 Owner/Director & Head Teacher Lindsay (She/Her) Happy Steps is my program, and I've been working with children since 2002! I am very invested in the quality of care that we provide, as this work means everything to me! I began in 2002, to stay home with my own babies, and quickly realized it's what gives my life its deepest sense of meaning and purpose! I absolutely love knowing how many lives I've touched in a positive way over the years. I value the positive impact I make on the child's heart, mind, and future, and how I help them build a solid foundation and strong sense of self. This is a life calling for me.❤️ In addition to having worked with children for 24 years, I have the following credentials to add to my experience:
Learn more about my parent coaching services HERE.  I wrote a book for parents, preschool teachers, child care providers, nannies, grandparents, and anyone with young children in their lives who would like to do their best by them. You can find it here! https://a.co/d/fLeI76y Our Amazing Team Owner/Director & Head Teacher Lindsay Assistant Director & Lead Teacher Ashley Teacher Blake Teacher-in-training Nathaly Substitute Teacher Jessie Music Teacher Ryan We aim to have three teachers with our 16 students, but we have at least two and sometimes four! Lindsay conducts observations and creates goals for all of our students, and we all facilitate the goal plans together. We also work closely with ECCares as needed!  Assistant Director Lead Teacher Ashley (She/Her) Our Assistant Director & Lead Teacher has 13 years of experience in child care as an early childhood educator, with five years as a center Director! She says, "I bring a deep-rooted passion for fostering environments where children can truly thrive. My approach is grounded in the belief that relationships and genuine connection are the heart of early childhood development. As a mother myself, I understand the profound trust families place in educators. My mission is to ensure that while parents are at work, their children are not just supervised, but are safe, seen, heard, and deeply loved." Ashley is detail-oriented, warm and attentive, and the children loved her immediately. In her free time, she loves be outdoors and with her family.  PreK Teacher & Program Substitute Blake (They/Them) Blake has been a full-time teacher for Happy Steps since they became teacher qualified by the state of Oregon in 2017! Before that, they were a regular volunteer during their high school summer breaks, and had previously grown up in our program. Blake and Lindsay run our preschool/pre-K circle time, and Blake is very loved by the children! They are fun, consistent with our students, patient, playful, caring, and engaged. They especially love facilitating outside time, art projects, circle time, story time, and block play with the children.  Teacher in Training: Nathaly (She/Her) Nathaly joined us having a couple of years of experience as a toddler and preschool teacher in her previous center. She is kind, patient, and attentive, and loves to help children learn Spanish along the way. She is bi-cultural and bilingual. She fills in for Ashley on Mondays doing toddler circle time (and as needed if we have a teacher out). She loves to engage with the children in play, and be of support to them as needed!
 Music Teacher Ryan (She/Her) Ryan grew up in Albuquerque, NM where she first learned to play the violin through the Suzuki Method. She fell in love with music and began to teach lessons at age 12, going on to receive Suzuki training in books 1-10. She teaches children as young as three years old using the Suzuki Method as well as aspects of her experience as a Montessori assistant. Ryan enjoys nurturing students of all ages and levels in private lessons, classrooms, and organizations such as Eugene-Springfield Youth Orchestras and the Corvallis Youth Symphony Association. She has a bachelor’s degree in violin pedagogy from the University of New Mexico (2018) and a master’s degree in violin performance from the University of Oregon (2020). You can see Ryan perform with the Eugene Symphony Orchestra, of which she is a member. www.TheHappyStepsPreschool.com |
