Salmonberry Faculty & Staff

Head of School                                                               

head@salmonberryschool.org

Paul is Salmonberry’s Head of School and has taught at Salmonberry since its inception. He is the parent of two adult children, Quinn and Emma. Paul started his teaching career 28 years ago in public elementary schools in California and Oregon. He began his journey towards holistic education after moving to Orcas Island in 2001. Paul is a nationally recognized advocate and passionate proponent of educational alternatives. He is a widely published author in the field of education and has served as a contributing editor of Encounter: Education for Meaning and Social Justice, the country’s leading holistic education peer-review scholarly journal. He is a well-respected speaker and has delivered dozens of talks and workshops at conferences internationally. He currently serves as graduate faculty at Antioch University and TIES (The Institute for Educational Studies) where he leads the Integrative Learning MEd program. Paul has served as President of the Graduate Institute for Transformative Learning. He has served as Trustee on several independent school boards. He is also the current and founding Director of the Holistic Education Initiative and the Coordinating Editor of The Holistic Education Review. He lives near White Beach with his wife Andria, dog Murray and assorted chickens, goats and a pony.

Cedars Lead Teacher                                                                                                    cedars@salmonberryschool.org

Angela is the lead teacher in the Cedars class. She recently joined the Salmonberry School community in August of 2021 when she moved to Orcas Island from Madison, Wisconsin. In Madison, Angela taught for 17 years at Wingra School, an independent progressive school quite similar to Salmonberry. Prior to that, she graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education and a minor in English. Angela enjoys teaching and learning alongside her students. Together with them she forms and nurtures authentic relationships to build a warm and trusting community in which everyone’s voice is necessary, making mistakes is encouraged, learning is relevant, laughter is frequent, and childhood is respected. In addition to teaching, Angela enjoys time spent in nature, getting lost in a good book, doing some one-on-one tutoring, and playing with her adorable rescue cat named Peanut. 

Salmon Lead Teacher                                                                                                    kindergarten@salmonberryschool.org

Lauren is the lead teacher in the Salmon class. She spent last school year hanging out with the big kids as the Eagles assistant teacher and is now very excited to be working with the littlest members of the Salmonberry community. Lauren is originally from San Juan Island, but made the short journey to Orcas Island in 2015. She graduated from Western Washington University with a Bachelors of Arts and Education and a certification to teach K-8th grade in 2021. Lauren is passionate about creating a strong classroom culture where students feel safe to explore their interests. She believes that learning should be student driven and that content should be delivered with lots of movement and play- no matter how old the students are. Lauren has a particular passion for social studies and is also an orca enthusiast who spends much of her free time looking up random whale facts. When Lauren is not in the classroom she can be found hiking with her partner, swimming in Mountain Lake, taking walks and naps with her horse, or snapping photos of her adventures.

Otters Assistant Teacher        

Aliza Diepenbrock was born and raised on Morning Star Farm here on Orcas. After graduating college during a time of global crisis, she chose to step back into her homeland community. Growing up, she loved horseback riding, aerial acrobatics, reading, writing, berry picking, and distracting farm interns with questions. These loves continue to shape who she is. Her days often include harvesting at dawn, nestling outside reading and writing or walking her beloved trails of Orcas. At Whitman College, Aliza studied Rhetoric, Writing, and Public Discourse and deepened her love of story with a Creative Writing minor. Aliza has always loved working with kids, from babysitting, to facilitating a girls fifth-grade empowerment curriculum in Walla Walla, to working at the Funhouse on Orcas. She is consistently inspired by young people’s creativity and unabashed truth-telling. She is thrilled to have the opportunity as Classroom Assistant for the Otters Class to foster a safe, caring community, to celebrate literature, and immerse in the heart of curiosity, intellect, adventure and love that is a first grader.

Eagles Assistant Teacher                                                                                                    

Dance Specialist                                                                                                    

A Michigan native, Hayley comes to Orcas Island by way of Seattle after earning a degree in dance at Michigan State University. Frustrated by the disparity of access to dance as well as society’s notion of what a “dancer” is, Hayley worked to expand the notion of dance to its original form of embodied expression that brings healing and joy to every being. Hayley has lead workshops nationally and internationally, collaborating with non-profits, studios, schools, shelters, festivals, retreats, conferences and more. She believes healing arts will support the collective deepening of roots, re-sourcing bodies to embody the resiliency to blossom with the strength and interconnectedness all people crave. The lesson she continue to find is: show up. Our bodies will guide us back to the wisdom within.