Staff

Principal

Max Gardner

Max Gardner

Link to this item

Teachers

Kindergarten

Laura Braun

Laura Braun

 

Autumn Rolfson

Ms. Rolfson has lived in San Francisco for 19 years, though she is originally from Los Angeles. She earned her B.A. and Teaching Credential from San Francisco State University. This is her 10th year of teaching Kindergarten and 5th year at Daniel Webster.

Autumn Rolfson

 

Maritza Vega Osorio

Maestra Vega grew up in Puerto Rico. She studied at the University of Puerto Rico and the Academy of Art University. She joins the Daniel Webster Kindergarten team after working at Hillcrest and John Muir Elementary schools. In her spare time, Maestra Vega enjoys dancing, hiking, reading, and painting. She lives in San Francisco with her family. Her favorite book is La Sombra del Viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Maritz Vega Osorio

Link to this item

First grade

Alex Grubb Mayorga

Ms. Mayorga was born in Vancouver B.C. but grew up in a small town on the Canadian border called as Point Roberts, Washington. She studied Latin American Studies and Sustainable Food at Smith College. Before teaching at Daniel Webster, Ms. Mayorga worked as an environmental educator and planted school gardens throughout the city. She has lived in Chile and spent extensive time travelling throughout Mexico and Central America. She lives in Oakland with her husband, Salvador. In her spare time she loves to explore California, grow food and flowers, and be involved in community projects. Las Venas Abiertas de América Latina by Eduardo Galeano has had a profound impact on her life, but her favorite book right now is Girasoles by Gwendolyn Zepeda.

Alex Grubb

 

Kim Pedersen

Kim Pedersen

 

Alyssa Poppert

Ms. Poppert grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. She earned her Bachelor’s degree at Santa Clara University and attended graduate school at the University of San Francisco, where she earned her teaching credential and Master’s degree in Education. She completed the San Francisco Teacher Residency Program at Tenderloin Elementary School before joining the Daniel Webster school community. Ms. Salcido just moved to Potrero Hill this summer and enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling, hiking, and exploring the outdoors. Her favorite books are The Alchemist and children’s books by Eric Carle and Dr. Seuss.

Alyssa Poppert

 

Link to this item

Second grade

Ron Russo

Born and raised in Stamford, CT, Mr. Russo went to Parsons School of Design and then F.I.T. for a B.F.A. in Interior Design and a minor in Art History. He has been teaching for 16 years, with the past 12 years at Daniel Webster. He remembers the very day he learned to read and strives to create those kinds of memories for his students.

He loves the diversity of San Francisco and the Daniel Webster community.  His favorite book of all time is Gone With The Wind. He has shaken hands with every president from Jimmy Carter to George W. Bush and can’t wait to travel back to Spain.

Ron Russo

 

Jose Santana

Mr. Santana was born and raised in rural Jalisco, Mexico. He left for San Francisco after finishing 12th grade to join his parents and three sisters. Mr. Santana completed his B.A. at the University of California, majoring in English Literature with an emphasis on the medieval period. He completed the teaching credentials program at San Francisco State University. This is Mr. Santana’s first year at Daniel Webster and he is honored to be part of this community. A couple of books that have had an impact on Mr. Santana’s perception of life and the world are El laberinto de la soledad by Octavio Paz and El llano en llamas by Juan Rulfo.

Jose Santana

 

Eva Shantharam

Eva Shantharam

Link to this item

Third grade

Third grade teachers

 

Belen Blanco Benitez

Belen Blanco Benitez

 

Thomas Gotte

Thomas Gotte

 

Manny Vargas

Mr. Vargas joins the Daniel Webster team after teaching at Bessie Carmichael Elementary school for eleven years. He grew up in the Central Valley. Mr. Vargas received his Masters degree in Education from University of San Francisco. He teaches 3rd grade in our Spanish Dual Immersion program. In his spare time he loves to travel and experience different cultures. He’s a huge music fan and loves to catch live shows. Mr. Vargas lives in Potrero Hill, walks to work, and enjoys jogging with his Aussie Doodle. His favorite book is The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

Manny Vargas

Link to this item

Fourth / Fifth grade

Anneliese Carter

Anneliese Carter

 

Arielle Garcia

Ms. Garcia was born and raised in San Diego, CA. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Stanford University and her Master’s in Education and Teaching Credential from the University of Southern California. This is her eighth year teaching at Daniel Webster Elementary. Her goals for this year are to engage her students in meaningful learning in all subjects and to inspire them to discover what will cultivate their love of learning. “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” (Benjamin Franklin) She loves to dance, listen to music, and watch sports. Her favorite food is chicken and waffles. Her favorite book is “The Outsiders” by S.E. Hinton, and she is excited to be part of this educational community. DW Owls – Hoot Hoot!

Arielle Garcia

 

Juanma Gonzalez

Juanma Gonzalez

 

Joseph Merschdorf

Mr. Merschdorf is in his fifth year of teaching at Daniel Webster. He was born in San Francisco and raised in Oakland. He studied at University of Arizona and received his teaching credential from University of San Francisco. Mr. Merschdorf also has an MA in TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) from University of San Francisco. He is proud of his extensive record collection and used to be a DJ.

Joseph Merschdorf

 

Xiomara Melendez Cierra

Maestra Xiomara was born in El Salvador and has lived in San Francisco for the past 11 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State University in Political Science. Maestra Xiomara joins the 4/5 team in the dual immersion program. Before she became a classroom teacher, she served in the role of Parent Liaison and School Secretary at Daniel Webster. She has worked closely with all our students and staff day in, day out for the past five years.  She likes working at Daniel Webster because of our diverse community and strong parent groups. She is fully bilingual. Her favorite hobbies are reading, hanging out with her family and dancing.

Xiomara Melendez Cierra

 

Link to this item

Staff

Admin team & support staff

Marisa Alfieri

Ms. Alfieri was born in Oakland, California and grew up in Santa Rosa. She attended St. Mary’s College for her undergraduate degree in Business Administration/Economics with minors in Spanish and Communication. She received her teaching credential from San Francisco State University and Masters in Education from UC Berkeley. She has lived in San Francisco’s Mission District for the past 25 years. She started her teaching career in Elementary School and has since worked at all levels, most recently High School. She enjoys hiking, swimming, traveling and doing yoga in her free time. She loves to read non-fiction and historical fiction.

Marisa Alfieri

 

Jen Caldwell

Jen Caldwell

 

Susi Brennan

  • Culture + Climate Faciliator

Ms. Susi grew up in Ohio and attended Kenyon College. She taught English in Japan after college and then moved to San Francisco to pursue her teaching career. She received her teaching credential and Masters in Elementary Education from San Jose State University. She was a classroom teacher for both 4th/5th and middle school for 12 years, and a special education teacher for 3 years. She received so much support as a classroom teacher that she decided to start working with teachers as an IRF at Daniel Webster from 2014-16 when she also helped start a mindfulness program. She has remained connected to supporting mindfulness and social emotional learning at DW even with roles at other schools and the district and is super excited to be back at DW focusing on the social emotional health of everyone in our community. Susi’s work in schools has fed a passion for social justice through building reflective and compassionate learning communities. Susi believes strongly that teachers and staff who embody mindfulness and compassion have the greatest impact on the well-being of the whole school community. She loves swimming, biking, sunrise hikes, and playing at the beach with her family and dog. 

Susi Brennan

 

Cecilia McDonagh

Ms. McDonagh was born and raised in San Francisco and received her undergraduate degree and her teaching credential at San Francisco State University.

She has been teaching in the San Francisco public schools for the past 26 years, and spent the bulk of her years teaching 3rd grade in the Spanish Immersion Program at Alvarado Elementary School. She transitioned to being a Teacher Librarian in August of 2017 and is currently working on a master’s degree in Library and Information Science.

She lives with her husband and 3 children, Christopher 18 yrs., Bella,14 yrs., and Joe 11yrs. and when she’s not at work she spends most of her time driving, tutoring, mediating, counseling and feeding them.
She loves to spend time in Lake Tahoe where she enjoys biking, hiking, and swimming in the beautiful lake. She likes to read fiction and nonfiction books based on world history.

Cecillia McDonagh

 

Anita Parameswaran

Anita Parameswaran

 

Cesar Manzano

Mr. Cesar is from Spain and studied Art History and Education at the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela. He taught art history in high school in the Canary Islands for 5 years before coming to California through the Visitor Teachers program in 2001. He taught across K-5 grade levels in different bilingual elementary schools in Oakland and is excited to join SFUSD this year.
He loves travelling, music, photography, biking around San Francisco, and swimming daily in the Bay. He loves any book by Jose Saramago. In high school, he had a extensive collection of classical music taped from Spanish public radio.

cesar Manzano

 

Laura Benton

Laura Benton

 

Angela Leung

Angela Leung

Link to this item

Special education team

Ginger Wilson

Ms. Ginger grew up in Lodi, Wisconsin. Her love for wilderness brought her to the University of Montana, where she studied Cultural Anthropology and Spanish. She loves traveling, and was lucky enough to study abroad in Chile and Argentina. She now lives in Oakland, and enjoys rowing on Lake Merritt. Some of her other hobbies include practicing herbalism, cooking, running, dancing, and reading. Her favorite authors include Dr. Seuss and Kurt Vonnegut.

Ginger Wilson

 

Sofia Gonzalez Dyer

Ms. Sofia is our Resource Specialist Program teacher, serving students who participate in our special education program. Ms. Sofia works with students in small groups in our learning center, and also supports students in class helping teachers differentiate instruction for all types of learners. Ms. Sofia conducts educational assessments, and designs Individualized Education Plans for students based on their learning needs.

Sofia Gonzalez Dyer

Link to this item

Para educator staff

Joanna Sacks

Joanna Sacks

 

Winny Yu

  • Para Educator Lower Grades

 

German Alvarado

  • Para Educator Mid Grades

 

Iriana Olguin

  • Para Educator All Grades

 

Floridas Barillas

  • Para Educator Lower Grades [Spanish]
Link to this item

Visual and performing arts & PE team

Terri Scheid

  • Art Teacher Upper Grades

 

Christina Quiroz

  • Art Teacher Lower Grades

 

Ruben Guzman

  • PE Teacher Lower Grades

 

Ricki Reese

  • PE Teacher Upper Grades

 

Donald Armistead

  • Music Teacher Upper Grades
Link to this item

Student support staff

Jill Salak

  • Counselor

 

Dinah Shrestha

  • Psychologist

 

Julia Nemchuk

  • Speech Therapist

 

Page Bettencourt

  • Occupational Therapist
Link to this item

Custodial staff

Reyna

  • Custodian

 

Mr. Leung

  • Custodian
Link to this item