Meet Our Infant Team

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Infant Manager

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 

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

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 look forward to many more years.

Yellow Bumblebee, Infant Teacher

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 a year and has enjoyed every exciting moment. Keara can't wait to get to know you and your infant. She is currently working on her certification to become a pediatric nurse practitioner. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, drawing, dancing, and shopping. 

Orange Tigers, Waddler Teacher

Kayla began her journey at Mini Einstein's as a support staff teacher before she became the Orange Tiger's teacher. She worked in a daycare in Riverton, Utah, where she gained experience caring for infants and toddlers. She has experience babysitting since she was 12 years old. She comes from a large family and is used  to having a lot of people around her. One of her passions is art, and she can't wait to incorporate it with the kids and get creative. Kayla enjoys being outside and active and loves being able to run around with the kids.

Orange Tigers, Waddler Teacher

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!

Magenta Monkeys, Waddler Teacher

Lorena has a background in customer service and experience working with children from a young age helping her mother take care of children as a babysitter. She is pursuing her Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education to become a 1st grade teacher. She enjoys going on walks with her three small dogs, reading, and watching anime.

Magenta Monkey, Waddler Teacher

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

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

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

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

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.  

Blue Peacocks, Pre-K Teacher

Ngoc is married and has two grown children, one boy and one girl. She was born and raised in Vietnam. She became a U. S. Citizen in 2019. 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. On March 15, 2020, she will have spent 3 years working with MELC as a substitute teacher. In this position, she has had a chance to work with all the teachers and students at the school. She appreciates all the love and support she has received from management, the teachers, the students, and the parents. Working with children has been her desire.  Her hobbies are making crafts from paper, Origami, drawing and traveling. Ngoc looks forward to continuing working toward the goals of MELC. 

 Green Alligators, Pre-K Teacher 

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. 

 Green Alligators, Pre-K Teacher 

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.

Brown Bears,  Pre-K Teacher

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. 

Brown Bears, Assistant Teacher

 Aletha was born and raised in Idaho and recently moved to Washington State with her husband. She has years of experience as a babysitter as well as working as a Sunday school teacher. She enjoys working with children of all ages. Outside of work Aletha enjoys going on adventures, to the beach, hunting and fishing. Most importantly she loves spending time with her family. 

Support Teacher Floater

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 Teacher Floater

 Makenzie has worked in childcare since the summer of 2019. She has years of volunteer experience working in a child care center as well as babysitting experience working with an infant and toddler. Makenzie graduated from Cascade High School in 2018 and is currently enrolled at Post University for Early Childhood Education. Outside of work her hobbies include drawing and coloring.  

Support  Team Member

 Alysanne was born and raised in California and moved to Washington State in 2015.  She has two young children, Mathieu and Sophia. Alysanne is fluent in Spanish and loves to share her language in the classroom. Her experience working with children began with helping her mother with babysitting.  

Support  Team Member, Trainer

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 Member. 

Pearl has 25 years of experience working with children ages birth-18 years. She raised four of her own children and volunteered in each of their classes while attending public school. Previously Pearl worked at her local church as a Children's Director of Children's Ministry. She also has experience as an assistant teacher at a childcare center, and as an art teacher in an after-school program. She has her bachelor's degree in psychology with a focus on child development. In her free time she is writing a series of early learning books that will encourage children to read.

Support  Team Member. 

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 Member.

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Support  Team Member

Sierra is from Texas and graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2021 with a bachelors in computer science and a minor in mathematics. She has previously tutored in reading, math, robotics, and programming. Sierra is engaged and will become Mrs. Zajac in November. She has two cats named Goose and Juniper. In her free time, Sierra loves to crochet!

Support  Team Member. 

Carol worked for 10 years in the Bellingham School District as a para educator in special education, working with students with learning disabilities, as well as high risk students. She has her bachelor's degree in sociology and psychology from Western Washington University. Since childhood she has experience in performing arts- dance, voice, and stage. She is excited to bring her enthusiasm for the performing arts into her teaching.

School Chef

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

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.

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.

Volunteer

Ms. Pat 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.