BRONCOS

Northgate High School

Excellence for, and from, all students

425 Castle Rock Road, Walnut Creek, CA 94598 - (925) 938-0900 - www.northgatehighschool.org

To Whom It May Concern: 9/22/2021

It is a pleasure for me to recommend Tessa Eckenfelder for the Dean of Student Learning. I have
worked with Tessa for almost eight years and I can genuinely say that working alongside her has made me a
better teacher. Northgate and MDUSD lost a great teacher, but our loss is your district’s gain. While I have had
eight years of fantastic interactions with her, I will focus on my experience teaching with her during the
2019/2020 school year to illustrate why she is such a fantastic educator.

During that time, I had to take on an extra period of General Chemistry; as the Honors and AP
Chemistry teacher I knew the subject but had not taught from that book for almost seven years. Tessa is one of
the two General Chemistry teachers at Northgate and did an amazing job helping me. I have never seen a
teacher who is so organized and prepared. She has the material planned out for the entire year and has multiple
ways for students to access the content and to assess student understanding. At the beginning of each unit she
gives all her students a handout with every assignment and due date. Tessa updates these assignments and
assessments every year. Tessa uses many different strategies to support ELL and Special Education students.
She spends multiple days a week at lunch providing targeted instruction to students who need additional
support.

Tessa continuously strives to improve all aspects of education. Tessa is an inspiration; with every
professional development we attend Tessa finds something to bring to her class. This is one of the reasons that
Tessa’s class is so engaging, she brings the best to her students every day. Whether it is a breakout, a group
research project, or a report on a famous scientist Tessa engages students in a variety of methods. As our
district moved to adjust our teaching to match NGSS, Tessa was a leader both in and out of the classroom. As a
member of the steering committee, I know Tessa has helped set many students up for success throughout the
district. Tessa does extensive work outside the classroom to support the department and the school through
programs like TUPE. If my son was going to take Chemistry, I would want Tessa to be his teacher.

It is clear to me, as I hope it is to you, that Tessa is a truly outstanding teacher, one that would contribute
greatly to any school. I wholeheartedly recommend her and wish her the very best in all her future endeavors.
She will be greatly missed at Northgate.

Sincerely,

Kevin Taylor
Chemistry Teacher
taylork@mdusd.org

Kelly Cooper, Principal

Kara Ravina, Vice Principal


Mt. Diablo Unified School District