Paula Getz, Lower School homeroom teacher, has been a teacher at the Waterford School since 2001 and has over 25 years of classroom teaching experience. Paula has experience teaching grades four through eight in numerous states across the country, but for the past 15 years she has been employed as a Class V teacher at Waterford. In 2011, Paula was awarded Waterford’s Educator Prize. Paula enjoys being a student as much as she enjoys being a teacher. She earned a B.S. in Elementary Education from the University of Pittsburgh and Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology from Northern Arizona University. In December of 2017, Ms. Getz graduated from Arizona State University with a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Gifted Education. Paula places strong emphasis on the development of a “growth mindset” in her students and has a particular interest in the utilization of “brain-based” teaching practices. In addition to her classroom responsibilities, Paula serves as a mentor to new teachers and coaches the Class V Robotics team.