 Owner & 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 23 years (as of 2025), 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 & Head Teacher Lindsay Teacher Triston Teacher Blake Assistant Teacher Zola Assistant Teacher Britney Assistant Teacher Hanna 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!  Teacher Triston (He/Him) Triston came to us as a substitute in 2024 and was immediately offered full-time work because he is so incredibly wonderful with the children! He is consistently kind, friendly, cheerful, attentive, playful, and very nurturing. Our students LOVE him! He has three years of experience in a previous center where he also got to go to Italy to learn about Reggio-Emilia curriculum, and he has a certificate in infant and toddler development. He runs our toddler circle time, works with all of our students otherwise, facilitates a couple of special projects with everyone monthly, and works closely with Lindsay on goals for our students.  Teacher 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. They're working on training to become a lead teacher, here.  Assistant Teacher Zola (She/Her) Zola assists us part-time a couple of days per week, around her schedule of classes that she's taking at the U of O. She says, "I've worked with kids for three years. I love the fun energy that kids have, and it makes me happy to be in spaces with them." She was also a children's ESL teacher in Jerusalem for three months. She's friendly, patient, and warm, and we all love having her with us!  Assistant Teacher Britney (She/Her) Britney is a part-time assistant teacher who came to us with the experience of having been a behavioral support teacher in the elementary school system and having grown up in her mother's child care program! She's very nurturing, consistent, friendly, attentive, and is skilled at communicating expectations and boundaries with the children. She's very engaged in her work with them and excels at guiding and supporting them!  Assistant Teacher Hanna (She/Her) Hanna is our newest part-time assistant teacher, having joined us at the end of February 2026. She has one year of experience working in an elementary school with kindergarteners through 5th grade children and is now learning how to work with toddlers and preK students here! She loves dogs and was a dog groomer for some time. Hanna is in college to become an elementary school teacher and plans to be with us for at least a few years. She has a calm, patient demeanor and loves to join the children in their play!  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.  Assistant (Intern) Josey (She/Her) Josey was placed with us, in the summer of 2025, as a high school intern by Connected Lane County. She worked with us full-time as a teacher's helper in July and August. She loves working with children, teaching them to dance at the dance studio where she works, creating robots with her high school robotics club, and she will be going into college after graduating high school. She's going to college to become a high school teacher! www.TheHappyStepsPreschool.com |