Meet our Board

Laurel Zeeman, board chair

Board Term: 2020-Present

Laurel was born and raised in Port Townsend and is a Swan School alum. She credits her strong academic foundation to Swan School and notes that the only friends she is still in contact with from her school days are those she attended Swan School with.

Laurel has a young student at Swan and is thankful for the support of the Swan community. She feels she doesn’t ever have to worry about who her son is spending time with because every child at Swan has a heart of gold and a strong caring family supporting them.

As a CPA in the community, she has a strong financial background and is proud to be an “out of the box” thinker. She is an avid traveler and brings her global and cultural experience to the table wherever possible. Laurel’s husband is originally from South Africa and his immigration experience makes their family acutely aware of many issues and misunderstandings facing families that don’t fit the classic mold.

Laurel is passionate about the success and future of Swan School, and hopes to be a part of it for many years to come.

Jan Marquardt

Board Term: 2018-Present

Jan’s goal in her 50s was to immerse herself into the more financial/contract aspects of business. Moving to a new community and establishing herself was a challenge she welcomed with enthusiasm. She volunteered on the Real Estate Professionals for Affordable Housing board for over 10 years, and maintained a position as President for over 6 years.

She’s been involved with Swan since 2013 reviewing Scholarship Applications and is skilled at seeing the big picture and putting it into bite-sized increments, which is good for planning activities or breaking down tasks. She’s been a realtor since 2001 and is a “relationship person,” one who listens well and works well with others, problem solves, and sees jobs and tasks to the end.

Sandra Stevens

Board Term: 2022-Present

Sandra says: Swan School is important to me, and I want to do all I can to help it continue to grow and thrive in the future. I believe Swan is a vital piece of our area’s greater educational systems. It is a nurturing, academically challenging, and supportive environment for children pre-school through fifth grade. I truly enjoyed working at Swan as a teacher, and continue to love the camaraderie, the students, and the community. 

Having taught for 25+ years, I have always loved the ever-changing landscape of teaching. Each year begins afresh, with new students, new patterns and groupings, new challenges, and new ideas. I believe teachers should work in partnership with their students - exchanging ideas and goals, as well as engaging in lots of purposeful talk, projects, investigations, experiments, and the occasional laugh. This is Swan School and I am so happy to be a part of it!

Katie Arbuckle

Board Term: 2020-Present

Katie is a Navigators mom. She has numerous years of experience in Government with administrative work. This makes her particularly valuable in her role as Secretary for the Board, and also Office Manager in the school office.

Katie finds the nurturing, independent, growth mindset education presented at Swan School to be critical for well rounded students and she is thrilled to support that mission and help it continue for years to come.