Seattle Public Schools

I am excited to start my 4th school year as a Blue Whale!

This proud Iowan currently lives in Beacon Hill with my cat and partner.  I enjoy traveling, spending time with family and friends, and trying to keep plants alive.

Before Graham Hill, I worked at a K-12 school in St. Paul, MN for 5 years and was also a sub with the Ramsey County Libraries (MN) and Seattle Public Libraries.

You can regularly find me at Seward Park, either reading by the water or making pottery on the throwing wheel at the clay studio.

I feel extremely proud to be a Graham Hill Blue Whale and absolutely LOVE our school community! This will be my 3rd year at GH and I couldn’t be more honored to be a part of a staff that is incredibly student & family centered, dedicated & hard-working, equity driven, and absolutely beautiful people who work as a cohesive team!

I was born and raised on the island of Kauai and feel blessed to still carry the Aloha spirit and Hawaiian culture with me wherever I go.  I have two amazing children, Brady (8) and Bryn (3), and love to spend my free time being a mom!

An SPS graduate and parent of SPS graduates, Gerrit Kischner has been the principal of Thornton Creek Elementary since 2021. Prior to joining the Thornton Creek team, Gerrit had the privilege of completing thirteen full years as principal of Genesee Hill/Schmitz Park Elementary in West Seattle, where he managed rapid growth from 316 students to 720 students and watched his first Kindergarten class graduate from West Seattle High School; at Genesee Hill, he became known for strong aligned curriculum, inclusion practices deeply embedded in general education, and positive community building, Gerrit served for four years as the assistant principal at TOPS K-8 School in Seattle.

His first love is teaching, beginning with community education projects in Salvador, Brazil, and including joyful experiences at Turner Middle School in Philadelphia Public Schools, RJ Grey Jr. High in Acton, Massachusetts, and the International School Manila. In 1996, he returned to his hometown Seattle to teach 9th grade Pacific Rim Studies and founded a nationally-awarded culminating project program (CAPstone: Citizen Action Project) at Kamiakin Jr. High in the Lake Washington School District.

As a district leader, Gerrit has served as President of the Principals Association of Seattle Schools and as the founding principal co-chair of the Peer Assistance and Review Panel of Seattle Schools (2016-2021). He is a graduate of Garfield High School (Seattle), Swarthmore College, and the Danforth Program for Educational Leadership at the University of Washington. In 2013, he completed work as a participant in the pilot of a National Board Principal Certification, and he is currently enrolled in the Educational Leadership doctoral program at Washington State University.

Publications:

"Shaping Global Classrooms" (with Nancy Bacon) Educational Leadership, October 2002

"Democracy in India: a curriculum for grades 8-10," World Affairs Council, Seattle (2003)

Co-author, "Teaching the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child." In O'Donnell, Daniel. Children are People Too. Anvil Press/UNESCO: Manila (Philippines), 1996.