Kristen Marquis
Vision Therapist

Kristen works with school aged children, with a specialty in Pre-K.

Before joining Kansas City Vision Performance Center, Kristen Marquis worked as an occupational therapy assistant for 11 years in metro area school districts. Her love of working with children lead her to seek options for students she knew where having vision problems in the classroom. She brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the KCVPC therapist team. She attended specialized vision therapy education seminars and also trained under Dr. Metzger for a year to become a vision therapist. Kristen brings a high level of energy, passion for research and depth of professional resources for children with special needs to our office.

“I feel that each child I work with teaches me more than I teach them. For example, when I was helping a child struggling with fine motor and handwriting skills, I began to research other options and discovered information on visual learning difficulties. I was very interested in the field, especially when I learned that 30 to 40% of children with learning difficulties have visual skills or processing challenges. As soon as I found Dr. Metzger I knew right away I wanted to become a member of his team.”

Jean Metzger
Head Vision Therapist

Jean works with Vision Therapy patients, particularly Elementary & Middle School children.

Jean started her career with children as a second grade teacher. She then raised two children and now grandmothers three (wonderful!) little ones. In 2000, she and Dr. Metzger attended a seminar series presented by the Baltimore Academy of Behavioral Optometry (now called the Optometric Extension Program) which rekindled her love of teaching and led to her position as chief vision therapist of the practice. Since then she has extended her education through the seminars of Dr. Robert Sanet, the former COVD president.

“We dearly want each child or adult to succeed in whatever they need to do,” says Jean. “We know that vision is much bigger than seeing and glasses. Vision is also processing what we see and directing our responses. The brain is so wonderfully teachable that we find many ‘problems’ of learning and life improve or disappear because vision therapy writes new brain ‘software’ so to speak. We sort of took the word ‘retirement’ out of our dictionary after we started concentrating on vision therapy. This is too rewarding to retire.”

Jen Isbell
Clinical Billing & Insurance Manager

Jen Isbell joined the KCVPC team in 2012. She is the glue that keeps both patients and staff on the right track. Originally from New Hampshire, she has been a Mid Westerner for several years, now. Jen and her husband Dan have been have been married for thirteen years, and they are the proud parents of two very energetic boys who keep them very busy! In her spare time, Jen loves to cook, travel, compete with her husband in BBQ competitions, and spend time with family and friends.

“I love working here with Dr. Metzger and the rest of the team. I feel blessed to be a part of something that changes so many lives in such a positive way. In addition to my job here, I also serve on several volunteer committees at my boys’ school. I look forward to meeting and getting to know your family and helping you on your Low Vision or Vision Therapy journey!”