Sophia SantiagoUpper Group
Upper Group (Grades 4-6)
Sophia’s broad range of academic and professional experiences have shaped her teaching philosophy and serve her well as the math, science, and geography Upper Group teacher. As a young adult, Sophia spent much of her time volunteering and working with nonprofit groups seeking social justice and enforcement of human rights. After graduating with high distinction from UC Berkeley in 2005, she returned to the nonprofit sector while also tutoring groups of middle school students in a variety of academic subjects. It was then that she realized her true vocation, teaching.
Upon receiving her teaching credential at Saint Mary’s, she became a middle school math teacher in the Alameda Unified School District. Her professional development focused on understanding the workings of the brain and implementing developmentally appropriate curricula, and this remains at the heart of her teaching philosophy. To Sophia, the true purpose of education is to create life-long learners. By keeping her curriculum motivating and developmentally relevant, she aims to produce students who not only have a number of math and science tools to carry with them into the future, but who also think critically and approach new questions and challenges in a thoughtful way. Sophia joined Walden in 2011.
Sophia values Walden’s focus on empathy building, community, and critical thinking. With a social justice background, she sees herself as a vehicle for social change. In the classroom, she emphasizes the impacts, both positive and negative, that science, technology, and environment have on human beings. She encourages students to carry technical knowledge as well as emotional and social intelligence into the community at large by volunteering. Outside the classroom, she enjoys playing her accordion, studying botany, and exploring the outdoors with her son.
