Kelli Kozak is a fully credentialed teacher and has been teaching fifth grade at WalgroveAvenueSchool for seven years.  She graduated from San FranciscoStateUniversity with a Bachelor of Arts degree in The Humanities.  She feels that her education is perfectly suited to teaching the State Standards for Fifth Grade and loves helping her students through what can be a very confusing time in their lives.

She believes in a student-centered classroom and uses her training in Socratic Seminar to facilitate discussion and allow her students to explore deeper critical thinking skills.  Her students often work in collaborative groups that, in part, stretch their social skills and provide interaction in a heterogeneous environment.

Her love of animals led her to horseback riding lessons beginning at the age of four and continues into her twenties.  She understands challenges and the discipline required to achieve goals, all with a sense of fun.  Kelli often spends her weekends on long photographic “expeditions” around her neighborhood of Mar Vista, usually with one of her dogs in tow.  She writes fiction and poetry, draws, and paints.

Extracurricular positions at Walgrove include:  Grade Level Chairperson for seven years, Health Education Programs coordinator (“Safe and Drug-FreeSchools”) for six years, Fifth Grade Science Lead Teacher for two years, Teacher Consultant for “Peace Patrol” for four years, Member of the School Site Counsel for two years, and Trainer of Teachers for Thinking Maps for one year.