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Kristy Van Ostrand

3RD GRADE TEACHER
kristy.vanostrand@ousd.org

Hi! I’m Kristy Van Ostrand (Ms. Van Ostrand or Ms. V), and I am the third grade teacher here at Thornhill!! I couldn’t be more excited and lucky to be a part of this awesome community. Stop by Portable 18 and introduce yourself!

My story starts in Foster City, California just about 45 minutes away from Oakland, where I grew up with my parents and two older sisters (whose names both start with K’s too!!). All throughout Elementary School I dreamt about becoming a teacher; I would spend hours in my room “teaching” my students; who were really just my stuffed animals. The Christmas of fourth grade, the only gift I asked for was an overhead projector - for those of you too young to remember, it includes a lightbulb and projects onto the wall - and my mom got it for me!  Ever since fourth grade, my dream for teaching was continually chased - teaching summer school with former teachers, tutoring, volunteering, and more.
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​My favorite experience is tied between spending three months of my last summer in high school living in Honduras teaching students in Spanish about health and safety or teaching English to 3rd graders in Sevilla, Spain for 6 months - puedo hablar español. Upon graduating from high school, some former teachers asked me if I really wanted to be a teacher and suddenly I became unsure, so I decided to study to become a pediatrician at University of California, Berkeley. However, I quickly reminded myself of MY dream and didn’t let anyone tell me otherwise. I graduated from UC Berkeley with a major in Psychology and a minor in Education. 

Less than 30 days after graduating, I immediately entered the classroom in Piedmont, CA working in Special Education, while simultaneously pursuing my teaching credential at Notre Dame de Namur University on the Peninsula. After completing my credential, I was hired to teach Fifth Grade at Havens Elementary School. And most currently, this summer I started my Masters in Teaching at Saint Mary’s College of California with a focus on arts integration and writing. 

​As you can tell, I must have a passion for education or something because I can’t stop being a learner myself. However in my free time, I enjoy being outside, trying new restaurants, running, traveling, and spending time with friends and family. I am currently training to run the Chicago Marathon for my second time in October in support of the Ronald McDonald House Charities. Wish me luck! 

​I can’t wait for a wonderful year!

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