Meet the Staff

Heidi founded AccessSFUSD: The Arc in 2012.  She loves being in the community with students and seeing the pride in their faces when they work towards their goals.  Heidi works closely with SFMTA and chairs their Accessibility Advisory Committee.  She is passionate about public transportation and using it as a tool to promote independence.  When she's not at work she enjoys cooking, playing accordion, and hanging out with her family.

Jen has been with the Access team since 2013. With her students she loves teaching literacy, visiting museums, volunteering with animals, and watching students discover new passions and skills. Outside of school she loves to spend time in nature, dance, travel, knit, and spend time with her husband and daughter.

Luis enjoys getting our students out in the community to learn new things and enabling them to be more self-sufficient. He's an expert working with students on their job readiness, from resumes, to professional dress, to working in an office setting.  He is Peruvian-American and loves bringing students on hikes or to Chinatown for student choice day.

Sandy has been a paraeducator with SFUSD for almost 20 years!  She loves going places with students in the community, watching them focus on their strengths.  She enjoys seeing students troubleshoot their challenges and work towards their goals.  Her & Heidi used to work together at Mission High!

Daniel has been a paraeducator for almost nineteen years and has worked with Access students for eleven years. He is a member of the Paraeducator Leadership Network and offers a course to staff in basic computer skills. He has also done seminars and research into issues of equity and its implementation.

Linden loves teaching BollyX and dance! Other favorites include job coaching at Cal Academy and Grocery Outlet, camping at the Presidio, making music videos, and choreographing performances for The SFUSD Arts Festival and Disability Changemakers. She also enjoys vegetarian cooking, knitting, performing on stage, scary stories, and hiking.

Bianca is a paraeducator extraordinaire! She likes working at Access because of all of the fun places and experiences that we get to do.

Bianca's favorite community sites include The Academy of Sciences and wherever we have our BollyX class. She also loves Rob Hill Campground.... it's too hard for her to pick just one! Her favorite part of working at Access is seeing all our students grow and advocate for themselves. In her free time she watches a lot of cooking shows, loves being in the forest, taking hikes, dancing, crafting, and knitting!

Mira graduated from USF and Emerson college in Boston. She lives and loves the city by the bay and loves working here too. She enjoys knitting while watching Dr Who, Sherlock, Supernatural, The Great British Baking Show, Greys Anatomy and many others. Starting as a paraeducator substitute and now a full time employee.

Josh has been at AccessSFUSD: The Arc since 2011 at its previous program at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts!.  He also teaches at the Pomeroy Center. When he is not in the classroom he can be found on stage performing or working on his goal to visit every county in the US.

Spiraleena Mason has an arts, nature, and homeschool background and approaches  education through the lens of nature awareness, compassionate connection, and creative expression. 

Louisa is excited to be the newest member of the Access team. She has a background in theater, and especially loves joining the drama and music classes. She is currently studying for her Master's in Special Education at San Francisco State, and since she is fairly new to San Francisco, she is learning about cool new spots in the city with her students as expert tour-guides! 

Leslie is a happy Mom of 2 wonderful boys. She loves cooking and gardening. Leslie has been in the District as a Paraeducator for 15 years: 11 years in Elementary, 1 year in High School, 3 years and counting in the Access Program. Leslie states: Working with our students in this program gives me a lot of happiness and fulfillment. We learn different routes and exploring the beauty of San Francisco. We prepare them to be more responsible and independent in doing their community job. More fun activities everyday, hiking, dancing, shopping, and picnics. Everyday is a fun journey with them. I love Access!!!!! Everyday is a field trip!

Lauren Kivowitz is a performer, teaching artist, and inclusion advocate.  She has been an inclusive theater teacher for the past decade and joined our team in 2017.  She was the recipient of the ArtCare Arts Learning Achievement Award in 2019 from the San Francisco Arts Commission.  We are proud to have Lauren in the Access family!