Meet Our Infant Team

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Infant Manager

Joined MELC in 2018. Val was born and raised in Germany and moved to the States in 1986.  She and her husband moved to Washington in 2015. They enjoy exploring WA and its beautiful places. She loves reading, crafts, and relaxing at home. Their kids are all grown up and living with grandbabies in other states.  Val has always loved children and was blessed to be able to work in the infant department of her church for 11 years. After that she was a nanny for several other families. Val can't wait to love and take care of your little ones.

Red Ladybug, Infant Teacher 

Joined MELC in 2020. Sahar loves being a part of Mini Einstein's and is excited to get to know your family! Sahar's background experience is as an Attorney at Law for eight years prior to becoming a teacher at Mini Einstein's. She has a PhD in Administrative Law and Masters in International Law as well as training in Early Childhood Education. She is a very energetic and compassionate person and loves dealing with young kids. Sahar came from the Middle East and can tell a lot of stories about life in that part of the world.  

Yellow Bumblebee, Infant Teacher

Joined MELC in 2016. Olga came from Uzbekistan 6 years ago. She is a loving wife and mother to her daughter named Ulyana. Working with children brings her great joy knowing she has had a hand in helping them learn and grow. Olga has been an infant teacher at Mini Einstein's for over four years and has loved every moment and is looking forward to many more years.

Yellow Bumblebee, Infant Teacher

Joined MELC in 2018. Keara first joined Mini Einstein's as a support teacher and gained experience working with all ages from infants through age 5. She has been an infant teacher for over three years and has enjoyed every exciting moment. Keara can't wait to get to know you and your infant. She is currently going to school for her BA in business. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, drawing, dancing, and shopping. 

Infant Assistant Teacher

Joined MELC in 2022. Jivka was born and raised in Bulgaria. She is an assistant teacher in the infant department.  Jivka has 1 year of experience working with infants and 3 years with all ages. In her free time she likes to hike, spend time with her children, go on walks and see her friends. She is fluent in Bulgarian and has her Master's in Law from the University of Bulgaria.

Orange Tigers, Waddler Teacher

Joined MELC in 2022. Danielle was born into a large family of ten and raised in Hawaii before moving to Washington State in 2010. She has dedicated the last three years of her life to working with children between the ages of one and five as a childcare worker while working towards her Early Childhood Education degree. Some of her favorite pastimes are spending time outside and going on runs, hikes, and paddle boarding rain or shine. She also loves to draw, read, and spend time with her family-this includes five ducks, two dogs, and one cat!

  Orange Tigers, Waddler Teacher

Joined MELC in 2021. Aletha was born and raised in Idaho and moved Washington with her husband. She has experience babysitting since the age of 12 and worked as a Sunday school teacher for 3 years. She enjoys going on adventures, trips to the beach, hunting, fishing, and spending time with her family. 

Magenta Monkey, Waddler Teacher

Joined MELC in 2022. Leslie was born in Washington and lived in California for 15 years. She was a former youth development professional at Boys and Girls Club with experience as a nanny and daycare teacher as well as experience working with children as a babysitter for friends and family. Childcare has always been an interest for her because she loves inspiring children and assisting them in reaching their interests and passions.

Leslie loves pets and watching Disney movies. In her free time she loves going out on adventures and discovering new places. She is certified in Makeup Artistry and loves the beauty industry. Her goal is to go back to school and major in early childhood development, business, and cosmetology.

Black Penguins, Preschool Teacher

Joined MELC in 2019. Danika is very excited to be your child's teacher! She was born and raised in Washington State, but she is Russian and Guyanese! She began working in childcare at the age of 16, and continues to grow her knowledge and further her education. She is engaged and has an adventurous puppy. She is obsessed with plants and even has a green house in her living room! 

Pink Flamingos, Preschool Teacher

Joined MELC in 2015. Brandiann begain her journey with Mini Einstein's as a parent with her own children attending Mini Einstein's as toddlers almost ten years ago. She was working in nursing, specializing in dementia, TBI, and hospice care before becoming a teacher at Mini Einstein's in 2015. Brandiann loves that, by changing careers, she is now able to help and guide in the beginning stages of one's life.  Brandiann's first two years as a teacher was as a toddler teacher and now she has the joy of working with all ages. We are all a big family at MELC and Brandiann is so happy to be a part of it! "I trusted the care of my children to MELC, so thank you for doing the same with your children." 

Silver Foxes, Preschool Teacher

Joined MELC in 2021. Lisa has worked in childcare for about twenty years. She has worked as a floater, cook, lead teacher, and an assistant director. Her passion for teaching young children started when she was in high school. She is currently working on obtaining her Associates is Early Childhood Education. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and crafting decorative wreaths.

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 Blue Peacocks, Pre-K Teacher

Joined MELC in 2022. Heather has been a teacher for 24 years in both public and private schools ranging from preschool to fifth grade. She has over a decade of experience working in Early Childhood Education, Kindergarten, and Primary Classrooms. Heather is a Washington State Certified teacher with a bachelor's degree in Education and Early Childhood Education Endorsement through Western Washington University. She also earned her master's degree in Educational Leadership through Antioch University Seattle.

Heather has lived in Western Washington her whole life. She is a mother of two six-feet tall teenage boys, owns one 3-year old rescue Border Collie/Black Lab mix dog from Taiwan, and two adorable cats. She loves animals, nature, swimming, hiking, kayaking, art, reading, cooking, playing ping pong and other raquet sports, and mousic. Heather sings and plays guitar and loves to bring music into the classroom to share with students.

 Green Alligators, Pre-K Teacher 

Joined MELC in 2018. Sylvia went to Western Washington University and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in English. She then went into the education program to get a teaching certificate for K-8. Sylvia became a substitute teacher in the Shoreline School District for several years, then decided to work as a preschool teacher at Kinder Kampus. She had been with the preschool for 8 years and seen many students come and go. Sylvia took a break from preschool and worked at a lawyer's office and the accounting field as the opportunity came up. Most of her free time is spent with her 8-year-old niece and soon to be 4-year-old nephew since their parents work as small restaurant owners 6 days a week. They are the reason that made Sylvia miss the days of teaching preschool. Sylvia looks forward to meeting you and getting to know your children more and more every day. 

Brown Bears,  Pre-K Teacher

Joined MELC in 2013. Amelia has been a teacher at Mini Einstein’s Learning Center since 2013. She was also the White Wolves teacher at MELC South Education Support Camp. She is originally from Yakima, WA where she graduated high school in 1999 and received her diploma from A.C. Davis High School. A few years later, she received her CDA in Infant/Toddler. She is continuing her training in Early Education through annual workshops. She has been working with children for 16 years, starting out as a babysitter for a friend, then as a teacher’s assistant for a toddler room. Throughout the years she has worked with different age groups from infants to preschool. Amelia loves to do arts and crafts, but does not always have time for it at home. So she is always trying to do some interesting and fun artwork with the children in her class. She enjoys going to the beach and exploring new and different places. She also loves playing games that challenge her mind and cause her to engage her thought process in different ways. 

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Support Teacher Floater

Joined MELC in 2022. Neha has one sister and three children, who are between the ages of 26 and 33. She has worked in childcare for almost five years and before that, she was a tutor and math teacher in private schools. She has her Bachelor's degree in Education. She speaks Hindi/Sindhi/Marathi, enjoys listening to music, and spending time with her family. 

 Support  Team - Floater

Joined MELC in 2021. Veronica has previous experience in customer service and babysitting. She is working towards an Early Childhood Education degree and continues to gain knowledge and experience while working on her STARS trainings. She has a son named Rowan who has also joined us at Mini Einstein's. Veronica loves kids and enjoys watching and helping them grow. In her free time she loves to read books. 

 Support  Team - Floater, Trainer

Joined MELC in 2019. Romina was born in Argentina and moved to Miami, Florida when she was 18 years old with her mother and brother. She went to Miami Dade College to obtain a degree in Psychology. While working on her degree she began working in a preschool and discovered her true passion. She moved to Washington State and continued working as a preschool teacher with Mini Einstein's. 

 Support  Team - Floater

Joined MELC in 2017.  Ngoc is married and has two grown children, one boy and one girl. She was born and raised in Vietnam.  Ngoc graduated from Hanoi Foreign Language Teacher’s University, majoring in French. She has 10 years’ experience working in the early education field, including running her own preschool/kindergarten school in Hanoi for 6 years. Since 2017, Ngoc has had a chance to work with all the teachers and students at MELC.  Her hobbies are making crafts from paper, origami, drawing and traveling.

Support  Team - Floater

Joined MELC in 2022. Flora was a Spanish interpreter and tutor at Refugee and Immigrant Services of Northwest from 2019-2022.  She has her general education associates and her degree in nutrition.  Flora loves yoga, can sing in Spanish, and is really good at cooking traditional Mexican food.  In her free times she also enjoys creating Huichol jewelry (a traditional technique from the Huichol tribes in Mexico. 

Support Team - Floater

Joined MELC in 2022. Xi "Nancy" was born and raised in China and moved to Washington State in 2016. She is married and has two daughters named Yuffie and Inata. She is fluent in Mandarin and loves to share the language in the classroom. She graduated from Southwest University with a bachelor's degree in Education. She has years of teaching experience including as a child care provider in the Army working with infants and toddlers. In her free time she enjoys being outside and being able to run with her kids. She also enjoys dancing and playing the piano.

Support Team - Floater

Joined MELC in 2019. Sara has been teaching at Mini Einstein’s since 2019. She moved here from California and has fallen in love with Washington! She lives in Lake Stevens with her boyfriend Nick and is looking forward to new adventures! She used to teach 4-5-year old’s in California for a little over a year, and is very excited to get back to this age group. Sara is working on getting her bachelor’s degree in child development, and her goal is to teach kindergarten once she graduates. She has always enjoyed working and being around children. They are so curious about the world which makes teaching them so much fun! Outside of work, Sara loves to relax at home with loved ones and go to the gym. She looks forward to this year and getting to know you and your children.

School Chef

Joined MELC in 2020. Ki was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. He enjoys the outdoors, Pokémon cards, Spiderman, painting and cooking.  He is eager to bring his knowledge of food to your child's plate. He has worked in the food industry for roughly 6 years and has picked up a fair share of tasty but healthy meals and snacks. He is excited to share those ideas with your little ones in hopes of expanding their horizon with foods they may not try at home! Ki is happy to provide a delightful yet well balanced meal for children every day.

School Assistant Chef

Joined MELC in 2022. Brock grew up on a farm in Kansas grew up raising cattle, horses, pigs, chickens. With his family, he built both house and barn on the farm. He enjoys working with his hands. Brock played football and baseball in college where he attended the Fire Science program. He worked as a fire fighter for a few years before deciding to change profession. Brock has worked in child education in several areas from a child development center to working as a paraprofessional. Working in the kitchen and classrooms is where he realized how much he enjoys working in this environment. In 2014, he moved to Corvillas, Oregon and worked as a remodeling professional until he moved to Seattle.

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Owner, Program Director

Samantha founded and established MELC to continue to serve her community. She graduated from Central Washington University with her BA in Elementary Education. She has three young children Harrison, Xena, and Lilly. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, and glamping/camping.

Owner

William along with his wife founded and established MELC in 2013 when he retired from the Army. He has continued to further his education and currently has his gunsmithing, machinist and programming degrees. He enjoys spending time with his wonderful wife and three amazing children.

Assistant Director

Janice started her journey with MELC as a support teacher in 2011 and later as a preschool teacher before joining the management team. She obtained her Associates of Arts.  Janice is currently working on completing her BA in Human Development through Washington State University global campus.  Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her family and cats. 

Program Supervisor

Haley began her journey with MELC as a toddler teacher in 2011 and later became a pre-k teacher before joining the management team. Haley served as a youth/NGO developer in the U.S. Peace Corps for 4 years and has diverse work experience in social services, education,  and youth development.   She has a BA from Seattle University in Psychology and a Masters in Education from Eastern Washington University.  She is every child's biggest advocate and loves to support families through the first 8 years of a child's life.    She believes that every child has their own developmental needs and interests, and that children learn best through quality interactions.  Outside of work she is a mother to two beautiful children, an avid volleyball player and animal lover.  She likes to do puzzles, read books for fun, and travel.

 Manager 

Ashley Morga has been known as “Ms. Ashley” for over 15 years now, having been a dance studio owner and instructor for 13 years before making the move into child care. She recently completed her Associate of Arts degree in Early Childhood Education and also holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studied both dance and history. She believes that kids weren't meant to sit still and is excited to continue working with kids and watching them grow! When she's not at MELC, Ashley enjoys exploring new places around the Pacific Northwest and traveling, especially to the Caribbean and Europe. She also enjoys watching her daughter, Madison (named after her alma mater!), grow and discover her own interests of playing hockey, swimming, baking, and drawing.  

Bookkeeper

Nicolle has a background working in childcare centers both as a teacher and in administration. She received her AA in Early Childhood Education and continues to work closely with Mini Einstein's as the bookkeeper. In her personal time, she enjoys travelling and spending time with her family. 

Maintenance

Kevin was born and raised in the South Puget Sound and has travelled around the world. He is a father to five children and an Army veteran who recently retired after 20 years serving in the army. He is a volunteer peer counselor for Veterans in Crisis and has an Associate of Arts degree. In his spare time he enjoys bird watching and spending time with family.

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Volunteer

Ms. Pat (Grandma-ma as the kids call her in the center) has been a volunteer at Mini Einstein's since 2013. She is an army veteran and was a para educator for special education in the Kent school district for 13 years. She is mother to Samantha Sciacca, owner and program director of Mini Einstein's. She enjoys shopping on HSN and spending time with her 7 grandchildren.

Volunteer

Ms. Lee was an infant teacher with Mini Einstein's for 5 years before retiring in 2018. She obtained her certification in Social and Human Services in 2013. Ms. Lee was the owner and founder of several businesses in the greater Seattle area for over 15 years. She is known as "Halmonie (grandma)" to the students at MELC.

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