Faculty Profile: Jessica Goldstein
Jessica Goldstein joined Burke’s math faculty as the Upper School Math Specialist, a role created to offer more opportunities to further math skills and extend comprehension of concepts as well as to provide extra support and practice.
Originally from Minneapolis, Minn., Jessica attended Reed College and worked for the Minnesota Historical Society and a bike shop before getting her teaching credential. She knew her goal was to be in charge of her own classroom and went on to earn a 6-12 mathematics license and Masters in Education from Johns Hopkins University. She has taught sixth, seventh, and tenth grades and prior to joining Burke’s was a math teacher and middle school advisor at Presidio Hill School.
Reflecting on her new role Jessica said, “I am really excited about my role since it allows me to be with students during the day, but also support the entire Upper School by thinking of fun math activities to incorporate into classroom lesson plans.”
Jessica has launched the Burke’s Math Team designed to create a welcoming space for Upper School students to be curious, collaborative, and sharpen their math skills. Team members will also have the opportunity in Spring 2021 to compete in two competitions: Girls' Adventures in Math and/or MathCounts. According to Jessica, “One really interesting thing about the Math Team is the cross-grade collaboration. I can have 5th graders, 6th graders, and 8th graders come to the club at the same time and it’s an exciting challenge to think outside the normal curriculum and find activities to meet each student at their level. I also think it’s really useful for the younger kids to see the kind of problems the older kids are working on.”
Still an avid cyclist, Jessica also used to be a rock climber — and perhaps will be again post-pandemic! She is also a big reader of both fiction and nonfiction and her new hobby since shelter-in-place has been writing crossword puzzles to submit for publications big and small!