Jonathan Molnar, Principal / Executive Director
I am very excited about becoming a member of the Courtyard School community. My career as an educator spans the last twenty years, and my experiences have prepared me well for the leadership responsibilities that I have at Courtyard School. I hold a Bachelors of Arts Degree in History, a California Single Subject Teaching Credential in Social Sciences and History, and a Professional Clear Administrative Credential. I taught middles school social studies for ten years. As a school administrator I have served as a high school principal at a small rural high school, a middle school vice-principal and as the principal at a K-8 private school. I absolutely love working with elementary school children, their joy, curiosity and passion for learning is always an inspiration.
Outside of school my family is the center of my life. My wife, Aimee Myers is a professor of History at Sierra College. Together we have been blessed with three wonderful children – Laura is a high school junior, Paul is in eighth grade, and Thomas is a kindergartener. We make our home in Auburn and love living in the Sierra foothills and being a part of the greater Sacramento region. Our family likes to spend time outdoors, specially hiking and boating along the American River. For exercise, both physical and mental, I study Isshinru Karate and recently achieved the rank of Black Belt.
Kristi Muraoka, Admissions Director and Performing Arts Teacher
Few do more to keep the Courtyard campus humming and happy than Ms. Kristi, who performs several roles, from tour guide for prospective students to director and choreographer of Courtyard's theatrical productions to guidance counselor for students moving on to high school.
A graduate of California State University, Sacramento, with a degree in English and a minor in theatre arts, Ms. Kristi also has a Masters Degree in Cross-Cultural Education from National University. She has taught dance and worked as a choreographer with the Sue Geller Dance Studio and The Ballroom. At Courtyard, she has taught English, reading, creative writing, dance, drama/performing arts, Shakespeare and leadership. Ms. Kristi also created the school's Leadership curriculum.
All Courtyard students enjoy song, dance and drama lessons with Ms. Kristi, and she showcases their talent with several productions a year for the enjoyment of the whole Courtyard community.
"Courtyard is a safe space for students to feel free to explore themselves. Courtyard gives me the freedom I need to genuinely teach children what is most important academically, socially and artistically."
Miss Kate keeps the gears of Courtyard moving smoothly. She knows all the students and their parents and can be counted on to find lost coats, comfort sick children and compose the e-mails that keep the Courtyard community connected. She serves as Courtyard's registrar, attendance clerk and unofficial student health aide, besides working as part of the bookkeeping team that collects tuition and other fees.
A former YMCA camp counselor, au pair in France and before- and after-class leader at a Roseville elementary school, Miss Kate appreciates the ability of Courtyard kids to make her laugh and the special relationships among parents, students and staff. There's nothing routine about her job, which has included dressing as a pirate, hanging out with a kangaroo and styling Principal Molnar's hair into a blue "faux-hawk."
"Courtyard feels like my extended family, and I think that's really rare."
Mrs. Krause has worked with children in a variety of educational settings and has found that it is her passion in life. She places great value in helping children to learn, grow, and have fun. She also enjoys communicating and working with teachers, parents, and staff.
One of her first jobs was as an EDC Leader for Courtyard Private School at the previous location. That job solidified her desire to work with kids and to study the field of Education. Her studies in Education took her to the California Central Coast and to Colorado. She received her undergraduate degree at Cal Poly, where she studied Social Sciences and worked as a Before and After School Leader, and then as the Director, of a before and after school program for the City of San Luis Obispo. She moved to Colorado, where she obtained an Elementary, Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, as well as a Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology. She worked as a Preschool Teacher, a Program Specialist, and a Kindergarten Teacher during her time in Colorado.
"My family, including my two and a half year old son, tends to keep me busy. I enjoy biking, swimming, hiking, reading, traveling, music, and art."
Sean Tufveson, Maintenance
Faculty
Click on each grade to learn more.
Transitional Kindergarten, Jennifer Mattson
Second Grade, Natalie Fernández Ararou
Fourth Grade, Dorothy Steinman
Physical Education Specialist and Athletic Director, Jerald Baker
Mr. Jerald leaves kids begging for more on the Courtyard playground and in the gym with games such as "Fish Gobbler," "Line Monster" and "Flag Tag,", but important lessons underlie the fun. Mr. Jerald's instruction ideally lasts a lifetime: Perform your best; work to improve your skills; show cooperation, sportsmanship and responsibility and learn acceptance of reasonable discipline.
An 11-year veteran of Courtyard, Mr. Jerald seeks to make physical education enriching and motivating to all students, regardless of fitness level or ability. His motto is BASE: Believe, Attitude, Sportsmanship, Excitement for Education. He seeks to increase the endurance, coordination and strength of his students and acquaint them with many different activities, competitive and non-competitive.
Mr. Jerald graduated from California State University, Sacramento, with a sociology degree. His certification as an Emergency Medical Technician helps ensure the safety of all Courtyard children. He is a devoted father who in his spare time enjoys basketball, softball and yard work.
"I want students to make good choices for a lifetime of physical activity and for them to grow academically, emotionally, socially, and last but not least, physically.
Astrid Boehm, Music Instructor
Mrs. Boehm is a classically trained musician with music teaching and performance degrees from the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria. She has been teaching music for over 10 years (her instruments are piano, guitar, bassoon, recorder and flute.) She also spent 10 years working with abused children after completing a BA in Psychology. In addition to working at Courtyard she teaches music at her home studio and the Creative Arts Center in Granite Bay where works with students in individual and group lessons.
She is very excited by the opportunity to develop a full music curriculum for Courtyard because she enjoys sharing her love for music with children and watching them get excited about it.
Students play with percussion instruments, as well as xylophones and Boomwhackers and sing. They also listen to and learn about music through the ages up to our modern times. In her program students gain a basic understanding of music theory, progressing each year as they are developmentally ready.
"Music is one of those gratifying subjects that can be taught in a fun way, so I use lots of hands on activities utilize games to teach music theory."
Spanish Instructor, Stephanie Saranillo
Courtyard's Spanish program introduces students to Spanish at an early age with developmentally appropriate activities which encourage them to use what they're learning. Learning at a young age helps students gain an intuitive ability to communicate fluently in a second language.
By the second week of the 2010-2011 school year, our students could be heard greeting their teacher and one another in Spanish on the playground.
In TK, the focus is on songs, games and conversations. In first and second grades, we are writing words in Spanish, and talking about what we do. In third grade, we begin conjugating singular tense verbs, and writing short sentences in Spanish. We build on this knowledge and learn more vocabulary, irregular verbs, and reflexive verbs through the 7th grade. In 7th and 8th we will be learning the less-used verbs and verb forms with the goal that students completing the 8th grade at Courtyard School will be able to excel at 2nd year AP Spanish during their freshman year of high school.
Sra Stephanie graduated with honors from CSUS in 1998 with a BA in Liberal Studies and a Spanish minor. She has been teaching ever since. She has taught Spanish, high school ESL, 7th and 8th grade English language arts, social studies, study skills, and art. She earned her teaching credential with a CLAD (cross-cultural Language acquisition development) emphasis in 2001. She is currently working on a master's degree in Education Technology through CSUS.
Sra. Stephanie lives in Carmichael California with her college-aged daughter who attends American River College nearby.
Her hobbies include travel, gardening, and reading. She also enjoys creating painting, sculpture and crafts. In addition to Spanish and English she can communicate in ASL and speak conversational French, German, and Dutch.
"Fun is fundamental to learning. I believe that students should have fun while learning a new language, so we use games, songs, puppets, art, and Internet-based activities such as online collaboration to bring our Spanish lessons alive."
