Two of her children had enrolled at Foundations for the 2022-23 school year, and she joined them after seeing a job opening posted at the school. She had just been hired when testing revealed she was diagnosed with Stage 0 breast cancer.
Kristin Sealman and her son display their Moral Focus awards.
It was an especially uncertain time for Sealman. Her insurance was in transition and she was in the process of switching doctors. She had just met her dean at Foundations, Mikella Large, and informed her of her situation.
Fortunately, her breast cancer was caught at Stage 0. She didn’t have to have chemotherapy or follow-up treatment and was back to work within a month of surgery. In that time, Large and the rest of the staff at Foundations made sure that Sealman prioritized her health instead of worrying about adjusting to a new school.
“That’s a lot of why I feel so supported, because everybody just helped me,” she said. “Thankfully, I caught it really early. My team is great, I couldn’t do a lot of what I’m doing without them. I’ve had great support from my deans, and admins.”
Foundations’ level of curriculum and school culture are what drew Sealman to enroll her children and eventually become an employee. As a mother of three, including a third grader and a kindergartner at Foundations, she likes the high expectations the school has for students and its academic progress, which has helped it outperform the local district for 10 years.
Kristin Sealman enjoys a moment with one of her daughters.“My son, he’s a third grader this year. He was at a district school until now, and I see that he's actually being challenged a lot more now,” she said. “He’s very inquisitive about things and I think the curriculum and the structure of his classroom helped feed that. My daughter is a kindergartener and she’s going to start her education journey with Foundations and hopefully finish. I’m very excited to see the growth that she can achieve.”
Sealman was a dental assistant for 20 years before going back to school and becoming a teacher two years ago. Years before having her own classroom, the seeds were there – she led office compliance training, such as CPR classes, and was in charge of special needs patients.
“It made me realize I can serve people better in a different setting. That’s when I turned to teaching,” she said.
Sealman started as a substitute teacher at Foundations before becoming a fifth-grade math teacher. She said that while she takes her job seriously, she does not take herself seriously. She holds her students to a high standard but embraces the adolescence of her fifth graders by adorning the classroom walls with all things Harry Potter.
“I try to have fun in the classroom, but I expect them to meet those expectations in order,” she said. “I feel like I’m an old school-type, but I’m also a nerd.”
Keep up the excellent work, Ms. Sealman!
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About Foundations Academy
Foundations Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Brighton, Colorado, serving students in kindergarten through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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