Tess Weisbarth
5th Grade
B.S. Ohio State University, Elementary Ed.
Montessori trained
Multi-Subject Teaching Credential, San Jose State University
First Year Teaching 1981
# Years at Gateway 1990
Experience Tess grew up in northern Ohio and graduated from Ohio State University with a B.A. in Elementary Education in 1978. After teaching for two years in the pubic schools, she entered a Montessori training program in New York City. After completing an internship, she became the Directress at a Montessori school in Victoria, British Columbia, where she taught three- to five-year-old children for three years. Tess moved to Napa, California and taught at Casa Montessori School, grades one through five, for another three years before moving to Santa Cruz.
Over the last twenty years, Tess has also taken continuing education classes at Cabrillo College and recently completed two years at San Jose State University, obtaining her California Multi-Subject Teaching Credential.
"When I started teaching at Gateway sixteen years ago, the school was smaller and located on two campuses," Tess recalls. "But even back then, Caprice had a small lifelab garden and the faculty cared about the students as people, with different learning styles. These core values haven't changed, just been elaborated upon, and Gateway continues to be a safe place to grow."
When she's not teaching and learning, Tess enjoys being out in nature, hiking, kayaking, meditating, traveling, gardening, or working on house projects. When it rains, she likes to build a fire in the wood stove and curl up with a good book.
"For me," Tess concludes, "Everyday is an opportunity to enjoy life, especially the sharing the year with my students."
