Hillbrook Voices
Curriculum Connections

Curriculum Connections

“Curriculum Connections” are field notes and observations from Hillbrook’s Director of Teaching and Learning Ilsa Dohmen – during her weekly visits to Hillbrook’s classrooms in Lower, Middle, and Upper School, she discovers wonderful moments of learning and connection in math, English, science, history, and more. These notes are shared each Sunday with the Hillbrook community via Hillbrook Happenings, our weekly community newsletter.

Enjoy!

About Ilsa

Ilsa Dohmen grew up in Texas and attended college in Boston, earning a B.A. in English and Physical Anthropology from Tufts University, before moving to the Bay Area. She earned her M.A. in Anthropological Sciences from Stanford University. Prior to Hillbrook, she worked as a classroom researcher at Stanford, designing and conducting technology- and game-based interventions in 2nd-8th grade math and science classrooms to analyze how learning was impacted by small changes to lesson design. Ilsa joined Hillbrook as the first member of the Resident Teacher Program through the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE). She found her place in the classroom as a middle school science teacher before taking on her current role as Director of Teaching & Learning and Director of the CTE. What first drew Ilsa to Hillbrook was how great a place it is to be a child. She finds the space this school carves out for children to enjoy being young and to grow up well, learning, and being challenged, to be exceptional. Over her time here, she has discovered what a great place Hillbrook also is to be an adult—a place for lifelong intellectual and personal challenge, learning, and engagement.

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