Wirtschafter-Diane

Faculty

Diane Wirtschafter

Fourth Grade Head Teacher

Diane Wirtschafter has been teaching since 1986 in both public and private elementary schools, including 11 years at Tehiyah Day School in El Cerrito. She studied psychology at Barnard College in New York City and earned her M.A. in education at Bank Street College of Education and at the University of Minnesota. Diane has twice won the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Education at the state level. Music is an integral part of her life, and she has sung with washboard bands, klezmer bands, and students. During shelter-in-place in the spring of 2020 and then again in spring 2021, her family’s musical parody videos went viral! Her oldest son is the executive producer for “Uncuffed,” a podcast created by incarcerated people, and her daughter is an actor, musician, and educator in Los Angeles. Her youngest son, an enthusiastic member of the BPC class of 2015, currently works as a tour guide and childcare provider in New York City. Diane joined Black Pine Circle School in 2010 as the fourth grade head teacher.

Teaching Since

1986

Pronouns

she/her

Contact

Email >

Why I Work with Children

I love children and helping them understand things. It’s always interesting!

A Favorite Book

From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg. I enjoy reading about these bickering siblings hiding out at a museum. They grow closer as they work to solve a mystery.

Quick Fact

While on Venetian honeymoon, serenaded a German couple on a gondola.

Other Faculty for This Grade

Aïda Garcia-Pons

Lower School Spanish Teacher

Aïda attended the same elementary school as opera tenor Josep Carreras.

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Cheryl Sumsion

Fourth-Sixth Grade Music Teacher

Tamed a mechanical bull in Nashville, Tennessee.

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Kim Livingston

Lower School Art Teacher

Started clowning at age 9

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Michael Feferman

Lower School Physical Education Teacher

Has developed a secret pizza sauce

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Nicole Lockwood

Kindergarten-Fourth Grade Science and Garden Teacher

Apprenticed at the National Theater of Croatia

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Rem Djemilev

BPC String Orchestra Leader

Creates musical arrangements for fun

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Tiffany Wiyono

Fourth Grade Assistant Teacher

I have 3 cats and 5 chickens.

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