Andrea Losh - Director

Andrea is the Director of the Harvard Avenue School program. Andrea is a Seattle native. After graduating from Seattle Preparatory School Andrea attended Santa Clara University where she obtained her Bachelors Degree in English Literature and also studied studio art. She then taught preschool in a Portola Valley, California program while attending the College of Notre Dame in Belmont, California for her Masters of Early Childhood Education and Montessori Teaching Certification. Andrea has taught various preschool philosophies and methodologies. Andrea was the Director of a California preschool program before moving home to Seattle to open Harvard Avenue School.

Andrea acts as a substitute teacher as needed in the toddler, preschool and pre-kindergarten classrooms as well as assisting in special classes that are offered at the school. Andrea opened Harvard Avenue School in winter 2003. She lives in Seattle with her husband, Chris, and their three children.

Kirsten Camp - Admissions Director

Kirsten Camp is very excited to be Harvard Avenue School's new Director of Admissions. Kirsten graduated from Brown University with a degree in Educational Studies and holds a Masters in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from Bank Street College in New York. A native New Yorker, she spent nine years working at The Chapin School in Manhattan, seven as a Kindergarten teacher and two as the Director of Lower School Admissions. Kirsten's two daughters have attended Harvard Avenue; one is currently in Kindergarten at Seattle Country Day School and loved every minute of her three years at Harvard Avenue School, while the other has just started in the Capitol Hill Preschool program after a year in our Toddler Program.

Andrea Wallner(Ms. Wallner) - Lead Pre-Kindergarten Teacher, Capitol Hill

Andrea Wallner is the lead teacher in the Pre-K program. She was born and raised in the Seattle area. Andrea attended CWU's teaching program, receiving a double Bachelors degree in Early Childhood Education and Elementary Education. She later obtained her Masters Degree in Curriculum Development & Creative Arts in Learning from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. Andrea has also had extensive training in special education, gifted & talented learners.

Andrea W. has enjoyed teaching children for the past fifteen years. Much of her experience has been in a multi-age K-3 program, teaching in the Kitsap Peninsula area. She and her family returned to the Seattle area to become part of the Harvard Avenue School community. Andrea began teaching at Harvard Avenue School in fall 2003.

Daniel Royer (Mr. Daniel) - Assistant Pre-Kindergarten Teacher, Capitol Hill

Daniel teaches in the Pre-K program and also teaches music and French throughout our community. Having spent his first 25 years in Quebec where French was his first language, he teaches French to both the Pre-K and Preschool programs on a weekly basis. He received a Bachelors degree in Mass Communication and Law from Carleton University and spent several years working at a Seattle-based newspaper before coming to the Harvard Avenue School. Daniel is the father of two children Maxence and Pablo, both graduates of our preschool/pre-kindergarten programs. Daniel has worked in our school since fall 2006

Sonia is a co-teacher in our Madison Valley pre-kindergarten class and also a yoga teacher at that facility. As a teacher, Sonia believes that the finest educators not only share their knowledge and experiences, but also provoke their students to question, challenge and explore a variety of possibilities within the coursework. The role of the student is not to just receive information but a role in which an active contribution is of value; it is important for a teacher to realize that this contribution can come in many different ways depending on how the student learns and receives material.

Sonia began teaching for us in fall 2006 and quickly became a favorite among the staff and children due to her calm presence, her talent for yoga instruction, and fantastic creative story telling. As a teacher of creative movement Sonia finds that improvisation through art and storytelling allows the children to feel a closer experience to the feeling of transformation. This sense is important because this transformational growth surrounds them in the environment and in our their own developmental stages, and connects the children to the world around them.

Originally from Alaska, Sonia has been an educator for many years both in Anchorage and Philadelphia. She has taught extensively in early childhood, as well as classes in both creative movement and ballet. She is a trained dancer, performer and has studied yoga for the past 12 years. Sonia has her BA degree, and pursues a dance and acting career when she is not instructing the children at Harvard Avenue School.

Kelly Ann Hughes (Ms. Kelly) - Lead Preschool Teacher, Capitol Hill

Prior to joining Harvard Avenue School Kelly had been teaching and directing at a program in New Jersey for over three years where she wore many different hats.  She was an Early Childhood Education Teacher, Creative Arts Instructor, a Program Specialist & a Director.

Kelly has been active in the arts and in teaching for more than the past 20 years.  She has a BFA degree in Art from Montclair State University in NJ and a Continuing Education degree from the School of Visual Arts in NY.

Kelly also has a background in advertising, being a part of the Nashville theatre community, and became a published children’s book artist (The Twelve Dogs of Christmas), while she partnered in a design firm, Artichoke Design.  She also lived abroad in Paris and London, for over a year and a half.

There, she studied French at the Sorbonne University and Shakespeare at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She also had the privilege of tutoring a young French girl everyday in English.  After her European adventures Kelly taught two years of Preschool Education and three years of Elementary Education.  She concurrently taught Art & Drama for five years as well.  It was at this private elementary academy, under outstanding mentorship, where she received her ACSI certification in Early Childhood Education. 

Since their move to Seattle, Kelly has been developing and instructing new and creative curriculum in the arts at local schools.  Further, she has been able to continue her joy in writing, storytelling and face painting for children, around the Seattle area.  On a sunny day you can find her, creator of Tangerine Tales, face painting outside of Clover Toys, at the Ballard Farmers Market. 

Kate Reese - Assistant Preschool Teacher, Capitol Hill

Margo Tomoko Brennan (Ms. Margo) - Assistant Preschool Teacher, Capitol Hill

Margo received her undergraduate degree from Purdue University where she tripled majored in Psychology, Japanese, and Asian Studies.  She moved to Seattle in fall 2010 to be part of an educational Americorps service program called City Year. 

Margo works with our preschoolers as an assistant teacher, as well as leading a Japanese after school program at two locations each week.   In her free time, Margo enjoys reading, doing yoga, creating and enjoying art, hiking, dancing, and going on spontaneous adventures.  When she is able to, Margo enjoys visiting her family in Japan, sometimes for a month at a time, giving her opportunities to practice the language. 

Rebecca Young, M.Ed (Ms. Rebecca) - Lead Pre-Kindergarten Teacher, Madison Valley

Coming from a family of teachers (mother, father, brother, and sister-in law), Rebecca always knew she belonged in the classroom.  Upon completing an undergraduate degree from University of California Berkeley she went to University of California Santa Barbara to get a Masters in Elementary education.  Rebecca's Masters studies focused on promoting critical thinking skills in young children.

Since joining Harvard Avenue School in winter 2010 Rebecca has lead several camps for the school including Winter Break, Summer Break, and Summer School.  In fall 2011 she began the post of lead pre-k teacher at Madison Valley.  

Blair Kelley (Ms. Blair) - Assistant Preschool Teacher, Madison Valley

Blair is one of our Madison Valley preschool staff, working three days a week.  She believes in active hands on learning and encouraging critical thinking.  She likes to keep her class activities very student centered in order to establish autonomy and constructivism.

Blair received a BA in Early Childhood Education from the University of Oklahoma in May 2008.  After graduating she worked at the Institute of Child Development where she created and implemented lesson plans and held the role of lead teacher.  Blair has also taught Elementary School as part of her college training, working with Kindergarten, second, and third graders where she gained experience conducting behavior assessments and training in classroom management.  

As part of her studies she later had the opportunity to work with children living in a shelter.  She played and talked with children who were staying in a shelter, talking to the older children about whatever was on their mind and motivating the younger children to play games and do fun activities.

Blair has had other training in working as a nanny for two Seattle families when she re-located to the west coast.  The positions included complete physical/emotional care for the children along with cognitive development while maintaining consistent communication with the parents and family alike - which is much what a preschool teacher is charged to do!

Amanda Privitt (Ms. Amanda) - Assistant Preschool Teacher, Madison Valley

Amanda is originally from Prescott, Arizona and went to school in Flagstaff, Arizona.  Amanda graduated Northern Arizona University in 2010, receiving a BA in Art History and minor in photography. 

Amanda has worked as a teacher all throughout her undergraduate years and into present with children ages infant to eight years old. Amanda has studied abroad in Italy, where she studied Italian language, art, and art restoration.  She moved to Seattle in November 2010 and she joined the Harvard Avenue School substitute staff shortly thereafter.  Amanda worked as a regular substitute teacher through fall 2011 when she joined our staff as a two day a week teacher, off-setting another staff schedule.   Amanda is very sweet and caring and we are glad to have her in our preschool class!    

Claire Chanard - Lead Preschool Teacher, Madison Valley

Claire will be the lead T/Th preschool teacher at Madison Valley this year, marking her 4th year with Harvard Avenue School. Claire graduated with a BA from The Evergreen State College focusing on Spanish and Economics. As an undergraduate, she worked as an intern and later as the Project Director for "Everyone's Child", a non-profit organization working to assist orphanages where AIDS is prevalent and in ex-conflictive zones.

Claire has worked as an educator for over 20 years in several different capacities, including botany, music, pottery, French, Spanish and art. She is currently also working as a part time French Teacher for Richard M.Milburn High School, an online based school.

Her two children had the honor of attending HAS; her youngest as a student in the Toddler program and who is now a kindergardener and her eldest who attended HAS adventure camps over the years and who is now in the 2nd grade.

Sean Brochin, M.ed - Lead Teacher Madison Valley Preschool MWF Schedule

Sean has extensive experience in the classroom and other educational settings working with young children. He received his Masters of Arts in Teaching with Early Childhood and Elementary authorization levels from Lewis and Clark College, where he worked closely with Early Childhood specialist Nancy Nagel. Through his work as an environmental educator, student teacher, instructional aid and after-school educator he gained a great deal of experience in designing hands-on, student-centered lesson plans, assessing student's needs and working in cooperation with families and school communities. Sean has experience in carrying out IEP's, observing and documenting student development, and making behavior plans tailored to many different kinds of students.

Sean's teaching philosophies are grounded in a combination of Vygotskian and Reggio Emelia approaches, believing in student-centered, student guided, play and social-based curriculum. His classroom management style is based around honoring student voice: he always get down on the same physical level as the child, and strives to help that child empathize, reflect and re-center themselves in such a way as the student feels listened to and respected while still being accountable for their words and actions. Community building, trust-building, patience, self-reflection and consistency make up the corner stone of his approach to classroom management.

In working with young children, Sean believes that early literacy exposure, drama, dance and song, finger play, emotion-mirroring, kinesthetic and play-based learning activities and interactions with nature are the most important components of the classroom.

Natasha Wagner - Lead Teacher Madison Valley Toddler Program

Natasha is the lead teacher in the toddler program.  After growing up in the Pacific Northwest, Natasha attended the University of Washington where she majored in Psychology and Political Science.  She went on to earn her Montessori certification for ages 0-3 years and has loved working with toddlers ever since! 

In addition to Montessori teaching experience, Natasha also has experience in emergent curriculum, outdoor education, and play-based education.  By drawing from numerous philosophies, Natasha is able to create a unique, child-driven, beautiful environment for the children in her class.  Special attention is paid to fostering independence, self-confidence, language, and social skills. 

Most of all, Natasha loves teaching and having a great time learning alongside kids

Chrissy Bauer - Assistant Teacher Madison Valley Toddler Program

Chrissy is an energetic art enthusiast who loves to explore, create and play with the youngest of learners.  She joined Harvard Avenue School after lead teaching in the Madison Park Co-op Tots program the 2010-2011 school year.  Her passion for education was ignited during the six years she spent as a teaching parent in the cooperative preschool her own three daughters attended.  She loved the interaction with her children and gained a wonderful education from the teachers and parent educators.  She has spent recent years as an active volunteer in her daughters' elementary school.  She always looks forward to working with new families while bringing her creative talents, love of children, and passion for education to the classroom.

Chrissy grew up in Bellevue and graduated from Santa Clara University with a degree in psychology with an emphasis in education and art history. Before she began raising her children she was a legal assistant working in the high tech banking and real estate industries. In her spare time she loves reading, running, playing tennis and enjoying time with her husband and daughters.

Delilah Obie - Assistant Teacher Madison Valley Toddler Program

One day several years ago, after a 20-year career in advertising and communications, Delilah decided it was time for a change. The time she spent volunteering with young people at the Wallingford Boys & Girls Club had become her favorite part of the week, so she redirected her career to education.  She worked in early childhood education while enrolled in the Early Childhood Education program at North Seattle Community College and continues to work towards completing an AAS degree in the field. She holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Oregon and a certificate in Multimedia Development from the University of Washington.

Delilah believes her role as a teacher of young children is to guide their natural exploration of the world around them.  She has found that her communication skills and creative abilities (especially storytelling) are an asset in the classroom. She grew up in a large family in a small town in southern Oregon and moved to Seattle in 1992. She has two children of her own who are both in high school.

Laura Miller - Assistant Teacher, Madison Valley Pre-kindergarten

After receiving my B.A in Hotel Management, Laura spent 20 some years working in a variety of positions in the hospitality industry.  Then she decided it was time to make a career change.  She then pursued an Associate Degree in Social and Human Services at Seattle Central Community College with an emphasis in drug and violence prevention in youth.   During this time, Laura interned at several elementary schools were she had the opportunity to  guide young people from Preschool to 4th grade about positive social behaviors, conflict resolution, and feeling confident.

After completing her SHS Associate Degree in 2008, Laura began working for the Dale Turner Family YMCA.  Her initial year was spent as an Associate Teacher for school-age program where she mentored students and encouraged positive relationships.  In 2009, she moved into a position as an Associate Preschool Teacher.  Laura enjoyed developing her teaching skills and providing children with the means to explore, develop, and just have fun.  Laura is passionate about teaching and providing children with an atmosphere of compassion and support.