Staff

Each grade level is led by their full time Class Teacher who instructs the children in all Main Lesson subjects, and oversees the children throughout the school day. The Kindergarten Class Teacher is accompanied by the Kindergarten Assistant throughout the school day.

Class teachers are responsible for instruction in all academic areas, as well as lessons in painting, music (recorder and singing), movement, form drawing, class meetings, and games. The Village School faculty members work in two-year loops, teaching the same group of children for two consecutive years. There are four loops; grades one and two, grades three and four, grades five and six and grades seven and eight.

Specialty teachers instruct the following classes: Handwork (knitting, sewing, and other hand crafts); Foreign Language (Spanish); P.E. (movement); and Music (guitar, violin and marimba).

As a Title I School, The Village School receives federal funding for, among other services, hiring part time Instructional Assistants. These Instructional Assistants are available on a daily basis to assist Class Teachers in meeting the needs of struggling learners.

The Village School exceeds Oregon Charter School Law requirements that a minimum 50% of staff are licensed or registered with the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission.

Individuals interested in employment at The Village School can check for current job postings at the Employment Opportunities page.
 

Administration

Principal, Bob Kaminski
Mr. Kaminski holds a Masters Degree in Theater Arts and a Masters in Educational Leadership.  He has 30 years of experience as a classroom teacher (pre-school through 8th grade).  He also has experience as an adult education instructor, artist-in-the-schools, performing artist, and most recently as an elementary school administrator (two years as a Vice Principal and six years as a Principal).

Executive Director, Andy Peara

Administrative Assistant/Student Services Coordinator, Cara Abrams-Simonton

Office Assistant, Rachel Williams

School Counselor, Pat Anderson

Teaching Staff

Kindergarten Teacher, Sarah Wetzel
Raised in Waldorf education, Sarah has always held a deep love and reverence of nature, art, and children. Professionally, she has worked with children in a number of capacities, including as a therapeutic recreation specialist and treatment coordinator for at-risk youth, as an early childhood classroom teacher, as well as an English language teacher in Barcelona, Spain. Recent years have found her tending her gardens, riding her bike, playing with her daughter, and most recently, completing her MS of Early Childhood Special Education and Early Intervention.

Kindergarten Assistant, Amber VanCleave

First Grade Teacher, Thomas "Anil" Oommen
Anil holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from The College of Wooster. He studied theology at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. He taught at an arts-integrated private elementary school in El Cerrito, CA. He earned a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) at Pacific University before coming to teach at The Village School in 2001. Mr. Oommen currently teaches the first/second grade loop at The Village School. He is trained in Waldorf methods through summer intensives at Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento, California and Sound Circle Center in Seattle, Washington.

Second First Grade Teacher, Kay Cosby
Kay Cosby is a state certified teacher who has been teaching for over 20 years, the last eight at the elementary school level. She graduated from the University of Oregon with a Masters Degree in education and later attended Pacific University in preparation for teaching the elementary grades. She has been teaching at The Village School since its inception.

Third Grade Teacher, Matthew Rutman
Matthew Rutman (AKA Mr. Matthew) grew up in San Diego, just a few miles this side of the border. He spent his early years submerged in the ocean and fascinated by the culture and languages of Mexico. As a child he camped, surfed, and fished the Baja Peninsula with his family. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he spent several years traveling, living, working, and volunteering throughout Latin America. In 2002, he received a Masters in Elementary Education from Pacific University, here in Eugene. Since then, he has taught grades 3-6 in Springfield, Eugene, and most recently Venezuela. He has worked in the field of education since 1995, and has served in a variety of positions that include working as a special education assistant, Americorps volunteer, outdoor environmental educator, Spanish teacher, substitute teacher, and classroom teacher. Matthew spends his spare time surfing, backpacking, skiing, and exploring the Northwest.

Fourth Grade Teacher, Shannon Powell

Fifth Grade Teacher, Matthew Bigongiari
Born on the south side of Chicago, Matthew, a trained Waldorf teacher, has worked as an educator for 17 years. He is the father of two beautiful daughters and was one of the original co-founders of The Village School. His work in writing much of the original charter proposal and federal start-up grants, coordinating the curriculum and serving on the Board for 3 years, helped to put the school onto the firm foundations it finds itself today. He now teaches in the 5th/6th grade loop and also works as an educational consultant to charter schools across the state. In his spare time, he enjoys gardening, cooking, reading, music and being in nature.

Sixth Grade Teacher, Susana Romatz
Susana grew up in Saginaw, Michigan. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Religion and Earth Science from Central Michigan University in 1998. She lived briefly in New York City and Lafayette, Louisiana before coming to Eugene to attend the Waldorf Teacher Training from which she graduated in 2005. Before joining The Village School faculty, she worked at Fern’s Edge Dairy milking goats. She enjoys drawing, the ocean, and dyeing scarves with mushrooms.

Seventh and Eighth Grade Teacher, Andy Traisman
Village School Seventh and Eighth Grade teacher Andy Traisman was raised in suburban Chicago, IL. He graduated from Northern Arizona University, and later completed graduate work and received his teacher’s credentials from the University of Washington where he began his teaching career. After ten years teaching Junior High in suburban Seattle, Andy and his family moved to Eugene in 1993. After two years running his own business Andy returned to teaching, working with Matthew Bigongiari at The Renaissance school and later as a co-eighth grade teacher at the Eugene Waldorf school. Andy worked at various middle and high schools in 4J before coming to the Village School in 2001. Andy has a son in college and a daughter in High School, both K-8 graduates of the Eugene Waldorf School.

Seventh and Eighth Grade Teacher, Justin
Justin grew up on the edge of suburbia in Beaverton, Oregon. His early adventures in the woods and fields around his home, and their subsequent development into more neighborhoods and apartments lead him to follow a career in environmental education. For a number of years he taught about the natural history and ecology of the Northwest. Some of his fondest memories are those that involve a creek side mountain lion track and the awe of attentive kids. He’s worked as a professional storyteller as well. He enjoys baking bread, playing old blues on the guitar and banjo, drawing, kayaking, and long walks on the beach.

Special Subject Teachers

Lower Grade Spanish Teacher, Beatriz Loper

Upper Grade Spanish and Guitar Teacher, Jonathan Bilenki
Jon moved out West from Maryland back in 2000, went to the U of O, settled down and started a family here in Eugene.  He has studied Spanish for about 10 years now, and enjoys learning about the myriad musical forms that Latin America has to offer.  In addition to teaching elementary and middle school Spanish, Jon gives music lessons on a variety of instruments to both children and adults.  He enjoys playing the piano and eating locally.

Upper Grade Marimba Teacher, Nic Gusset
Nic has studied Shona music for 18 years and currently performs with Kudana Marimba.  Music is very important in his life, and he is enthusiastic about introducing Shona music to our students.

Handwork Teacher, Marika Banyacski

Handwork Teacher, Susanne Woelbing

Handwork Assistant, Anna Szmit

Movement Teacher, Tim Taber

Choir Teacher, Jennifer Sellers

Dance Teacher, Eileen King

Title I Staff

Title I Coordinator, Betsy Priddle

Title I Instructional Assistant, Alison Cantril

Title I Instructional Assistant, Donna Crispin
Donna is from Chicago, Illinois. After graduating from the University of Illinois, she worked for the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management in the southwest and Alaska for eight years. She also has a degree in Elementary Education from Utah State University. Since moving to Oregon in 1984, she has worked as a substitute teacher, teaching assistant, childcare worker, art instructor, and artisan. She is married to a park ranger, and they have one child attending the University of Oregon.

Title I Instructional Assistant, Julie Culbertson

Title I Instructional Assistant, Donna Dawson

Math Tutor, Kaitlynn Heflin
Born and raised in Kansas, Kaitlynn has since lived in Connecticut and Pennsylvania, and spent a couple of months in both California and La Coruna, Espana.  After graduating from Bryn Mawr College, she married and moved to Eugene in 2008.  She enjoys spending time with animals, hiking, mountain biking, and reading.  Kaitlynn also tutors in the evenings in the subjects of Chemistry and Math.