Dianne Taylor
I am the Special Education teacher for grades 5th-8th and the Reading Interventionist for middle school students. I have been teaching at Woodrow since 2002. I am a native Colorado resident and graduated from Regis University in Denver. At Regis, I met my husband and we have been married since 1992. I have three adult children, two of which, attended Woodrow when it first opened.I enjoy working with the middle school students and find their joy for learning (and pushing boundaries) an exciting part of my job. I enjoy spending time with my family, my dogs, watching the Broncos, and traveling.
Email [email protected]
Betsy Ressler
I am the Special Education Teacher for grades K-4th. I am from northwest Iowa and attended The University of Northern Iowa to obtain my degree in Elementary Education and Special Education. I have been teaching at Woodrow since 2005. I spent 11 years teaching Kindergarten and am excited to still be here as the Elementary Interventionist!
I met my husband here at WWA and we have 2 beautiful daughters, Tobey and Hudson. I love spending time with my family, being outdoors, and crafting/sewing.
Email [email protected]
Melissa Schwartz
Hi! My name is Melissa Schwartz; I started working as the Occupational Therapist at Woodrow Wilson Academy in 2014. I’m a native of Minnesota, but attended college and graduate school in South Dakota. I’ve been working as an OT with kids since 2000, first in Arizona and now in Colorado. When not working, my family and I enjoy camping, hiking, and skiing.
Email [email protected]
Michelle McDonald
Hi, my name is Michelle McDonald and I am delighted to be the reading coach here at Woodrow Wilson Academy. My job is to support those students who are not currently reading at grade level. I retired from teaching in 2011, after being a classroom teacher for 34 years. During my career, I taught in grades 2nd through 6th. In the fall of 2014, Mrs. Bartusiak asked me to be the reading coach for grades K-5. I jumped at the opportunity. I am glad to be here, and enjoy working with students. One interesting thing about me is, that my parents moved to Colorado in 1955 and built their own house in Arvada, when many of the back streets were dirt roads. My family has lived here ever since. I love to read, travel, listen to music, sing in the car, and spend time with my three grown up kids.
Email [email protected]
Eric Thompson
Hello Wildcats! I am extremely excited to be home again here at Woodrow Wilson Academy! I am back to fill the role of Full-time Speech-Language Pathologist, which I also held from 2003-2009, and as a SLP-A supervisor the past two years. I bring 27 years of working in education experience with me, and look forward to providing amazing learning activities to you. I’m most looking forward to administering speech screenings to all incoming kindergarten students, as well as universal social skill building to many of the primary grades to better navigate expected behaviors in school and in your community. Feel free to drop by with any and all speech-language development questions you may have. Cheers!
Email [email protected]
Lindsey Cole
I am excited to be joining the Woodrow Wilson community, supporting the social/emotional growth of all our students through my role as school psychologist. I am a native to Colorado, growing up in Boulder before heading to California for undergraduate studies. After college, I earned my Special Education teaching license and began my career in education teaching students in special education at the secondary level. While teaching, I realized I wanted to continue my education to better understand the nature of learning, how emotions influence learning and motivation, and what social/emotional/behavioral supports help students grow their resiliency and allow each student to reach their fullest potential. I earned my Educational Specialist degree in School Psychology from the University of Colorado at Denver in 2009 and worked part time while raising my three wonderful children. I enjoy traveling the world with my family, cooking meals for family and friends, and playing tennis.
Email [email protected]