Our Teachers

Chloe Buckley Teacher, Class 1

Chloe Buckley is embarking on her first year of teaching as our Class 1 teacher at Wilkinson School. Chloe is eager to create a nurturing and engaging environment in her classroom. She believes in cultivating a strong foundation of social-emotional skills, promoting empathy, respect, and teamwork among her students. By creating a safe and inclusive space, she encourages open communication and collaboration, enabling children to express their thoughts and ideas freely. With a keen eye for personalized instruction, Chloe recognizes that every child learns differently. She embraces a variety of teaching methods, incorporating play-based activities, hands-on learning experiences, and interactive technology to captivate young learners' imaginations. Through engaging lessons and developmentally appropriate activities, she aims to ignite a lifelong love for learning in each of her students.

Beyond academics, Chloe is originally from Santa Barbara, California but would visit the beautiful coast of Half Moon Bay every summer with her father. She studied a majority of her higher education in Hawaii before ultimately moving back and settling in Palo Alto. She worked as a Paraprofessional Tutor in a Junior Kindergarten classroom in Hawaii. Through this experience she was able to understand and value the importance of open communication with parents and maintaining strong relationships within the community. Chloe is thrilled to embark on this exciting new chapter as a kindergarten teacher at Wilkinson School. With her enthusiasm, dedication, and unwavering belief in the potential of every child, she is ready to create a memorable and transformative educational experience for her students.

Jessica Giovannoni Teacher, Class 2 & Spanish

Jessica Giovannoni is our 1st & 2nd Grade Teacher at Wilkinson School, and she has a creative style of teaching academics, helping students express themselves, build self-esteem, and develop a respect for themselves, others, and the environment.

She has a genuine love of young children and knew from an early age that she would most likely become a teacher. She enjoys introducing students to plant and animal life through various activities and encourages children to lead a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle.

Jessica was born in San Francisco and raised primarily in the nearby town of Pacifica, California.  She began her education at the age of three at the Children’s School in Park Pacifica. She later went back to volunteer at the school as a sixth grader and ultimately began her career there in early education at the age of 22. She graduated from St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco and later the University of San Francisco. Jessica taught young children in both Pacifica and Millbrae for nine years before becoming the kindergarten teacher at St. Cornelius School in Richmond, California. She left the St. Cornelius community after five years to have her baby girl and then joined the Wilkinson staff.

Jessica lives in Moss Beach with her daughter, Emma, whom she adores. You will often see Miss Jessica out and about taking Emma on bike or scooter rides down to the marine reserve nearby. In her free time, she loves visiting her extended family in Hawaii and enjoying outdoor activities, especially water skiing and snow skiing.

Mattie Adam Operations Lead

Mattie comes to Wilkinson School after learning organizational and operational skills from nonprofit organizations such as the San Francisco SPCA and the Oakland Museum. Originally starting out at Wilkinson as the middle school ELA and history teacher, Mattie pivoted to the role of Operations Lead to embrace her passion for clear communication and organization while allowing her to continue contributing to this amazing school while spending more time at home in Berkeley, California. 

Mattie loves helping Wilkinson carry on traditions such as the Intensive Studies Trip and the annual backpacking sojourn, crossing things off her to-do list, and generally working to take care of operations and communication so that teachers can focus on their classrooms. When she's on campus, you'll find her chatting with students about what books they've been reading lately and getting everyone excited for the next Wilkinson event or adventure. 

Julian Salkin Teacher, Class 3

Julian is a coastside native and graduated from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2022 with a degree in Astronomy. He has tutored math for four years and taught for one, and he is happy to bring his passion for learning to Wilkinson. He loves mathematics and physical sciences, and he has a certificate in astronomical observatory operation. He also loves photography, and he combines his skills to take amazing pictures of objects both in the night sky and on land. If it’s a question about physical sciences, chances are that he can answer it.

Addie Bell Teacher, Art & Garden and Marketing Manager

Addie is originally from Arlington, Virginia and is passionate about sharing art and creativity with her students. She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in Graphic Design and continued studying at the Academy of Arts in San Francisco, graduating with a MFA in Web Design and New Media. She has worked as a Graphic & Web Designer, marketing designer, & illustrator.

She loves all things art and nature and her spare time is filled with crafty endeavors, enjoying San Francisco’s beautiful parks, playing music and befriending every animal she meets (except maybe snakes, but she’s willing to give them a chance). She also has over 50 houseplants in her apartment, collected over the last 10 years!

Norma Acosta Narnia: After School Manager and Teaching Assistant

Norma Acosta leads our extensive afterschool program and is the teaching assistant for the kindergarten program. She began working as our preschool teacher more than a decade ago in the Early Childhood Center. Later she became the teaching assistant in kindergarten.

Norma has a deep affection for children, which shows in the relationships she has with her students.  She feels it is important to teach little ones basic life skills so they can thrive.

Originally from Alisco, Mexico, she then moved to Half Moon Bay, where she started an in-home daycare.  Norma is happily married and has two children, Angie and Diego. She refers to them as her sun and moon. Her favorite pastimes are listening to instrumental music and cooking with her kids.

Lerin Murphy Community Engagement Lead & Class 1 Instructional Aide

Lerin was born and raised right here in Montara and began her teaching career almost twenty years ago at the Farallone View after school program. She has since worked with schools and families as a teacher, administrator, curriculum director and assistant director administrator at schools across the Bay Area.

Lerin started with a music producing degree from San Francisco State and is currently studying for another in Leadership in Education. Lerin feels a strong affinity for her community and volunteers in many Coastside organizations such as: Surfrider, an ocean protection organization, The American Legion Women’s Auxiliary raising money for the men and women of the armed service and is a CASA Volunteer. On weekends, you can find her tending to her little beach cottage garden, reading a book by the fire-pit or listening to some live music outside.

“I believe that children learn best when the learning environment is designed to meet the developmental needs of each child. One that encourages exploration, creativity, and independence. The role of an educator is to design the learning environment that provokes an understanding of new concepts. Anyone can teach children facts, but it is much more important to instill the excitement that comes when children learn new things.” -Lerin Murphy

Piper Trautwein Science Teacher

Piper has been living on the coast for most of her life, and she is excited to share her love of nature with the students of Wilkinson. Piper works as a biologist and educator, and she is especially excited about giving students the opportunity to be part of the scientific community. If she’s not walking her two dogs on the coastal trail, she’s probably searching for owl pellets on it!

Our Staff

Kristin Simons Head of School

Kristin is originally from the Bay Area and received her Bachelor’s in Special Education and Psychology from Gonzaga University in Spokane. After college, she lived in Alaska as a Jesuit volunteer. She received her Masters in Education from SNHU in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on the LD Learner. 

Kristin has enjoyed working with students with learning differences since 2004 and created a blog called Demystify Dyslexia to support families with understanding LD. She has taught at Charles Armstrong School and eventually started a private practice working one on one with students with dyslexia.

While in Juneau, AK she met her husband, and they moved to San Francisco in 2004. They now have two children. When she is not teaching you might find her on a spin bike at the Y or hiking in the woods. Her family loves to camp, mountain bike, ski, and travel in the summer.  She loves working at Wilkinson and is happy to be part of this special community!