Kristen Arrastia studied Sociology and Women’s Studies at the University of Massachusetts through her junior year of college. Deciding to take some time off and focus on her future, as she had become disillusioned by traditional education, Kristen moved across the country here to Oregon where she pursued a career as a Doula and studied herbalism, while working at her local grocery co-op.

Kristen then moved to San Diego where she attended the Waldorf Institute of Southern California and earned her Waldorf Teaching Certificate. She focused on Waldorf Early Childhood in the beginning of her teaching career, at A Child’s Garden of Thyme, a Waldorf School and Lifeways Center that served families with children ages 0-5 years. Kristen is also a graduate of Lifeways, an anthroposophical program with a focus on ages 0-3 years.

Kristen comes from a long line of teachers: her great grandmother taught in a one room schoolhouse and her mother is a certified teacher, as well as many of her other extended family members.

Kristen and her husband Patrick have two children, Rollie and Josephine, who she is following as they experience their journeys through the grades.