The Bridge School staff is a vibrant, diverse, and committed group of educators who work collaboratively to meet each student’s needs. All of our classroom teachers hold advanced degrees, as do many of our specialists. Our Core Classroom Teaching team is joined by an evolving team of specialists each year as we strive to meet the needs of our current students.
CORE CLASSROOM TEACHERS
Anna Erikson
Chinook Classroom Teacher
Lead Instructor
Creative Enrichment Instructor
Anna (she/they) was a Bridge School teacher from 2015-2019 and was excited to be back into the fold in 2023 as our Chinook Classroom Teacher and a Creative Enrichment Instructor.
Her professional teaching career spans from over a decade in early childhood to a Master’s Degree in Teaching with experience in classrooms ranging from K-8. She is a musician, mother, certified permaculturist, organic gardener, amateur carpenter, and budding herbalist. Her work is rooted in social and environmental integrity with a firm belief in human kindness, self-awareness, metacognition, and solution oriented critical thinking.
anna@bridgeschoolcoop.org
Jewel C. Hawley
Kokanee Classroom Teacher
Jewel (she/her) is Filipina American, born and raised in Seattle. She has 11 years experience as an elementary educator in the Federal Way and Seattle Public School districts and served as a mentor teacher, co-planning and co-teaching with colleagues. She has been a phenomenal force for change in equity and diversity in her previous schools. Jewel is also a parent of one of our incoming Coho students.
Jewel has a Bachelor’s degree in Communication and American Ethnic Studies from the University of Washington and a Master in Teaching degree from City University. She became a National Board Certified Teacher in Literacy in 2014.
jewel@bridgeschoolcoop.org
Jessica Wride
Coho Classroom Teacher
Jessica (she/her), who will be our Coho Classroom Teacher, has 9 years experience as an elementary classroom teacher in the Issaquah Public School District. She also has extensive experience in teacher coaching and mentoring for educators in K-12. Her depth of knowledge and experience in child development and social-emotional learning will be so beneficial for our Coho kids, but also a great addition to our school as a whole. Jessica is also a visual artist!
Jessica has a B.A. in History and a B.A. in Child Development from Washington State University, Pullman and a Master in Teaching degree from City University, Seattle. She holds an Early Childhood (Generalist) National Board Certification.
jessica@bridgeschoolcoop.org
SPECIALISTS
Ali Arnote
Outdoor Education Seahurst Instructor
Coho Forest School Instructor
Ali (she/her) grew up between the wilds of Northern Arizona and Tokyo, Japan, where she was lucky enough to play freely in the outdoors creating such vivid memories of her adventures that she still finds herself sizing up trees for their climb-ability, looking for sticks to race down streams or introducing herself to new plant friends. She returned to the US to earn degrees in Visual Anthropology and Photography from University of Southern California and Visual Communications from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising.
While she has worked with kids her entire life, Ali began working in a school setting in 2004 which grew into opening a process based kid’s art studio in Southern California. She is a certified Tinkergarten Leader and has been exploring outdoors with kids and their grown-ups since 2016. Ali wears a few different hats at the Bridge School, working with the Coho students for Outdoor Education and as our Coho Outdoor instructor. She has also been a parent of Bridge School students! Ali continually finds delight in sharing her connection with nature while watching the pure joy as students develop their own.
alison@bridgeschoolcoop.org
Allison Gobat
Music & Theater Specialist
Creative Enrichment Instructor
Allison (she/her) is a hands-on, sensory-led, active teacher. She likes to keep the children moving, experiencing, having fun, and learning through doing. She likes to bring multiple senses into her teaching so that she can reach each student wherever their strengths lie. She believes in allowing skill development to happen in its own time for each student — there is no “one size fits all” for learning. Allison has taught Preschool through High School in various positions: special education inclusion specialist, one-on-one instructor, special programs teacher, specific subject tutor, and music, theater and arts teacher.
She has a Master’s degree in Special Education from the University of San Diego and holds certifications in Elementary Education, K-8 Special Education, and Early Childhood Special Education.
allison@bridgeschoolcoop.org
Alexis Wolfe Mbassa
Outdoor Education Instructor
Creative Enrichment Instructor
Alexis grew up between the West and East coasts with a set designer mother in Seattle and a plant scientist father in upstate NY. She spent much of her early years exploring the great outdoors, hunting for newts and pill-bugs or creating elaborate visual art displays indoors.
She is filled with joy about the ability to bring her long-time passions of outdoor education, journalism, and the arts to The Bridge School Co-op with Wilderness Exploration and Creative Enrichment classes. Alexis has recently returned to her hometown of Seattle after 15 years in NYC where she taught Kindergarten – 5th grade at a progressive elementary school and ran a music/portrait photography business. She has written two books and has a strong appreciation for journalism and storytelling as well.
Alexis’ focus as an educator has always been to foster a great love of learning while creating a strong empathetic community. In 2019, she co-created a social justice curriculum which emphasizes empathy and celebrates diversity. She pulls from it daily to encourage students to grow as caring, respectful, and respected members of society.
Alexis has a masters’ degree in Early Childhood Education from Brooklyn College and bachelor degrees in Photography and Spanish from Seattle University. She is a New York and Washington State certified Visual Arts Teacher and a tenured Early Childhood teacher. Alexis is beyond excited to begin a journey with The Bridge School community!
alexis@bridgeschoolcoop.org
ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Sarah Borak
Office Manager
Sarah (she/her) is a White Center native who takes pride in the community she grew up in and is enthusiastic about giving the new generation of neighborhood kiddos a positive elementary school experience (albeit as a friendly wave or smile from the office). She was the owner/president of a successful real estate business on Capitol Hill for a number of years before shifting gears to spend more time with her two children who attend The Bridge School. Wearing many hats as a small business owner prepared Sarah well for her role as office manager/registrar/bookkeeper/
sarah@bridgeschoolcoop.org
Amanda Hill
Head of School
Amanda (she/they) comes to Bridge as a life-long educator with 15 years of experience teaching, supervising educators, building programs, and managing teams in a college setting. Amanda views each leadership opportunity as a chance to serve, support and uplift community members while providing clear direction and vision and respecting each other’s time, talents, identities and boundaries.
Amanda’s passions as an educator include addressing systemic privileges in education, implementing anti-racist teaching methods, fostering gender inclusive communities, and creating accessible, welcoming learning environments for neurodivergent students. Amanda is also a studio potter and an avid reader. They have been part of The Bridge School community since 2019, when their child joined as a Coho student. Before pursuing a career in college education and administration, Amanda taught preschool and K-5 students in community and faith-based settings and studied early childhood development.
Amanda holds a BA in English and a minor in Women’s Studies from California State University East Bay and a Master’s in English from Western Washington University. Prior to joining The Bridge School, Amanda was Professor of Rhetoric and Composition and Director of the Writing Center at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle.