About Us

Seabury School

Founded in 1989, Seabury is the only independent elementary through middle school in the South Puget Sound specializing in providing excellence in education for intellectually advanced children. Children from Tacoma, Federal Way, Kent, Auburn, Gig Harbor, Puyallup and throughout the South Puget Sound region come to Seabury for its personalized approach to education and emphasis on the development of creative and analytical thinking skills. Seabury is a member of the Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools (PNAIS) and the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges (NASC).

Toby Welch

Toby Welch has been involved in Independent Schools for 27 years, from teaching a multi-age first and second grade in New Haven, CT to founding and heading a middle school on Vashon Island. He has a strong interest in middle level education and believes that the middle school years are a critical time in children’s lives, as their educational experience during these years has a significant impact on their success rate in high school and beyond. Outside of the school building, he has a passion for many outdoor pursuits – mountain biking, back country skiing, hiking and climbing, as well as photography.

Paul Gonzenbach

Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Paul Gonzenbach has a BA in Art from UC Berkeley with a focus in oil painting, as well as a Masters in Teaching from City University in Vancouver, Washington. He has always had a passion for Science, and originally thought it might lead to a medical career. However, he found that studying one subject that intensely didn't allow him enough time to explore the full range of his interests. He loves that teaching lets him explore a wide variety of subjects and see them anew from the perspective of his students. In his opinion, Music and Math have some very basic similarities so that people who are good at one are often good at both. Being a musician, Paul has always had an intuitive, natural understanding of mathematical relationships and algorithms and enjoys working with students to help them understand math conceptually from many different perspectives.