Faculty & Staff

After her first child was born, Marisa opened her home to lactating parents, offering a comfortable safe place for them to chat about the difficulties that can arise in the breastfeeding relationship, along the spectrum of growth from newborns to full term nurslings. Marisa loved holding space for parents, and even more so enjoyed watching the children who attended these inclusive gatherings, playing and exploring organically. Evolving from a Lactation Educator, she then felt called to join her mentors as an All Birth Doula, or Birth Assistant. She completed an advanced course on Ancient Postpartum healing, and dedicated time focusing her efforts on healing the birth mother and lifting up the whole family, while ensuring all siblings are adjusting well to their new family dynamic. Marisa held baby-sign read-alongs, and taught baby sign language to local parenting groups. Gently guiding her own children during the vital early childhood years, these experiences have prepared Marisa in many ways to fall into the role of Parent Toddler Assistantship. As a full-time Mum, and Parent at Maple Village, Marisa is inspired by the magic and wonder of Waldorf Early Childhood Education. Creating rhythm and simplistic beauty in her home, she has witnessed how this way of life can truly transform families for the better. Marisa believes that growth is infinite and children are the best teachers. She looks forward to further growth and deeper learning in the years to come.

Prior to that, she taught high school English in Tonga for six years and taught Tongan language to Peace Corps volunteers for three years. After three years working as assistant preschool teacher at Maple Village, she is now in her fourth year as the lead teacher of the Poppy Preschool class. She has three children and enjoys watching them grow. Her hobbies are reading, landscaping her home, having tea with her friends and neighbors, listening to music, and walking.

She fell in love with Waldorf education the moment she first stepped into a kindergarten class and knew this was the work she was meant to do. She chose to attend Emerson College, a Waldorf training center in England, after high school where she completed a year-long orientation program focused on anthroposophical studies. She then earned her B.A. in Early Childhood Education at Naropa University in Colorado, were she focused her studies in Waldorf Education. After teaching at a Waldorf inspired preschool, Charlotte and her husband relocated to her hometown of Encinitas, California, where she began working at the Sanderling Waldorf School. She served as a kindergarten assistant and director/lead teacher of both Sanderling’s aftercare program and summer camps for five years. During this time, she had had her eye on Maple Village and when a lead Kindergarten position opened up, she applied and was over the moon happy to be hired. Charlotte will be starting her sixth year at Maple Village Waldorf School. In that time she has had a baby, completed her Waldorf certification, and has fallen more in love with Maple Village’s vibrant community. When she is not teaching, she enjoys spending time with her two year old son, fiber crafting, reading song and fairytale books, being in nature and exploring Long Beach.

It is her passion to bring Waldorf principle and values everywhere, not just in Waldorf settings. In 2016 she expanded her focus to include parent coaching, consulting, and home visits to support the creation of organized spaces for families and children as well as leading storytelling workshops for parents and teachers. With her background in Child Development and Family and Child Therapy, she has the opportunity to work in a variety of settings including schools, hospitals, family homes, counseling centers, and clinics. Lately, she has felt especially drawn to the art of storytelling and writing. She is delighted to be at Maple Village and to work with the Larkspur Class.

She then came to work at Maple Village in the fall of 2014. She was originally hired as a part-time assistant in the Sunflower kindergarten but fate pulled her into the grades as an aide. For the past five years Elaine has served as a one on one for many children in the grades program. She is grateful to have worked alongside and learned from so many talented grades teachers. Elaine has worn many hats during her time at Maple Village and you may have seen her supporting students in various classrooms, on yard duty, tutoring students, and teaching in extended care over the past years. In the Spring of 2018 she completed her foundation studies in the program offered by the Waldorf School of Orange county. In completing this program she has furthered her knowledge of Rudolf Steiner and Anthroposophy. Elaine is excited and grateful for the opportunity to step into a kindergarten assistant position with the Larkspur class. She looks forward to continuing to grow and learn during her journey at Maple Village.

She has studied Waldorf education at Steiner College in Fair Oaks, California. She enjoys spending time in nature with her family (hiking, biking, lounging), reading, writing, and travel. Learning is a lifelong enjoyment and pursuit for her, particularly in her journey to bilingualism of the Italian language. Her professional career began as a Counselor for young children in crisis. Eventually, this work led her to the classroom, where she felt she could be of bountiful service to the youth in her community. She has been in education for over a decade, in public, private and charter schools. After she met her husband, an Italian national, she went on to teach in Italy at Lycee Francias for 2 years, as the English Department Coordinator and Foreign Language Teacher across the grades (K-8). Upon returning to the US, she found what she considers her truest calling, that of a Waldorf teacher. Under esteemed mentorships, she took a class through grades 1-3 at Ocean Charter School in Culver City, as Lead Teacher. After two loving years’ home with her son, she is eager to return to the classroom to continue this meaningful work.

…which ignited her interest in Waldorf Education. After High School, she studied at the Vrije Pedagogische Academy (Steiner Teacher Training College) in Zeist, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Education. She then moved to the US and began her career as a Waldorf teacher in Pasadena.Over the past 30 years she has contributed to the growth of many schools. She has carried two classes all the way through the grades and finished various classes through eighth grade. Paola likes to travel, camp, hike, read and make jewelry. She plays guitar, writes songs and enjoys singing. She also has a great appreciation for nutrition and cooking.

She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia and a Waldorf Completion Certificate from the Waldorf Institute of Southern California (WISC) in Northridge, California. Ania has taught grades one through five as a class teacher and grades one through eight as a handwork teacher at the Pasadena Waldorf School, and grades five through twelve as an art specialist at the Waldorf School of Orange County. In addition to class teaching the Shady Trees combined class at Maple Village, she also enjoys contributing to Waldorf teacher education in handwork, drawing, clay modeling and painting at WISC, and clay modeling in the adult education program at the Waldorf School of Orange County. Born and raised in Syracuse, New York, and a former resident of the state of Virginia, she lives in Arcadia with her husband, Bill, and her teenage daughter, Tierra. Ania enjoys sharing the richness of the Waldorf grades curriculum with her class families, self-governance of Maple Village Waldorf School with her colleagues, and participating in the community life of the school.

…in 2002 after having her own children. She holds a B.F.A. in Theatre from Arizona State University and moved to Northridge, California in 2006 to pursue her Waldorf teacher training. Brooke completed both her Waldorf Teaching Certificate with the Waldorf Institute of Southern California, and her California teaching credential with California State University, Northridge in May 2011. Her two daughters attend WSOC.

…practicing, performing, and, in many other ways, enjoying the gift that music is to us. Growing up she was incredibly fortunate to have some amazing music teachers; people who taught her how much music can enliven and enrich the life of a child. Through them she learned how to appreciate the nuances and heights to which music can take us; the joy music can bring, and even the challenges, which, inevitably, made me a stronger and better person. When her daughter was in second grade Carol discovered Waldorf Education and immediately realized that she could be a Waldorf teacher! She received her teaching diploma at Rudolf Steiner College in Sacramento, CA., and for the past thirty years has taught in Waldorf schools in California and Pennsylvania, where she has also mentored other teachers and helped to develop and implement strong and vibrant music programs. As a music teacher it is her goal to bring to all her students the same love of and wonder at music that she experienced growing up. When Carol is not teaching she is blessed to spend time with her family, enjoy sailing with friends, and curling up with a good book.

…as a professor of Piano and Theory. In 1985 she discovered the Waldorf philosophy and began teaching Spanish at Highland Hall Waldorf school and throughout the Los Angeles County. After doing that for seven years, Iris returned to Argentina and opened a children’s program that focused on music and arts and crafts as well as teaching music at several schools. In 2001 she returned to California and to the Waldorf schools and has since been engaged in using music to teach Spanish to children and adults in various settings, from private classes to public and private schools in Orange County. Iris enjoys reading, crafting and knitting and her passions are her 3 grandchildren.

As the eldest of five, a dancer, an active musician, visual artist, writer and educator she seeks to engage and nurture others to express their freedom and confidence. Spending her high school summers as a camp counselor triggered her passion to guide children and peers to their greatest potential with a sense of fun and imagination. Throughout her education at Ventura Community College she volunteered as an art director with City Corps and facilitated community service engagement for troubled youth. While earning her degree in Art Education from California State University of Long Beach, she gained classroom experience with all ages of students in various Long Beach programs. Ciana is honored to be back at Maple Village Waldorf School for her fifth year.

After graduating from Pitzer in 2009 with her B.A. in Media Studies, Alice learned about Waldorf education and was instantly drawn to it. She immediately jumped into Waldorf teacher training, enrolling at Sunbridge Institute in Spring Valley, NY in June 2010. After her first summer in teacher training, Alice moved to Olympia, WA to work as an aftercare teacher and substitute teacher at Olympia Waldorf School. Drawn by a desire to work at a small, pioneering Waldorf school, Alice then moved back down to southern California and in August 2011 began working at Maple Village Waldorf School as the Administrative Assistant. She completed her certificate in Waldorf Elementary Education at Sunbridge in July 2012, and then returned the following summer for a course in Collaborative Leadership. Alice loves working in administration and is now in her ninth year at Maple Village as Admissions & Enrollment Coordinator.

…and daydreaming or volunteering at the preschool next door. She attended the LA County High School for the Arts, where she decided to paint her homework assignments onto her clothes so she wouldn’t have to carry canvases around campus. Her interests in wearable art, her father’s career as a psychopharmacologist, and her mother’s previous career as a psychiatric nurse eventually led her to the field of costume design. She received her BFA from CalArts and worked as a costume designer and wardrobe supervisor until she met her match in Long Beach and they started a family. Once their two sons were enrolled in school, Meghan eagerly began volunteering for school events and room parenting. She loves children, art, and organization so when a position at Maple Village in administration was posted, it was like applying for a dream job. She is truly honored to be both a parent and an employee at the beautiful school she and her family lovingly refer to as their second home.