Dear Pacific Primary Community,
As we start a new school year, we are filled with gratitude for the joy, growth, and connection that continue to ripple outward from our classrooms, and for the way this community, near and far, keeps showing up for one another.
2025-2026 was a year of meaningful moments, big and small. Children solved problems together at the Peace Place, learning that listening and finding solutions are skills worth practicing every day. We gathered around family-style lunches by sharing food, conversation, laughter, and, of course, our beloved Thank You Song. Our classrooms extended far beyond our walls, from neighborhood field trips to Muni adventures across our incredible city, each outing an invitation to curiosity, independence, and connection.
It was also a year that asked a great deal of us. Some families and teachers faced profound hardship, and again and again, this community showed up in small gestures and enormous ones, cooking meals, holding space, and reminding one another that no one carries their heaviest days alone. When families felt uncertain or unsafe, we stood close, choosing care and belonging over fear. And when we marched for peace, honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy, and for Pride’s simple truth that everyone belongs, our children saw firsthand what it means for a community to stand up for what it believes in.
Woven through it all were the everyday moments that make childhood magical: obstacle courses conquered, towers built and rebuilt, playdough creations dreamed into being, stories shared, and friendships strengthened. At its heart, this year was, as always, about relationships, the deep connections between children, teachers, classmates, and families that are the foundation of everything we do.
Our alumni are woven into that foundation. We are continually moved by the ways this community gives back long after graduation. This year, some of our most recent graduates returned to share their kindergarten experiences with our graduating Pacific Primary children, a full-circle gift that reminds our littlest ones what lies ahead, from those who understand it best. Our teen volunteers and assistants brought their energy, patience, and joy to our summer program, making it feel more like summer for every child there. And so many of you showed your belief in this school’s mission through your generosity in Fund for All donations that help ensure every family can access this community, and in your enthusiastic participation in our silent auction.
Looking ahead, we’re excited to share that Pacific Primary has adopted a new strategic plan, one that brings real clarity to our path forward. It sharpens our focus on the values that have always guided us: relationship-centered learning, equity and belonging, and a deep commitment to the well-being of children, families, and teachers alike. As we carry this work forward, we’re grateful to be doing it alongside a community as invested and generous as ours.
To everyone reading this:
once a member of our school community, always a member of our family.
Thank you for staying connected, for giving back in ways large and small, and for carrying a piece of Pacific Primary with you into the world.
We can’t wait to share what the year ahead brings.
With gratitude,
The Earth
Protectors
Seven years ago, former Rainbow Dolphin teacher Soara DeLouvre, armed with a degree in Environmental Conservation Education and a zero-waste dream, stood casually in the hallway of YSS and asked colleague Eric Wilson, “Hey, you wanna talk about earth stuff?”
Following their inaugural meetings about “earth stuff”, teachers Touche Contreras (Panda), Eric Wilson (Sandpiper), Soara (former YSS, Rainbow Dolphin), and Keiko Shimozaki (Grey Whale) formally formed The Earth Protectors. They later developed a charter that is now a pillar of Pacific Primary’s educational philosophy: focusing on the environment is crucial in expanding our capacity for Love, Kindness, and Compassion.
Over the years, the Earth Protectors have made incredible strides in shepherding the school toward more sustainable, eco-mindful choices. In several classrooms, students exclusively use reusable water bottles and cloth napkins. Dried-out markers that have “mysteriously lost their caps” are soaked in water to create upcycled watercolors. Many plastic toys have been phased out, and classrooms share activities. There’s even a rain barrel in the YSS yard to collect water for sunny day play. And most impressively, under the committee’s leadership, the school received a Green Business Certification in 2022 from the City of San Francisco.
Another celebrated activity is the annual Earth Day March. Now in its seventh year (including a virtual celebration during COVID), the march is a time for the PP community to gather and show our commitment to environmental sustainability through peaceful activism.
“In the beginning, there was concern that this would compete with our beloved MLK Day March. But we realized this is exactly what Dr. King would have wanted, and it’s important for students to stand up and show up for what’s important to them.”
This crossover perfectly represents how the Earth Protectors have woven eco-literacy into the core of PP’s emergent curriculum on sustainability and equality.
“Talking about climate change with children can be a daunting task,” says Soara. “We don’t want to create anxiety. We’re mindful to not push adults’ political ideologies, rather, we want to look at environmental education through an age-appropriate lens.”
The Earth Protectors say they look for “teachable moments” in everyday activities. Once, a student asked Soara why the school had these flowers in the yard. “I explained that they’re a drought-tolerant, native species that bees like to pollinate. Then they proudly pointed out the same flowers on our next field trip.”
“It’s important for us to keep childhood sacred, while also showing students that they’re the solution,” says Eric. “For example, we give them the autonomy to turn on the spigot for water play on a hot day but remind them that it’s a privilege and that we need to turn it off to be mindful of consumption. We give them power to do the right thing.”
Touche, who started the annual All-School Beach Cleanup during COVID, says, “It’s an opportunity to cultivate mindfulness, compassion, and reverence for our Earth in our youngest learners. It reminds our children that even the smallest hands can make a difference and that caring for our planet is something we can practice together.”
So what’s next for The Earth Protectors? The group will continue to move the school away from single-use plastic and toward the goal of zero waste. They’ve explored sourcing more sustainable produce options for school lunches and building out an eco-literacy library for children to explore.
“Seeing the kids sharing their role as Earth Protectors is what I’m most proud of. They are the future — and they take this responsibility to heart.”
The history of “the peace song”
Anyone who has attended a folk dance or sing-along knows “the peace song” — complete with hand motions and, at graduation, “the biggest circle in the world.” To learn about its origins, we asked OSS Music & Movement Specialist Kevin Gerzevitz to share the story.
It turns out the song is actually a mash-up of two songs. The school used to sing only the last part (starting at “Peace, peace, peace…”) which is based on a song by Joanne Hammil titled “Circle the Earth (With Peace).” Many years ago, YSS Music & Movement Specialist Heidi Tzortzis adopted it, with one small change from “sharing our worth” to “sharing our love.”
“It became a school tradition to sing it at the end of school events to affirm our values and wishes for peace in the world,” says Kevin.
Around 2012, YSS Music & Movement Specialist Melodi Dalton introduced “May There Always Be Sunshine,” and we began singing it as an intro to “Circle the Earth.”
“The rest is PP history!” — Kevin
May there always be sunshine
May there always be blue skies
May there always be friendship
May there always be peace
May there always be sunshine
May there always be blue skies
May there always be family
May there always be peace
Peace, peace, peace
Peace the whole world over
Building friendships, sharing our love
Hold my hand and circle the Earth with
Peace, peace, peace
Creamy Chickpea Coconut Curry
When a child says they like a lunch more than pesto pasta, it must be good. That’s actually happened with Chef Amy’s chickpea curry. At school, it’s served with roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, and brown rice, but the recipe is versatile. Feel free to customize the spice level by adding cayenne, or try different vegetables — including peas, cherry tomatoes, or greens like kale and spinach. Time to add it to your dinner rotation!
Creamy Chickpea Coconut Curry
Serves 2-4Ingredients
- 1 yellow or white onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 T coconut oil
- 2 cups chickpeas (rinsed if canned, cooked if dried beans)
- 2 (15oz) cans coconut milk
- 1-2 cups of broth (a lighter broth like chicken or “no chicken chicken” broth — the school uses Better Than Bouillon)
- 1-3 T curry powder, to taste
- 1-3 teaspoons turmeric, to taste
- 1-3 teaspoons cumin, to taste
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces, either roasted or sautéed
- 3 small red potatoes (small white creamer or fingerling potatoes are great too)
Directions
- 1In a medium-sized stockpot, sauté the onions and garlic in coconut oil over medium heat, until the onion is translucent. Add the curry powder, turmeric and cumin to let the flavors come out in the spices, about 1 minute.
- 2Add broth (use less for a sauce style and more for a soup) and coconut milk (feel free to add more if you like)
- 3Add chickpeas and cook over low-medium heat until hot.
- 4While the sauce is cooking, chop cauliflower into bite-sized pieces, toss with olive oil and salt. Also cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces, toss with olive oil and salt. Roast in a preheated 425-degree oven for about 30-45 minutes.
- 5Serve over cooked brown rice.
The Next
50 Years
Talking about Pacific Primary’s new 5-Year Strategic Plan with Board Co-President and Alum, Megan Ohlssen
Mission & Values
Pacific Primary’s mission and values stay alive, rooted in our founders’ vision and evolving with our future, so the whole community can articulate and feel them, educators teach toward them, and every decision reflects them.
Pedagogy and Teaching
We have a deeply understood and consistently practiced approach to teaching and learning that every educator can articulate, every classroom reflects, and every family can see and feel.
Leadership & Governance
Pacific Primary is led by people who believe in and embody its mission: an executive director and management team equipped to lead across pedagogy, community, and operations, and a board with the structure, skills, and commitment to govern well.
Community & Space
We are one connected community: one school, two sites.
Long Term Stability
We operate with financial clarity, resilience, and values alignment, backed by a proactive development strategy, a sustainable tuition assistance program, and readiness for whatever comes next.
Pacific Primary’s 2027-2031 Strategic Plan will guide our priorities and shape our long-term direction. We asked Megan Ohlssen — Pacific Primary Board Co-President, Parent and Alum herself — to share more about the plan and why it’s important.
View the 2027–2031 Strategic Plan →Why is the strategic plan important?
Every five years or so, Pacific Primary creates a new strategic plan to guide the school’s priorities and direction. The last two planning cycles were disrupted by COVID-19, and the school went through an Executive Director transition. Having just reached our 50-year anniversary, we are looking forward and asking, “What are the big goals Pacific Primary wants to achieve, uphold, and evolve to set the school up for the next 50 years?” All these factors coming together make this strategic plan special, revitalizing, and quite important.
How do you ensure it becomes a living document, rather than something that gets discarded?
It’s one thing to have values and big priorities or goals as a school community, but you also need to execute on those. So, a strategic plan is both a communication tool and an execution tool. This plan includes year-by-year milestones and deliverables that we will communicate transparently. Each year, we will highlight specific focus areas to show how we intend to achieve each goal.
Tell us about the process of developing the plan. Were there instances of conflicting input, and how did you reconcile them?
Gathering community input and voice was very important to us at the beginning of this process. We held discussions with leadership, the board, community, and staff to engage everyone in the process.
After synthesizing, we found that people shared the same vision, values, and aspirations, whether they were alumni, current families, new staff, or long-standing leadership.
When we needed to resolve complex or conflicting points, we brought topics to a small group that included staff members, active alumni families, school leadership, and key board members. This group helped us realize how interconnected certain themes were. For example, values around diversity and family inclusion may seem distinct from financial sustainability and tuition assistance, but they need to align and be communicated together rather than in isolation.
One of the plan’s goals centers on mission. What was challenging about defining and refining our shared mission language?
Versions of our mission existed across different documents and contexts. Everyone we spoke with felt personally connected to Pacific Primary’s mission and values. But the work of Year One is aligning that shared emotional connection with clear, consistent language so it can guide every decision, strategy, and conversation across the school.
Operating as “one school across two sites” is a prominent theme. What practical steps are being taken to build cohesion across sites?
This has been an ongoing effort since the Orange Sun School was established. In recent years, cross-site collaboration and professional learning among staff have expanded significantly, uniting staff across both locations. We are also focused on the family experience, creating opportunities for families to feel part of one unified school community. At the board level, we have prioritized balanced representation across both sites in our recruitment. In Year One, our focus is on strengthening family connections and gathering community feedback.
Any final thoughts?
Ultimately, the Strategic Plan is about preserving our identity while planning for the future. We carry forward our best traditions and practices into an updated framework — across mission, values, pedagogy, operations, community engagement, and funding approach — building a bridge between our first 50 years and the next 50 years. And building a bridge means evolving, in a way that is authentic to who we’ve always been and honors the world our children live in now.
We exceeded our 2025-2026 fundraising goal.
We’re thrilled to report that we exceeded our 2025-2026 fundraising goal of $650,000, raising $719,271 with nearly 100% participation. Fundraising represents a critical piece of how we can offer our high-quality, full-day program, recruit and retain extraordinary educators, keep our doors open to a diverse range of families through robust tuition assistance.
Pacific Primary also maintains reserves representing approximately 11 months of annual operating expenses. These reserves help ensure that Pacific Primary is prepared to navigate unexpected financial challenges, changes in enrollment or public funding, significant facility needs, and other unforeseen circumstances. These operating reserves are different from Fund for the Future reserves, which are specifically earmarked for Capital Improvements.
Maintaining healthy reserves also allows the School to make thoughtful, long-term decisions while continuing to invest in our educators, tuition assistance, facilities, and the programs that make Pacific Primary such a special learning community.
2025-2026 Pacific Primary Staff
Orange Sun School
- Directors
- Madonna Stancil, Gretchen “Chappy” Ames
- Site Supervisor
- Kristen Baggerly
- Sunroom Teacher
- Sabrina Brewer
- Penguin Teachers
- Jen Marcus (Lead), Ellie Little, Oyu Dondol
- Prairie Dog Teachers
- Sarah Cleary (Lead), Tracy Tsiropoulos, Hector Rivera
- Panda Teachers
- Shay Harris (Lead), Touché Contreras (Interim lead), Nancy Gales de Ruiz
- Polar Bear Teachers
- Alyssa Chazen-Richards (Co-Lead), Emma Fraijo (Co-Lead), Taylor Todd
- Alternate and Support Teachers
- Holly Dela Cruz, Vanessa Hayes, Emily Fajardo, Karmen Gibbs
- Music & Movement Specialist
- Kevin Gerzevitz
- Expressive Arts Specialist
- Joseph Powell
- Chef
- Amy Fernandez
Yellow Sun School
- Executive & YSS Director
- Ilsa Miller
- Site Supervisor
- Natalie Karet
- Sunroom Teacher
- Dani Jostad, Dominique Jones-Torres
- Sandpiper Teachers
- Eric Wilson (Lead), Ariel Jordan, Hanna Alemayehu
- Gray Whale Teachers
- Anna Vongvixay (Lead), Kathie Behlen, Keiko Shimozaki, Kellie Quitoriano
- Rainbow Dolphin Teachers
- Lucia Johnson (Lead), Randy Johnson, Soara DeLouvre
- Coyote Teachers
- Michelle Murano (Lead), Aimée Scorza, Geoffrey Guevara
- Alternate and Support Teachers
- Jonathan Gregg, Ben Tursi
- Music & Movement Specialist
- Kate Offer
- Expressive Arts Specialist
- Kellie Quitoriano
- Chef
- Ike Pinkston
Both Sites
- Business Office
- Trevor Valentino, Tia Cerone, Sabine Scherer
- Alternate and Support Teachers
- Gavi Sonntag*, Darby Hillyard, Bobby Ramos, Cameron Shaw*, Ellie Ryan
*Pacific Primary alumni
2025–26 Board
Our Executive Committee officers and committee leads.
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Erik BerlinCo-PresidentAlumni Parent
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Megan OhlssenCo-PresidentAlumni Parent & Alum
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Joshua SwerenTreasurer & Finance LeadCurrent & Alumni Parent
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Melanie PochatSecretaryCurrent & Alumni Parent
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Rick ArmbrustStrategy & Governance LeadCurrent & Alumni Parent
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Natasha AroraFundraising LeadCurrent & Alumni Parent
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Jennifer BrownSchool Support & Community LeadCurrent & Alumni Parent
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Cam CooperFacilities & Operations LeadAlumni Parent
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Emily WoodCommunications LeadCurrent & Alumni Parent
Board Members
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Mason DukeFinanceCurrent Parent
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Sarah FineFacilities & OperationsCurrent & Alumni Parent
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Matt GivensFinanceCurrent Parent
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Maggie GlaizeSchool Support & CommunityCurrent & Alumni Parent
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Kimia HaddadanFinanceCurrent & Alumni Parent
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Bri HandCommunicationsCurrent Parent
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Chuck HeadFacilities & OperationsCurrent Parent
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Krista Healy-LondonFundraisingAlumni Parent
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Carissa JowSchool Support & CommunityCurrent & Alumni Parent
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Denise MaricaFundraisingCurrent Parent
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Anita ModiFundraisingCurrent & Alumni Parent
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Maryam MozafariSchool Support & CommunityCurrent & Alumni Parent
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Alexa PlewCommunicationsCurrent Parent
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David PopkinSchool Support & CommunityCurrent Parent
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Sandy SpeedFundraisingCurrent Parent
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Kelsey StrattonFundraisingCurrent Parent
You never really leave Pacific Primary
“Do you want to look at the clouds together?”
Pacific Primary has many storied traditions that keep our community ties strong. But one of the most beloved is our summer volunteer program, where former students can return to volunteer in the classrooms starting at age 12.
Korbyn O’Rourke-Sheppard came back almost by accident. “I graduated from PP in 2013, and my family stayed in communication with [Sandpiper teacher] Eric Wilson for a while,” Korbyn said. “I ran into him one day, and he asked if I would be interested in volunteering for a week. I tried it out and loved it, and just… kept coming back.”
One week turned into a whole year. Ask him what keeps him around, and it’s all about the people. “My favorite thing about volunteering is the relationships,” he said. “The teachers at PP are really incredible people and teachers. And not just for the kids, but for me, too. I learn a lot about what to do in a teaching environment by just being around them.”
What started as a volunteer position has now altered Korbyn’s future. “Working with kids has taught me so much,” he said. “Mainly that I really love teaching, and that I want this as a career path. This is something I never even considered before Eric talked to me.
In reflecting on his year as a volunteer, one memorable moment stood out. He was playing basketball with a Sandpiper when the boy interrupted their standard routine of dribbling and Korbyn-assisted dunks with a new idea. “Do you want to look at the clouds together?” So they did. They lay down on a mat and looked up, trading guesses about what the clouds looked like, until it was time to go in for snack.
It’s a small moment. It’s also, more or less, the whole point.
Most adults don’t take the time to look up. Korbyn stopped, lay down, and gave a three-year-old his full attention until the clouds passed. The kind of patience and presence that sets great teachers apart from the rest.
On behalf of Pacific Primary families and kids, we want to thank Korbyn for a year of showing up. From the teachers you’ve learned from, the families you’ve gotten to know, and the kids lucky enough to have you looking at clouds with them. We can’t wait to see what you do next.
To all the alumni who have spent a summer back in these classrooms: thank you. You’re what makes our community so special!
A Year at
Pacific Primary
making · reading · moving · imagining · gathering · eating · exploring · caring
Once a member of our school community, always a member of our family.
We are still looking for alumni to connect with. Tell us where you are and what you are up to.
Stay Connected →