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Yael Cushman

Grade 3 Head Teacher

Yael (she/her) is a Bay Area native and is excited to be returning after receiving her masters in Human Development and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Before that, she taught Grade 1 for many years at Keys School in Palo Alto and received her B.A from the University of Oregon (Go Ducks!).

 

Yael is passionate about elementary education and loves continuing to expand her knowledge. She values equity and inclusion, social-emotional learning, and building strong relationships in her classroom. In her spare time, Yael loves to travel around the world, notice cute dogs on the street, hike in the redwoods, and hunt for the best burritos in San Francisco. She is absolutely thrilled to be joining the Hamlin community!

Dear Hamlin Community,

 

As we open the doors to a brand new school year, I’m filled with both gratitude and excitement.

As the proud mother of Olivia (Class of 2027) and Juliette (Class of 2028), I’m honored to be entering my second year as Chair of Hamlin’s Board of Trustees and my seventh year of board service.

As I reflect on the year behind us and look ahead, I’m drawn to a tribute I recently shared with our board, honoring a remarkable cohort of departing trustees—leaders whose courage, wisdom, and deep commitment to Hamlin helped guide us through one of the most defining chapters in our school’s history.

These trustees—my peers, colleagues, and friends—joined the board in 2019. By the end of their first year, they were navigating the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and faced a pivotal decision: whether to move forward with our bold and transformative campus construction project amid profound global uncertainty.

With discernment and unwavering belief in Hamlin’s mission, they chose to proceed. It was a courageous, values-driven decision that continues to shape how I think about leadership and stewardship today. Their legacy reminds us that even in times of uncertainty, we must lead with both courage and care, always guided by the long view.

That spirit continues to inform our board’s work. As trustees, our charge is to lead with both imagination and accountability, always with our mission and CREED at the center. This year, our work focuses on ensuring Hamlin’s financial strength, with continued attention to our compensation strategy and long-term sustainability. We’ll also continue partnering with the school’s leadership team on key areas that shape daily life—from community well-being to the evolving role of technology in education.

At the same time, we’re beginning to shape the next chapter of Hamlin’s story by asking bold, forward-looking questions: How can we bring our strategic plan more fully to life so that it becomes a lasting bedrock for what’s ahead? How do we continue to care for and support every member of our community, ensuring that what we build is as vibrant and enduring as the legacy we inherit?

Last year, inspired by our “Tree Song” haiku, we grounded our work in intention and strengthened our canopy with conviction and vision. We swung together, supported by a foundation of care, trust, and shared commitment. This year, my hope is to deepen the roots of connection and nurture a future our girls so urgently need.

To all the parents, caregivers, faculty, staff, and alumni who make our work possible: thank you. Your partnership, engagement, and belief in Hamlin sustain and inspire us. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we’re grateful for your trust and proud to walk this path with you.

We are only as strong as the community we build. And at Hamlin, that strength runs deep. It lives in our generosity of spirit, our shared sense of purpose, and our collective love for this school. Together, we’re shaping a future worthy of our girls.

Hamlin, and the mission that guides us, is as vital and relevant as ever. To our current and future extraordinary thinkers, courageous leaders, and individuals of integrity: let’s meet this moment with the grace, compassion, grit, and responsibility it demands.

We’ve seen what it looks like to lead with integrity and heart. Let’s take full advantage of the soil that has been cultivated, grow the roots that ground us and stretch the branches of what’s possible. In doing so, we will build a Hamlin that reflects the very best of who we are and who we hope to become.

Wishing you all a wonderful school year ahead.

 

With Gratitude,

Kelsey Lamond
Chair, Board of Trustees

 

 

 

As a culminating class project, Grade 8 students collaborate creatively on a scripted or devised performing arts production to perform for the Hamlin community in June before their graduation. This musical production offers students an opportunity to develop and share their skills in music, dance, acting, and visual design (with set, props, costumes, and lighting) while bonding together as a class. Students work on their performing arts project over the course of the spring semester. These annual Grade 8 musical productions are based on meaningful content aligned with Hamlin’s mission and Creed and have been a favorite school tradition, and are now even better on the stage in our new performing arts center!

 

Rise to the Challenge (RTC) is our Grade 7 capstone project that encourages students to think deeply about and explore solutions to the challenges of their time. As part of this project, they take service learning field trips throughout the year to volunteer and learn more about the issues facing our local community and our world, and work in small teams to identify, research, and propose solutions to a specific challenge that they are passionate about.

 

Grade 6 ends the school year with an interdisciplinary project focused on presentation skills, team building, and self-reflection, where students create a range of pieces to share their learnings and educate the community on social issues through research, presentations, and art. The project, typically called the Symposium, shifts its format and focus from year to year, but it will remain a multi-disciplinary research and performance project that builds on and extends the skills learned throughout the year, concluding with various performances on historical and current topics to deepen students’ understanding of the challenges in the world and encourage them to be agents of change, as they take action to improve their community.

 

The U.S. Magazine Research Exhibition is Grade 5’s project-based culminating venture, which demonstrates the depth and range of skills and knowledge students have acquired during the school year. Each student writes a unique article about some aspect of their group’s region of the United States, with a variety of focal points including the sciences, arts, history, economics, athletics, and more. By creating and publishing a magazine together, students integrate research, writing, collaborative teamwork, creative risk-taking, and academic skills. Finally, Grade 5 students proudly display their public speaking skills in the projects’ exhibition to the community.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Jan Micha Influential Women in History Program is a way for Grade 4 students to learn about women who have made significant, positive, and often overlooked contributions that have changed the course of American herstory. Research, public speaking skills, and learning about different experiences through influential women’s stories are core principles of this project. Originally called the Famous American Women Program, it was renamed in 2015 to honor one of the program’s founders and beloved member of Hamlin’s faculty for over 30 years, Jan Micha.

In Social Studies, Grade 3 students spend the year focused on California: its people, its geography, and the events that have shaped it. Students study the state’s geography by looking at different regions and resources, as well as the often untold stories of California’s Indigenous People both past and present. They end the year by analyzing the movement of people throughout California and reading books about immigration.

 

Grade 2 students see a mini golf course through from ideation to completion. As part of this project, students work in teams to design a golf hole - they name it, make it challenging using angles, ramps, and obstacles, and even pick its par before creating a presentation for classmates using photos and videos about their design. They also visit local mini golf courses to practice their putting and learn more about the craft. Finally, students bring their visions to life and then invite parents and other grades to come try out their mini golf course! Through this project, students are able to get active while developing skills in math, robotics, creating and delivering presentations, and teamwork!

 

Grade 1 spends the year studying community and neighborhoods. Students ask themselves essential questions such as: What is my role as a community member? How can I help my community or neighborhood? What are my responsibilities as an individual and group member? What does safety within a community look, feel, and sound like? The study culminates with a hands-on project in which students build a model of the surrounding neighborhood, interview community members that contribute to the greater whole (i.e. librarians, mail person), and integrate the interviews directly onto the model using QR codes. Through this project, students learn about the physical aspects of neighborhoods, cardinal directions, community jobs, and developing interview skills.

 

Every spring, our Kindergarten classes begin their Emergent Units. The themes of these units are completely student driven, different between the classes, and vary every year. Themes are based on class discussions around interests and curiosities. Once the theme is determined, homeroom teachers get to work connecting with outside specialists and our in-house specialist teachers to integrate local and diverse activities and guest leaders to heighten the learning experience. The culminating project is then shared with the larger community through performances, public speaking, and interactive, hands on opportunities.

 

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