STAFF
Our qualified and dedicated teachers are at the core of the program. The school employs two full-time preschool teachers and two part-time teachers, as well as three teacher's aides. All are native or fully bilingual German speakers and are also fluent in English. Every teacher/teacher's aide has extensive credentials in early childhood education. A high teacher-child ratio (1:6) ensures that each child gets the attention s/he needs. The monthly staff meetings and yearly staff training inspire new ideas and resources for the program. Each staff member brings special skills to the table, contributing with their unique rich life and work experience.
BAKS is administered by the director under the guidance of a volunteer board of directors made up of four parents.
Rabea Walker (Director)
Rabea joined Kinderstube in August 2019 as a full-time preschool teacher. She was born in Kiel and grew up in Berlin, where she attended Gymnasium. After graduating, she moved to the Bay Area. Rabea studied Psychology and has 27 units of Early Childhood Education. She holds a Site Supervisor Permit from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing and is a Certified Infant CLASS Observer.
As an educator, Rabea is devoted to the concept of a well-rounded curriculum that is designed entirely to help each child reach his or her full potential in all areas of life. She believes that children are competent and thinks of herself as a lifelong learner and co-learner to the children. She is also committed to fostering a learning community, where each child is known, cared for, and is being supported to achieve the best version of him/herself.
Rabea enjoys participating in all that the Kinderstube program has to offer. She especially enjoys facilitating a special time for the Igel group, where they explore sensory materials, art, or simple science concepts.
Alexandra Aubertin (teacher)
Alexandra Aubertin is in her 6th year at Kinderstube. Alexandra was a teacher at Kinderstube when her daughter Fabienne enrolled and she is happy to be back in the team. Alexandra is originally from Germany (near Frankfurt) and grew up in Switzerland (near Zurich). She attended City College of San Francisco to study Early Childhood Education. She has also taken classes at Merritt College in Oakland. Alexandra enjoys the Kinderstube community very much and is always amazed how quickly children learn a second language. She likes that the children at Kinderstube not only grow up bilingual but also bicultural and she believes that it will help them to be open minded about other cultures. Since the parents of the Kinderstube come from different cultural backgrounds, some of our kids grow up trilingual.
Alexandra especially enjoys conducting the science class with the children and teaching them to be independent. Alexandra has a 15 year old daughter, Fabienne, and a little dog with the name Lolabella. She lives at Marina Bay in Richmond and has a scenic commute to Kinderstube on the days She takes her bike.
In her free time She likes to explore new places in the Bay Area, go biking/hiking and spending time with her
daughter. She also enjoys baking and she is looking forward to do some baking with the children in the future.
Alexandra believes that the parents are the child's first and best teacher. Her role as a teacher is to create a
partnership with the parents to continue to foster what the parents have already begun to teach them.
Alexandra is looking forward to working together to help all children reach their full potential.
Beatrix Lehmann (teacher)
Bea was born and raised in Austria, received a degree in economics at the WU in Vienna. She worked in marketing in Vienna and in various business capacities in San Francisco. She earned 12 ECE units at Merritt College in Oakland. At Kinderstube she is involved in cooking with the children, biweekly science projects with the foxes and the learning garden. She loves being around children and see them grow, and very much enjoys being part of the Kinder Stube community. Her work with children began as a teenager when she worked as a summer camp counselor. For many years she volunteered in the classroom at a Berkeley public school. In the Bay area she also volunteered at the San Francisco Zoo, the Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors and at the moment as a feline foster provider with the East Bay Humane Society. In her free time she enjoys the outdoors, hiking, bicycling, camping, sailing and gardening.
Isabella Wargel (teacher)
Isabella Wargel has been with Kinderstube since 2022. She holds a teaching certificate from Germany in Elementary School for Children with Special Needs and German as a Second Language and an Associate Preschool Teacher Certificate from Merritt College. Over the years, she has taught German from preschool through 8th grade in various countries and schools. Isabella also teaches at BAKS+ and is dedicated to supporting each child individually in the development of a strong self-esteem, multilingual and multicultural identity that will help them learn throughout their lives. At Kinderstube she loves reading picture books, promoting vocabulary growth and social-emotional development through play and interaction in small groups such as Pre-K for the Foxes.
Tina Michel (teacher)
Tina grew up in a small town in Thuringia, Germany. Later she moved to Dresden to study at the Technical University and earned a Magister Artium degree in Linguistics and Education. After finishing University Tina worked in Public Relations and Marketing.
In 2018, her husband and first born son Vico moved to Oakland. Shortly after they arrived her second son Nevi was born. Tina decided to become a Stay-at-home-Mom and take care of her children. Now both of them are in Elementary school and Tina was looking to take on a new challenge and go back to work. She volunteered a lot in her sons preschools and school and realized how satisfying and joyful it is to work with children in different settings.
Eventually she started working as an aide at Kinderstube in 2023. Now she has earned her degree as an associate preschool teacher degree and is excited to be a part of the Kinderstube family.