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Gretchen Shissler is a pediatric occupational therapist who has worked in public schools for eight years. She is incredibly passionate about child development, especially the area of sensory processing. After years of attempting to provide sensory supports to children in conventional schools, Gretchen has become discontented with the limited effectiveness of sensory supports within the walls of traditional classrooms. She hates seeing kids struggle to keep themselves regulated and engaged in an environment that is not suited to their development. After a lot of soul searching and research, she decided to stop trying to change the child to fit the classroom and instead, decided to change the classroom to fit the child!
Gretchen is a Lafayette native who grew up on a farm about two miles from Camp Sycamore Valley, where Forest Academy held its first classes. She and her seven older siblings spent their childhood running through the forest and fields, climbing trees, baking mud pies, building forts, and making up stories to reenact. Her childhood was incredibly happy, which she attributes in large part to the amount of time she was outside engaging in unstructured play.
As the youngest of eight children, Gretchen became an aunt when she was four years old. Her relationship with her nieces and nephews was the beginning of her love for children. Watching them play and develop inspired her to learn all that she could about children and how they interact with the world. She now has the privilege of watching her own children, Theodore and Violet, develop a love of learning through exploration of their environment. Gretchen’s children have taught her so much about the value of letting kids be kids and learning in a way that is developmentally appropriate. She and her husband Vince love to be outdoors with their family and to watch their children’s joy and wonder in interacting with the natural world. Gretchen’s two favorite things in life are being in nature and watching kids develop through unstructured play. She loves to bring her two loves together in her professional life!
Gretchen graduated from Lafayette Central Catholic High School, followed by Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership and Supervision. She has a certification in Massage Therapy from National University of Health Sciences in Lombard, IL and a Master of Occupational Therapy from Midwestern University in Downers Grove, IL. She is a lifelong learner. Gretchen enjoys instilling her love of learning in her students at Forest Academy!
