Our Preschool Teachers
Our Preschool Teachers
Birgit was born and raised in a village near Koblenz, Germany. She graduated 1992 with a teaching degree for elementary and middle school in Germany. She has been teaching children and adults for many years both in Germany and the United States and is excited to share the German culture with the school community.
As the director of the school, she leads the board meetings and oversees administrative operations in the school.
Birgit Priester (School Director)
Katja was born in Thuringia, Germany. After earning her Bachelor’s degree in Business Information Technology in Mainz/Mannheim, she moved to Stuttgart, where she spent more than ten years working in finance at IBM. Over time, she realized that her true passion lay in working with children and chose a new path: she became a certified early childhood educator and has primarily worked with children between the ages of 0 and 3, supporting them in their earliest stages of development.
Two years ago, Katja moved with her husband, two children (ages 9 and 12), and their dog Happy from Stuttgart to Boulder. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking for family and friends, spending time outdoors, and skiing in the winter. She looks forward to supporting the preschool program at the Boulder German School and helping children grow while connecting them with the German language and culture.
Katja also serves as Treasurer of the school.
Katja Bätz
Myriam Benoit
Myriam grew up in the city of Kassel, right in the middle of Germany. She has since lived in New Zealand, the Netherlands (where she got her BA in Graphic Design), in London, UK (where she got her MA from the University of the Arts), and in Boston, MA. About three years ago, Myriam moved to Boulder with her husband and two kids. Myriam enjoys spending time with kids and has many years of experience leading youth groups and working at summer camps in Germany.
In her free time she enjoys the outdoors, going hiking and skiing with her family or going to a museum or theater in Denver.
Ann-Christin was born and raised near the beautiful city of Heidelberg. After graduating German high school she moved to Toronto, Canada where she worked as an Au Pair, taking care of two young boys. Upon her return she studied primary education at the University of Heidelberg for several semesters. After getting married Ann-Christin and her husband moved wherever the military sent them in both Germany and the US for several years until they settled in Colorado in 2019. She earned an Associates degree in Women‘s Studies from University of Maryland and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Kansas State University.
Ann-Christin has two young children who are learning both German and Navajo language and culture at home. It never ceases to amaze her with what ease kids seem to learn and play around with languages at a young age. She enjoys gardening, cooking, making pottery and painting whenever she can.
Ann-Christin Guerito
Ulrike received her teaching degree from Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, Germany, where she taught English as a Second Language as well as P.E. throughout the 1990s. When her husband’s career brought them to Boulder in 2001, she started volunteering at her children’s elementary school and middle school.
When her children were attending high school, she helped them prepare for the Advanced Placement test in German, which they both did very well in. Since then she has had the pleasure of helping several BVSD students prepare for this test. Currently, Uli teaches children and adult classes.
Ulrike Leibfried
Gisela was born and raised in the beautiful Allgäu in Bavaria. She grew up on a Dairy Farm and was trained as Preschool Teacher in Germany. In 1999 she moved to Colorado and received her Bachelors in Multimedia from CU Denver.
Gisela has been with the school since it’s beginning and serves as Registrar, responsible for course scheduling and registration. She is also the web/graphic designer and social media content creator for the school.
Gisela Barrett