Principal

 Rebecca Vichiquis

August 2022

Dear Sequoia Elementary Community,

I am so excited to introduce myself to you as your new Principal. My name is Rebecca Vichiquis (pronounced Buh-Chee-Keys). 

I was born in San Francisco but moved to Martinez when I was two years old. I attended Montessori Children’s House from preschool through 6th grade. I was blessed to have an inquiry-based early education that built learner autonomy and sparked my interest-- setting me on the path to be a life-long learner. My family moved to Walnut Creek when I was twelve and I attended Walnut Creek Intermediate for 7th and 8th grade. I graduated from Las Lomas High School and attended UC Davis for the first two years of college. I then transferred to Mills College in Oakland where I received my Bachelor’s degree in Studio Art. After receiving my BA, I enrolled at St. Mary’s where I earned my Multiple Subject CLAD Credential. After teaching for several years, I returned to St. Mary’s for my Administrative Credential and Master’s in Educational Leadership. I then served in multiple site administrative roles for the next 13 years. For the last four years, I have been serving as the Director of Student Programs for the Contra Costa County Office of Education. 

I am an avid bike rider and also love to go on hikes in our beautiful open spaces. I like to draw and paint and try to do some sort of art every week. I also like to bake and make bread and sweets for my family every weekend. I have a large collection of houseplants many of which I propagated myself.

My husband does Staging for Real Estate and works locally in our community. We have a big, beautiful family including five children ages seven to twenty-four. Our eldest son graduated from Pomona College with a degree in Pure Math and now lives in Pleasant Hill. We have two children entering college this Fall—one to Cal Maritime to study Marine Transportation and one to Cal Poly Pomona to study Agriculture. We have two sons still at home-- one who is entering his sophomore year at De La Salle and the other will be a second grader at Holbrook Language Academy. We live in North Concord with our two big dogs. 

These past few years have been very challenging for everyone in our community. While I was working at the County Office of Education, I continued to volunteer at my son’s school. Last year, I came to recognize just how much I have missed spending my days as a site leader where I can directly impact the teaching and learning and be infused with the sweet energy of young children. After discussing the transition with my family, I decided to apply for this position at Sequoia. 

I felt particularly drawn to Sequoia because of the strong parent involvement, excellent teaching staff and instructional model. Having spent the first twenty years of my career in a private school in Lafayette, I recognize a high functioning school when I see one. Clearly, Sequoia is a very special place. It is a true honor to be joining you as your Principal and I cannot wait to meet you and learn more about how I can support and grow what you love about Sequoia!