Our School Community

LWGMS Faculty

Patricia Hearn
Head of School
MA, Education, Antioch University
BA, English, Rutgers University

In the spring of 1998 the board of Lake Washington Girls Middle School hired Patti as its first Head Teacher. She worked with the parent board to plan the opening of the school and wrote and taught the humanities, math, and enrichment curricula for all three grades.

As the school grew and changed, so did its administrative structure. In 2005, the LWGMS Board appointed Patti Head of School.

Before joining LWGMS, Patti developed all academic curricula and taught girls in grades five to ten at Chabad School. She started a drama program in 1994 and greatly enjoyed working with the students to grow the program from its first year, a small one-act play, to its fifth, a full-length musical production. She continues this theater experience at LWGMS, where she directs the eighth grade play each year.

Kirsten Rooks
Science
MA in Teaching, Columbia University
BA Psychology, Williams College

Kirsten taught many subjects in a variety of academic settings before reaching the "perfect teaching job" at LWGMS. Her first teaching job was eighth through twelfth grade Spanish at the Sant Bani School in New Hampshire for one semester. She then traveled to Kenya with the World Teach program where she taught Biology and English at Samitsi Secondary School. Upon returning to the US, she lived in Washington, DC, helping to create and implement education and health programs for developing countries at USAID's Office of Education and then with one of their contracting firms.

After a few years, the education bug bit again and she attended Columbia University Teachers College in New York to get her MA in Teaching Secondary Social Studies. Kirsten then moved back to Washington, DC and taught for five years at Paul Junior High, three years as an English teacher and two as a Geography teacher. Though she liked social studies, she realized that her passion was in science education, and she started supplementing her education with courses in astronomy, anatomy, geology, and environmental science.

Prior to moving to Seattle, Kirsten lived in Philadelphia where she taught seventh and eighth grade science at Ivy Leaf School, a small private African-American K-8 school.

Kirsten joined LWGMS in September 2000. She now teaches all core science and science-related electives classes and is the yearbook advisor.

Jenny Zavatsky
Humanities (Seventh & Eighth), Mock Trial
BA, University of Washington
JD, University of Washington School of Law
MA, Seattle University

After attending Garfield High School and The Bush School in Seattle, Washington, Jenny moved to New York City to study art, including two years at New York University’s Film School. From 1981-1983, Jenny worked for a small, independent film company as well as CBS News before returning to Seattle and attending the University of Washington, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in philosophy. In 1988, Jenny graduated with honors from the University of Washington School of Law. She worked in civil rights litigation before leaving her legal career for one in teaching. At Seattle University School of law, Jenny was a professor of legal writing, reasoning, oral advocacy from 1992-1997. During this time, Jenny developed a passion for teaching, and she earned a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction while teaching full-time. Through her studies in Seattle University’s master’s program, Jenny discovered that she had a keen interest in teaching younger students; she left the law school for Seattle Academy, and from 1997-2006 Jenny coached several sports, taught classes from grades 6-12, and developed the school’s Mock Trial Program. In 2006, Jenny led the Mock Trial Team to a Washington State Championship.

Lindsey Mutschler
Visual Arts, Humanities (Sixth)
BA, P-12 Art Education, Western Washington University

Lindsey received her bachelor of arts from Western Washington University in Art Education with a minor in music. Prior to coming on board at LWGMS in 2007, she taught art and music at Willowbrook Center for the Development of Human Potential and served as a Learning & Writing Assistant for four years at Western Washington University. She also volunteered as a guest art specialist in schools in Bellingham, WA, and worked as a gallery attendant at the Whatcom Museum of History and Art. An avid artist and activist in the art community, she left Bellingham as a member of the Bellingham Waterfront Art Collective.

LWGMS is the ideal teaching environment for Lindsey, and she is delighted to have landed here. LWGMS' focus on integrating curriculum allows her to put into practice her belief that art is not detached from everyday life but is best understood when studied within history, culture, language, and all aspects of education.

Martha Straley
Math
M. Ed., Curriculum and Instruction, Secondary Mathematics, University of Washington
Mathematics coursework, The Evergreen State College
B.A, History, University of California, San Diego

Martha developed math curricula and taught math to middle-school and high-school students at the Northwest School and Seattle Academy when those schools first opened in Seattle. While raising her two children, she left full-time teaching but continued to tutor students in middle and high-school level math and SAT preparation. In addition, she became a technical editor and writer for software companies in town, translating engineering language for technical audiences, all the while saying that she would some day return to teaching. She is delighted that the perfect math teaching job finally came along at LWGMS.

Charito Sotero
Spanish
M.A. Special Education, Fairfield University
M.Ed., Counseling/Psychology, Cambridge College
B.A. Rehabilitation Services, University of Connecticut

Charito feels fortunate to have been able to pursue her passion for teaching in a variety of settings. She instructed adults and children with moderate developmental and emotional disabilities in Chicago and worked as and instructor and Director for a counseling and substance abuse prevention program for Latino middle school girls in Boston, MA. She has been teaching Spanish in the Seattle area for the last ten years, focusing on children in grades K-8.
As a first generation Cuban-American, she was brought up speaking Spanish, eating wonderful Cuban food, and dancing to Latin music. Living in South American for six years as a youth gave her an even greater appreciation for her Latin roots and further solidified her love of the many diverse cultures in the Spanish-speaking world. Charito is excited to share the Spanish language and Latino culture with the girls at LWGMS.

Heather Mahardy
Student Services Coordinator

B.A. Evergreen State College
M.Ed. Antioch University Seattle
Certificated teacher
Heather completed her undergraduate degree at Evergreen State College, where she majored in Classical Studies/Art History and minored in Cultural Anthropology. In 2003, Heather completed a research contract in Provence, France and Florence, Italy while attending S.A.C.I. (through the U.N. Institute of International Education). Additional research contracts include: “Funerary Ritual in Classical Antiquity,” “Ethnopsychology,” and “Symbolism.”

Planning to pursue a career in anthropology, Heather took a summer job as an extended-day teacher; that summer job soon became three years as a classroom assistant and summer school teacher. The pull of academia proved too strong and, in 2007, Heather enrolled in graduate school at Antioch University Seattle. Soon after, she took a graduate assistantship in Antioch’s Center for Programs in Education, assisting faculty and staff with program evaluation, program development and restructuring, reflective practice, diversity, multicultural competency, and transformative learning.

In Winter 2008, Heather completed her student teaching practicum at LWGMS, and was later offered the Student Services position at the school. (She enthusiastically accepted!) In addition to directing Student Services at LWGMS, Heather teaches the Learning Skills course, advises student council, serves as the faculty advisor for the magazine elective, and oversees the after-school academic support program.

Conne McGlynn Bruce
Director of Advancement
BS, Business Administration, University of San Francisco

As a member of the third generation of women in her family to attend Holy Names Academy, Conne is a proud product and supporter of girls' education. Both her grandmother and her mother attended the Immaculate Conception School and Conne is thrilled to work at LWGMS in the same building that housed their school. Conne returned to her home city of Seattle after graduating from the University of San Francisco with a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration. She went to work for REI and spent several years in the finance division. In 2000, she left REI to stay at home with her young children. In the past ten years, she found joy in her work for several schools and organizations in the field of Development.

Conne brings to Lake Washington Girls Middle School her experience in assisting in the creation of a $1 million Endowment fund for St. Louise School, the knowledge she gained as the President of the Holy Names Alumnae Board, and the skills she learned in building the Northwest Alumni Counsel for the University of San Francisco, which included a year as the Event Coordinator. She brings her passion for girls’ education to the Development Office at LWGMS.

Colleen West
Office Manager, Admissions Director, Athletic Director

Colleen is a northwest native with a background in Project Management and Office Administration. After a fifteen year career with Premera Blue Cross, she chose to stay home part-time with her two children. During that time, she was the co-owner of The City Garden, was a Master Gardener and was heavily involved with her children’s PTAs. Getting the itch to work full time again, Colleen spent ten years at Orca Alternative School fulfilling a variety of job functions, one of her favorites being the kickball referee. She is currently on the board for the Seattle Row for the Cure.

Guest Faculty

LWGMS benefits from a multitude of guest instructors who teach one-day or short-term classes as part of the curriculum. Some of our long-term guest instructors join us from:

The Austin Foundation

Martial Arts in the Public Interest

The Rainier Valley Youth Theatre

Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center

Arts Corps

Sports

LWGMS students enjoy a wide range of athletic choices, including league soccer, volleyball, basketball and tennis teams. All the girls are encouraged to participate, and everyone plays!

• R&R Groups. Every student is a member of an R&R Group, which stands for “Respect and Responsibility”. These groups are a great way for the “big sisters” of the group to interact and act as role-models for the “little sisters” in the group. Each group identifies goals that will improve their school environment, both physically and socially. Goals might include eating lunch with a different group of people every day, offering homework or computer help to someone, painting murals in the restroom stalls, or maintaining a section of the garden. R&R groups eat lunch together once a week to discuss issues and get to know each other better. Every student signs a “Respect and Responsibility Agreement”, where they agree to be respectful of each other and help out anyone who is being excluded or disrespected in any way.
  
  
• Student Council. LWGMS has a nine-member student council that comprises three members from each grade. Student council is responsible for running all-school meetings and coordinating various activities throughout the year. Representatives from the student council attend Board of Trustee meetings, where they share ideas and concerns of students and report minutes from the Board meeting to their fellow students. The student council has one voting representative on the Board of Trustees, and thus the students’ voices are part of the governance of the school.
  
  
• Mock Trial. Now in its second year, the LWGMS Mock Trial team has proven to be a successful middle school program.
  
  
• Clubs at LWMGS include Music Club, Math Club, Youth and Government, Environmental Service Club, and Yearbook. Clubs meet every Friday before lunch and after school as needed.