Meet Ms. Katrina

Katrina Van Der Linden, 2nd/3rd Grade

Mrs. Katrina, the K/1 teacher in Room 5, has a multinational background. “I grew up moving back and forth from Palo Alto to the Netherlands every few years,” says Mrs. Katrina of her childhood. “I grew up bilingual and skipped sixth grade. I actually never was in the eighth grade either, because of all the moving.” She graduated high school very young, and then spent a year each in Norway and France.

Katrina and her family of five are nowliving in Palo Alto after several years in Ashland and Corvallis, Oregon, where Katrina taught high school French and Social Studies. Her husband, Jim, is a high school science teacher. Their children are now 14, 12, and 9. Cisca, their eldest, is already achieving local fame as the only female player on the Palo Alto High football team. She also plays in the band, is on the soccer team, and will be on the wrestling team. Anja is an eighth grader and plays soccer, the flute, and is in school leadership. Rory loves to swim with his mom and they go to the YMCA every chance they get. He also volunteers with his mom at the school farm.

Katrina is looking forward to the holidays. The family enjoys making gifts for each other, and family music night when the kids perform their music. She also looks forward to each day with her students at Stevenson PACT. While writing about a book they read, one student wrote that her favorite memory was “Mrs. Katrina.” Moments like that make favorite memories for the teacher, too.