Meet our Staff

Loida Robles - Discoverer and spanish teacher

Loida fills two roles at Swan School. She is both a Discoverers’ Pre-school Teacher and our Spanish Teacher. Loida received her bachelors of science from the State University of New York in Bilingual/Bicultural Elementary and Early Childhood Education. She taught for the Agency of Child Development of the City of New York for eight years. During those years she was head teacher for preschool and kindergarten children where she developed a bilingual curriculum. She then went on to teach in the New York City public school system for the next five years. While there, she taught English as a second language to newly arrived students from South and Central America. She is also experienced teaching third, fourth and sixth grade.

Loida moved to Montana in the early 90’s where she opened her own preschool and provided additional services to the community by introducing John Bradshaw’s “Homecoming” series and giving a 10-week workshop on “Alternative Methods of Parenting”. Loida also took a journey across the U.S. on horseback (from New York City, to Fort Laramie, WY) with her husband and four horses. They studied and followed the “Oregon Trail”. The adventure lasted three years. She has been at Swan School since September 2003.

Katey Dwyer - Explorer Teacher

Katey grew up in the mountains of Anchorage, Alaska in a neighborhood called Bear Valley – with lions and tigers, too, oh my! In 2000, Katey and her family crossed the country arriving in upstate New York where they started a family band. After four years, the West Coast beckoned them home, and they settled into Port Townsend, WA.

After Katey finished the high school Running Start program, she attended Evergreen State College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with an emphasis in Creative Writing. She then moved to Portland, OR to become an after-school kindergarten teacher. Katey loved her students and felt honored to bring art and music to children that were not afforded electives in their daily curriculum. She spent several years in the Portland school system, taught Portland summer camps and was happy for the opportunity to return to Alaska to teach fiddle at the music camp she attended as a kid.

In 2017, Katey became a mom and was drawn back to Port Townsend. When her own child joined the Discoverers years ago, she quickly fell in love with the vibrant community of educators and families. Inspired by the community of teachers, she returned to school herself to continue her education and graduated from Western Governors University with a Master’s degree in Elementary Education.

Kate bessey - NAVIGATOR teacher

Originally from Quilcene, Kate is delighted to be returning to Jefferson County after many years studying, teaching, traveling and raising a family quite far from home. She is eager to begin working with Swan School as she feels most engaged when helping learners access and develop the infinite potential of their creativity and curiosity. Kate received her BA degree from Sarah Lawrence College, focusing equally on creative writing, performing arts and social sciences. While completing her undergraduate degree she began working in the New York City public elementary schools teaching theatre and arts-based learning programs. Following her time in New York, Kate relocated to Córdoba, Argentina, where she continued to hone her craft as an arts educator working as an ESL and drama instructor in elementary and secondary schools. While in Argentina, Kate began developing Drama in Education programs for local schools, helping teachers develop arts-based, interdisciplinary projects for their students. Kate also co-founded and served as artistic director for Storyworks_cba, an educational theatre company which generates immersive, theatre-based, learning experiences for students of all ages.

Kate's work in Argentina led her to pursue graduate studies in Applied Theatre at the University of Victoria, Canada. Applied Theatre is an interdisciplinary field concerned with all aspects of the theatre-making event in non-traditional and non-commercial performance contexts with a particular concern for how theatre intersects with education, community building, and social justice.

Kate's MA research and thesis focused on drama-based pedagogy as a method for designing and facilitating engaging learning opportunities in varied contexts which promote critical thinking on the interconnectedness between personal experience and larger systemic issues.

Kate's doctoral research and dissertation focused on traditions of independent theatre practice in South America, particularly theatre for young audiences in Argentina, as an exemplary intergenerational community arts practice.

Brianna Glaspell - ADVENTURER teacher

Brianna Glaspell is so excited to be joining the Swan School community as an Adventurer teacher this year!

She was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia and graduated from Virginia Wesleyan University with a B.A. in Elementary Education. While attending college, she was a Division III student-athlete, playing softball and developing a deep appreciation for teamwork, healthy competition, and cheering others on.

Bri started her teaching career right after college in 2012 with six years of fifth grade in Virginia Beach Public Schools. During this time she coached three years of high school softball, where she discovered just how much she loved helping kids grow, learn, and thrive both on and off the field.

After meeting her husband, she traded the East Coast for sunny San Diego! While there, she earned her master’s degree in Educational Leadership from the University of San Diego. For six years, she taught third and fifth grade at a private Catholic school in La Jolla, and served as the school’s Athletic Director for three years. Her experience in both roles helped her grow as a leader and strengthened her ability to collaborate, communicate, problem-solve, and build strong relationships with students, families, and colleagues across the school community.

Two years ago, her family and she made another big move, this time to beautiful Port Townsend, where her husband grew up. She taught fourth grade at Salish for a year before welcoming their third daughter and taking some time away from the classroom to be home with her.

After a year of baby snuggles, Bri is so happy to be back with kids at Swan School! Teaching has always felt like much more than a job to her, it is truly a passion and a calling. She loves getting to know each student, celebrating their unique personalities and strengths, and creating a classroom where kids feel safe, supported, challenged, and excited to learn.

When she’s not at school, Bri loves spending time with her husband and three daughters on their little farm, enjoying the beauty and community of Port Townsend, and cheering from the sidelines while coaching baseball and soccer. She feels incredibly lucky to call this community home and is so excited for a year filled with learning, laughter, connection, and plenty of fun. She looks forward to getting to know the students and families better, build meaningful connections, and become an even bigger part of the wonderful Swan community this year!

Keely Peters - ADVENTURER teacher

Keely grew up in Port Townsend and moved back to be close to the community she loves and the beauty of the Olympic Peninsula. She lives in Hadlock with her partner, Kevin, their daughter, Juniper, and their two dogs. She is thrilled to be a part of the Swan School community. Outside of school, she loves spending time with her family, making things, tending to her garden, and always having a hands-on project underway.

Keely attended Western Washington University in Bellingham, where she majored in English with an emphasis in Creative Writing. After her undergrad, she spent many years working closely with children and families in various roles--as a nanny, through a cooperative preschool, and while leading a small outdoor camp. These experiences inspired her to pursue a Master’s in Elementary Education.

Keely has been part of the Swan community since 2022. She loves that Swan gives teachers and students the space to explore deeply, follow their curiosity, and delve into meaningful projects. She values opportunities that connect learning to the real world and the place we live, and feels lucky to be part of a community where students have the time and space to ask questions, dig deeper, and see where their ideas lead.

As a teacher, Keely relishes the joy of discovery that comes from learning alongside children. She is honored to bear witness to those “aha” moments when an idea suddenly clicks for a student or they figure out a solution to a challenge. She especially loves hands-on learning, connecting children to nature, and nurturing their curiosity and wonder.

LIndsey Lewis - Middle school Learning coach

(Bio coming soon!)

alana Hysert - reading specialist

Alana proudly hails from the glorious great white north, also known as Canada!  She was born in Montreal and grew up outside Toronto, learning to love riding horses and listening to the loons while lake camping in Algonquin Provincial Park.  Her family moved west to Yakima, Washington where she fell in love with the rugged beauty of the West Coast.  She met her husband while living in the San Juan Islands and has never wanted to live away from the water again, which is why Port Townsend has proved to be an ideal fit.

Alana loves being outside in nature in any way she can get it.  That passion for being outdoors coupled with her fascination with science drove her to study Biology with a specialization in Ecology.  She has lived and worked on a Dive Boat on the Great Barrier Reef, taught science and science education outreach for the Friday Harbor Laboratories in the San Juans Islands, and worked in the Naturalist Center for the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.  Experience has taught her that what she enjoys most is helping others grow through awakening their curiosity in new subjects and exposing them to new skills to open up a larger world.  

She found out about Swan School by sending her own children there.  She was looking for a small, independent, student focused school and that is exactly what she found here at Swan.  Both her children began in the Discovers, her youngest is still here as an Adventurer while her eldest has graduated and moved on to middle school.  Alana loves the close community of Swan, the small class sizes, and the nurturing environment the school fosters.  Alana joined the Staff at Swan School in 2022 when the opportunity came about to be a reading instructor.  She loves to kindle the passion of reading in children because it opens up the world of learning in a way few other skills can.

aliina lahti - Movement teacher

Aliina is so excited to work with the young folks at Swan School because they exhibit such wholehearted, eagerness to learn. What an honorable position a teacher has - to set a positive, accessible stage to build lifelong learners and stewards of humankind! Aliina focuses on knowing each student in mind, body, and spirit and finds this is quintessential to meeting them in their current understanding of the world.

Aliina has a Bachelors in Science, a dual degree in Sculpture Art/Art History & Biology — wha? yep, they go quite well together actually. She recently completed a social justice based Masters in Teaching Program at Western Washington University AND had a beautiful baby boy all in the same year!! She is also a movement enthusiast, a high school soccer coach, a yoga teacher, an artist, and an avid cyclist — hoping to help the planet one pedal at a time.

Her professional background is filled with a variety of non-profit and government work ranging from wildlife biology, habitat restoration, botany, teaching big kids and little kids about all the above, while squeezing in visual art creation. She settled in lovely Port Townsend in 2010, but grew up in Wyoming. When she isn't teaching at Swan School, she is running after her son (who is now a Swan School student) and making art.

Dana Weir - Art teacher

Dana is an artist and art educator who is passionate about the transformative power of creativity. Her creative instincts led her to study Art, Creative Writing and Philosophy in college. She completed her BA in Art at Pacific University in 1997, and then obtained a master’s degree from Marylhurst University in 2005.

Her Master’s degree was interdisciplinary, focusing on Spiritual Traditions and Ethics. Dana is fascinated by the way in which artists from various cultures represent spiritual experience.

In August of 2010, Dana moved from Portland to Port Townsend, and developed an after school art program for students at Swan School that same year. In 2011, Dana became the art specialist at Swan School.

Dana loves working with students of all ages. She works alongside her students as they explore visual culture, art history, artistic technique and creative self-expression. Dana is committed to teaching and studying art from a social justice perspective, keeping diversity, equity and inclusion at the center of her practice.

When she is not teaching or creating art, Dana can be found making art in her home studio, working in her garden, or exploring urban and wild environments around the Pacific Northwest.

MARCY STEWART - Explorer music teacher

Music has always been a huge part of Marcy’s life, from dancing and singing as a toddler to participating in breathtaking and transcendent symphonic performances as an adult.  Music is a language that taps feelings and understandings that can be expressed or communicated in no other way;  it adds priceless dimension and meaning to our lives.  Marcy’s goal as a music teacher is to foster a love of music in each student, whether it’s as a listener, musician, dancer or future creative genius.

Marcy began studying violin at the age of 9 and joined the San Gabriel Valley Junior Symphony Orchestra at age 10. She has fond memories of summers at Arrowbear Music Camp as a teen, by which time she had taken up the viola and the recorder, which she studied with Hans Bender. She played violin, viola and recorder in orchestras and ensembles throughout college and graduate school where she took courses in music history, theory, and performance. She later participated in state-wide chamber music workshops during her time as a fisher-woman and children’s librarian in Southeast Alaska. 

After moving to Port Townsend, Marcy played with the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra for 20 years and with the Port Townsend Community Orchestra for the past 15 + years. She was also part of the late Turtle Bluff Orchestra and has been the Lincoln Beach Quartet’s violist for over 20 years. She is a member of the Ladies’ Chamber Orchestra and Benevolent Society, an early music group which presents benefit concerts supporting local charitable organizations and causes.

Marcy has spent many years teaching violin and viola privately, using a modified Suzuki method based in part on pedagogy learned as a participant in annual workshops at the Northwest Suzuki Institute at the University of Oregon. She uses her experiences as a classroom teacher, musician and music student to create fun, interactive and inspiring musical activities for students of all ages.

peter cossaboom - navigator & Adventurer music teacher

Peter has been a musician for over 30 years. His teaching method is a combination of the Kodaly School and the methods taught at Berklee College of Music. Guitar is his primary instrument, and in his classes keyboards and rhythm instruments are often used as well. His daughter Tayla is also a student at Swan School and loving it! He feels truly honored to be part of Swan School as a Teacher, Parent, and Community Member.

KATIE ARBUCKLE - office Manager

Katie recently joined Swan School as the office manager. Her other big job is mom to a Navigator.

Katie has numerous years of experience in Government with administrative work. This makes her particularly valuable in her administrative role, as well as Secretary for the Board. Katie sees solutions and organization opportunities among the systems used in almost any setting.

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.

Rebecca Faisca - Discoverer assistant teacher/ volunteer & fundraising coordinator

Rebecca grew up in Port Townsend and recently moved back to the PNW from New York. With a degree in Health Services Administration from Monroe College, Rebecca’s path has been shaped by diverse experiences that have enriched her personal and professional life. Rebecca’s story is one of following her heart, embracing new experiences, and cherishing every moment of the journey.

As a mother of two energetic children, Rebecca has mastered the art of balancing her busy life with grace. Whether she’s supporting her kids through their activities or nurturing young minds in the classroom, her ability to juggle it all is a true testament to her multitasking skills. Her work with the Discoverers class in 2023 was an especially fulfilling experience, as she found great joy in watching children’s faces light up with curiosity and wonder.

Rebecca’s love for the PNW is evident in her free time, whether she’s hiking through the beautiful landscapes, collecting sea glass with her family, or riding horses on the Larry Scott Trail. She is always seeking ways to give back to her community and is excited to lend her talents to Swan School, where she is an Assistant Teacher with the Discoverers and is also the Fundraising and Volunteer Coordinator.

Jacob Genaw - custodian

Jacob is a lifelong Port Townsend community member and experienced food-service and retail professional with more than 25 years of experience in management, customer service, food preparation, and team leadership. He spent nearly a decade as the Meat and Seafood Manager at the Port Townsend Food Co-op, where he helped lead a major department remodel, developed food-safety procedures and staff training programs, and grew the department while building strong relationships with local farms and producers.

Jacob’s career has also included management at Papa Murphy’s, warehouse and customer-service work at Key City Fish Co., and several years as a Swing Manager at McDonald’s. Across these roles, he has developed a strong reputation for practical problem-solving, organization, training, and creating efficient, team-oriented workplaces.

Outside of work, Jacob enjoys spending time with his family, hiking, camping, gardening, cooking, gaming, board games, Magic: The Gathering, and creating games. He has a particular interest in local geology, mushrooms, and the outdoors, and enjoys the creativity and problem-solving that carry over between his hobbies and professional life. He is a 1996 graduate of Port Townsend High School.