Staff

 

 

Laura - Director

Laura is the Director/Owner @ Happy Hollow.  She provides over 19 years of experience in early childhood education.  As an educator, researcher and manager she has worked in Australia, Japan, the Philippines and Guam to develop and operate preschool facilities since 1991.  As a Beaver alumni and a current PhD Candidate in Education with Deakin University in Australia, Laura is happy to be home working with local families in a diverse community of young learners.

 

Mario - Headmaster


Mario (a.k.a. Super Mario) is the long-time partner of Laura and the proud father of Mayan and Maraya Silan. As a graduate of Seattle University with a B.A. in Economics, Mario helps Happy Hollow run effectively every day as our all-around most talented crew member.   There is no knowing where you might see him working on any given day, but he is never far away!  He enjoys cooking, constructing, and conversation!
 

Dani - Assistant Director/Pre-school Teacher

Dani is one of our Frog preschool teachers. She has been working with young children for the past 16 years as a kindergarten, preschool and after-school teacher. As an early childhood teacher, Dani's goal is to guide and nurture young learners to be independent, self-confident, and motivated learners in and out of their classroom experience. In her free time, Dani loves to be outdoors and she enjoys hiking, camping, fishing and being with her husband Justin and her two children - Rahlenna and Tyler. 

 

Tonya - Assistant Director/Pre-school Teacher

Tonya is  our Ladybug preschool teacher. She is the proud parent of a 5 year old named Austin.  Tonya started off her experience in child care by Nanning for a family for six years. She has been working with children of all ages now for 11 years. Her goal is to create an environment where children feel safe and comfortable to express themselves in a positive way.  Outside of school she loves nothing more then to spend time with her husband and son, enjoying anything that brings them outdoors.

 

Tiffany - Kindergarten Teacher

Tiffany is the Kindergarten teacher for Happy Hollow.  She has a B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Education, History and Music from George Fox University. She enjoys teaching and empowering young learners within our creative learning environment. Growing up in Montana, Tiffany loves hiking, fishing and spending time with her Beagle puppy in Oregon.

 

Loretta - Pre-School Teacher

Loretta is our teacher for the Bumblebee preschool classroom. She has been a teacher in preschool and in kindergarten classrooms for 8 years. Loretta speaks Arabic and has lived and worked overseas as an E.S.L. teacher for 3 to 12 year olds for over 5 years. As a mother of 7 whose age range from 8-31 years, Loretta has many years of experience working with young learners and her teaching goal is to help children construct their own knowledge as they grow in special and unique ways every day.

 

Chris - Pre-School Teacher

Chris is a Frog preschool teacher with a B.S. in Education with Early Childhood/Elementary Level Authorization.  While Chris enjoys the unique and varied challenges of teaching different grade levels, early childhood education is a passion he explores and shares with all of us at Happy Hollow.  Chris shares his free time with his partner, Amber, and loves to craft & game.
 

Kerry - Chef

Kerry is our incredible chef at Happy Hollow.  With over 25 years of experience as a lawyer, Kerry switched his day job 7 years ago to that of professional chef.  Lucky for us, Kerry loves to cook as much as we all love to eat! 

 

Tasia - School Age Teacher

Inspired by her second grade teacher, Tasia received a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education.  Along side the rest of us, Tasia is an advocate for children learning through constructed play with specific objectives and expectations.  Tasia enjoys watching baseball games, cooking, reading and spending time with her partner, Tom.

 

Milvian - Bus Driver & Substitute Chef

Milvian is the bus driver and substitute chef at H.H..  She works alongside our preschool staff as a teacher's aide and helps us all learn Spanish.  She loves spending time with her young son and husband during her time off.