My name is Claire Accettullo (Ms. A) and this will be my second year at Wedgwood Elementary. I previously taught at Olympic Hills Elementary, and have enjoyed teaching K and 1st in the school district I attended as a student myself. I was inspired to teach while working as an intern at Woodland Park Zoo. I received my BS in Environmental Science, and worked as a research assistant (fire ecology) with the UW and Pacific Wildland Fire Sciences Lab (USFS). These experiences reinforced my philosophy that all students are natural scientists, and their "wonderings" about the world should be nurtured and encouraged. I completed my Master in Teacher from Seattle University in 2017. In my free time I enjoy reading, walking around Fremont, and bird watching.
Gabriel Crawford is excited to be starting her third year at Wedgwood teaching 4th grade. Prior to teaching at Wedgwood Gabriel taught in Special Education. She received her undergraduate from Evergreen State College and masters from Antioch University.
Gabriel grew up in Seattle and loves the mountains and forests of the Pacific Northwest. She loves teaching and considers it her dream job.
I attended Drew University in NJ and then moved to Seattle. After working in a day care for a year I knew that I wanted to work and teach children. So, I went to Western Washington University to obtain my certificate and have been teaching in Seattle for 19 years. Many of my years were spent as an Instructional Specialist helping students with reading and mathematics. Last year, I moved to first-grade and I love it!
Personal Message
I love teaching and working with Elementary students. I wake up every day excited and enthused to go to work. Honestly, there is nothing else that I would rather do.
I also enjoy playing the drums, swimming, and spending time with my family.
Morning person that loves all seasons, helping others, making lists and being with my students.
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Melissa began her teaching career in her home state of Illinois as a Pre-Kindergarten teacher in 2001. A year later she moved to Everett to be closer to family. She pioneered the Pre-Kindergarten program at Holy Rosary in Edmonds in 2005. In 2014, Melissa started working in SPS developmental preschool as an Instructional Assistant. After a few short years, she realized how much she missed working directly with parents and that special education was her next calling. After completing her Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction and getting a certificate in Special Education Melissa was welcomed to the Wedgwood family in 2016 as the lead teacher of the Distinct Program within their Special Education services. Because Melissa believes that all students deserve their educational needs to be met, she does not see her program as special education but refers to it as the Multi-Disability/Multi-Grade classroom or Room 19.
Melissa enjoys helping the students be successful at accessing and learning curriculum and life skills by individualizing/differentiating instruction, arranging the classroom as needed, giving loads of wait time, stepping into stressful moments and bringing student voice into the classroom and lessons. She also loves to add music, dance and laughter to each day.
Outside of teaching Melissa can be found serving in her church, going to the zoo, watching St. Louis Cardinals baseball, eating all sorts of food, watching TV and being with friends and family.
Teacher Sam enjoys hiking, reading, games (both video and board), participating in social justice movements, and cooking. Their 5th grade class is filled with music, tough questions, bright colors, comic books, and laughter.
Sam grew up in Clearview, WA and now lives in Seattle. They started teaching in SPS during the 2016/17 school year and at Wedgwood during the 2017/18 school year. They studied community education models at Hampshire College, graduating in 2010 and received their Masters in Teaching from Antioch College in 2016.
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I am overjoyed to work in such a wonderful educational community here at Wedgwood. I hope I can send my 5th graders off to middle school with a love of learning and critical thinking skills. Let's have some educational fun!
Pronouns: They/Them
By stating my pronouns clearly, I hope to create space for others to share theirs, creating a more inclusive environment and culture for my learning community.
I am passionate about empowering children through culturally responsive educational opportunities, social emotional learning, personal connections, and challenging growth mindset. I am committed to advocacy and social justice work. I believe that children who are encouraged to discover and learn about issues that matter to them build the capacity for empathy, leadership, and self-awareness.
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Background Information:
I have worked with children and families in various capacities for over 22 years and have taught at Wedgwood since 2012. Before joining the Wedgwood community, I worked in early childhood education through high school and college. Fun facts: I’ve also been a barista and a hotel concierge.
I feel so grateful that I’ve had the opportunity to be a part of so many family’s lives over the years. Kids are complex, joyful, hilarious, interesting, kind, and sometimes frustrating humans. I love being around them and gain so much hope and strength from building connections with them.
Some of my favorite activities include spending time with friends and family, reading, making music playlists, going to Mariner's games, engaging in activism, spending time with my 2- year old niece, Mavis, floating on lakes, creating soup recipes, and sleeping.
If you talk to Donna for more than a few minutes, you can tell she began her teaching career on the East Coast -- over 30 years ago in Washington, D.C. She and her family moved to Seattle in 2001, and she has worked in many SPS programs over the past 15+ years. Donna currently supports students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) at Wedgwood, helping them to access general education, grade level curriculum.
When not in the classroom, Donna loves to spend time with her 3 adult children, to dig in her garden, and to wander the Wedgwood neighborhood.
Personal Message
I am excited to work together this year and to discover how to best support your Wedgwood Marmot!
My name is Stacy Hoisington (she/her). I have been at Wedgwood for 8 years, 7 of those spent teaching Kindergarten and 1 spent as the school counselor. I love teaching kindergarten because there are SO many "a-ha" moments and the social and academic growth in kindergarten is absolutely amazing.
I have taught kindergarten for 13 years, have spent 4 years of my career as a school counselor, and have also been a reading teacher. I received a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from the University of Oregon and a Master's Degree in Educational Psychology with a specialization in School Counseling at UW.
Spending time with my family is a huge priority. I have a blended family with two high school children and three grown children. I also have three grandchildren who make my life just that much sweeter! I love to camp, hike, read, drink decaf lattes in the sunshine, and because my husband is a teacher, talk a lot about education.
