SoccerKids programs.

Teaching Parents

As a parent of the Cow Hollow Community you are required to teach in your child’s classroom alongside the teachers one to three times each month and are an integral part of the classroom community. Your input is welcome and encouraged and you play an incredibly important role in the children’s success and enjoyment of school.

Parent Association

The Parent Association is committed to developing and strengthening the family-school partnership, and building a strong community to enhance the experience of all children. As the parent of a child attending CHS, you are automatically a member of the Parent Association and part of a dedicated parent body. The Executive Committee is made up of the following positions:

· President
· Vice President
· Communications Officer
· Treasurer
· Fundraiser Chairperson
· Hospitality Chairperson
· Events Chairperson
· Diversity Chairperson
· Healthy School Chairperson

Room Parents

Room Parents will serve as the liaison between, and partner with, their child’s class, teachers and Director.

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors is the policy making body for the school. Among its major functions are:
· Setting goals and philosophy for Cow Hollow School
· Conducting long-term, strategic planning
· Ensuring financial, budgetary and operational oversight and sustainability, including setting compensation and tuition
· Determining desirable skills and attributes for Cow Hollow School Director and teachers, and hiring the school Director and teachers