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Staff Bios
Fran
Fran (she/her) is the Executive Director of Kidspace! She started working at Kidspace in 1998. She has experience as a Lead Toddler Teacher and overall, has 15 years of solid experience working with children. Fran moved to Seattle from New York in 1994, where she managed a group home for developmentally disabled adults for many years. Fran has a BA in political science and has taken many early childhood education classes throughout the years. She loves the daily challenges and rewards of being a Director! In her spare time she enjoys music, sports, nature, and spending time with her daughter and husband.
Olivia
Olivia (she/her) is the newest Assistant Director. She began working at Kidspace in 2014 as a substitute teacher. She has held every teaching job title during her time here, and continues to pursue more! Her undergrad was in Individual and Family Development (minor in Women's Studies) and she just completed a Masters in Early Childhood: Inclusive Education with a specialty in Infant Toddler Mental Health in 2022. When not at Kidspace, Olivia is found spending time with her family, fellow co-workers, her boyfriend and their dog Ramone!
Kim
Kim (she/her) has been Kidspace’s Mentor Teacher since 2010. She has worked in ECE for 25 years as a teacher, program director, and a parent educator. She grew up in sunny southern California and earned her BA at Cal State Fullerton. She and her family lived in San Francisco and Berkeley until moving to Seattle in 2005. She holds an AA in Early Childhood Ed from NSCC and is active in NAEYC. Kim loves Kidspace for its dedicated staff and amazing families, and especially enjoys conversing with the children.  Her interests include live music, textile arts, and exploring cities through the lens of a camera.
Jack
Jack (they/them) is the Kidspace Chef! Jack has extensive experience cooking in other local childcare centers and we are thrilled to have them at Kidspace!
Nancy
Nancy is a full-time float teacher (works in multiple rooms giving teacher breaks and plan time) who began working at Kidspace in 2016.
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Kirsten
Kirsten (she/they) is a floater and afternoon assistant teacher in the Sequoia room and has been at Kidspace since 2017. She is currently working on a degree in Sociology and Gender Studies, and is passionate about the ways that those topics integrate with her work with children — for example, Kirsten recently wrote and presented an in-service training to Kidspace staff on the topic of transgender & nonbinary inclusion in early childhood education. She is also a freelance musician and performs with various instrumental groups in the greater Seattle area. When she’s not teaching at Kidspace, you can find her playing drums, teaching music lessons, and seeing as much live theatre as Seattle has to offer.
Michelle
Michelle (she/her) is the Lead Maple Preschool Teacher at Kidspace. She began working at Kidspace in 1990! She has an AA in ECE from Seattle Central and has a mentor teacher certificate through SCC. Her favorite things about Kidspace are the hip staff, wonderful parents, and amazing children. Michelle has a deep interest in adoption, as she was adopted at a young age. Her other interests include baking, hiking, working out, shopping, politics, and spending time with her daughter, Mackenzie!
Jaeonna
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Patrick
Pat is the lead teacher in the Preschool (Aspen) Room and started working at Kidspace in 2007. Previously he worked at Able Child Children’s Center for 17 years. While at Able, Pat worked for several years as a lead teacher in the infant and toddler classrooms, then a lead teacher in the preschool classroom. Over the years he has been a very active and well-known member of the Seattle early childhood community. Pat has 32 credits in ECE from North Seattle Community as well as a BA in Biology from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga.
Shamali
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Elise
Elise (she/her) is the Co-Lead in the Young Preschool (Dino) Room. She began working at Kidspace in 2017 part-time.
Tracey
Tracey is the Co-Lead in the Young Preschool (Dino) room. She is an east coast native who moved to Seattle in 2004. She was born and raised in New Jersey and attended college and graduate school in North Carolina where she received a Master’s degree in Child Development and Family Relations from East Carolina University. Tracey’s early career was focused on early intervention services for preschool children and shifted after moving to Seattle to nonprofit work focused on advocating for families in crisis (homelessness, domestic violence). Tracey balanced that work while also being a live-in nanny for a few years and eventually decided to refocus on her Early Childhood. Prior to joining Kidspace, she was fortunate to be a facilitator of play-based learning in her own Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten classrooms, as well as providing sensory-based Art Classes to younger (2.5 to 4 yr) preschool age groups and supporting preschool classrooms as needed. She has enjoyed getting to know the Dinos over the past month and is very excited to be there for them as they learn and grow throughout the year. Her favorite interests in her spare time are road trips, the beach, music, astrology and photography
Jennifer
Jennifer is the lead teacher in the Young Preschool (Treefrog) Room and has been working at Kidspace since 2001. She previously worked with children as a nanny and as an assistant teacher in Alaska. Jennifer has an AA in visual communications from the Art Institute of Seattle. She enjoys the community-oriented atmosphere and the high level of parent involvement at Kidspace. She also likes that children are treated as individuals and with respect. Jennifer’s interests include anything arts-oriented, music, hiking, camping, snow boarding, and exploring Seattle.
Kiera
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Venus
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Catherine
Pauline
Pauline (she/her) is the lead teacher in the Waddler (Willow) room and has been working at Kidspace since 1996. She has more than 16 years of experience working with infants through school-age children. Pauline likes the warm, nurturing environment, low ratios, great benefits, and the male teacher role models at Kidspace. Pauline’s interests include dancing, writing, and helping others.
Sydney
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Courtney
Hi! My name is Courtney (she/her), and I’m the lead infant teacher for the Sequoia room! Ever since I could remember I always knew I was going to grow up and be a teacher. Many have influenced me in my life, and I always wanted to be a great influence for others. I started working for the Boise school district as a special education paraprofessional at 19 years old which was challenging, but very rewarding. I moved from Boise, ID in 2018 to Seattle and started working at Kidspace as an assistant teacher in the willow room! In my spare time I love to watch all kinds of television and movies with my cute cats (the scarier the better!) and go on walks around the city with my boyfriend!
Kate
Kate (they/them) is the assistant teacher in the infant (Sequoia) room. They began working at Kidspace in 2021 and have been working with young children since 2015. Kate is currently taking courses to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Child and Adolescent Psychology. When not at work, Kate can be found writing, being out in nature, and hanging out with their partner Nico and their two cats!