Michelle O'Shea - she/her

Ms. O'Shea

Founding Science Teacher and Instructional Guide

Moshea@sierraacademy.net

Michelle will be away from SAEL on sabbatical during the 2024/25 school year. We thank her for her amazing work and service to our school community. We look forward to her return to SAEL!

Michelle is proud to be a teacher, Crew advisor, and instructional guide at SAEL, working to support the implementation of engaging, relevant curriculum since the school’s founding in 2014. She came to this position after spending the first decade of her teaching career at two Bay Area high schools. A fifth generation Nevada County native, Michelle graduated from Nevada Union High School and went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Environmental Science from Santa Clara University, an educational journey that included studying abroad in Galway, Ireland. She worked in the fields of fisheries, biology, and environmental toxicology before being drawn to teaching. She earned a Master’s degree in Education from Western Oregon University in 2004 and has been joyfully teaching ever since. Michelle sees her greatest strength in the classroom as her ability to connect with and reach students with differing backgrounds, learning styles, and levels of initial motivation. Her end-of-year student evaluations often cite her diversified teaching strategies, patience, enthusiasm, humor, and caring as reasons why students are successful and why they enjoy her classes. Michelle emphasizes critical thinking and active student engagement in her classes and is excited to be a part of SAEL where this is a shared priority. When she isn’t supporting students and other teachers, Michelle enjoys long trail runs, exploring the great outdoors with her husband and two children, baking up a storm, and watching The Office over and over again.