Denise Calabrese: Lead Teacher

Denise holds a Bachelor's Degree in Education and Family Studies from Central Washington University.  She is a Washington State Certified Teacher.  She has 6 years of experience in the field of Education and has spent the past 5 years teaching Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten.  She brings her devotion to young children and a passion for creative and fun education to Sunnybeam.

Mary Ann Haney

Mary Ann has been with Sunnybeam for the past 20 years, and is considered by all one of the backbones for Sunnybeam. She has a love and enthusiasm for children that is rare and genuine. In addition to being a seasoned Sunnybeam teacher, Mary Ann has been the Lead Teacher in the Science room for the past 3 years.

Beyond Sunnybeam, Mary Ann has been a math and reading tutor for the past 7 years at Thurgood Marshall. Prior to working at Sunnybeam, Mary Ann worked at Patti's Play Center for its first 2 years of existence.

Mary Ann has a love for the outdoors and being active. She played active team sports for 35 years and coached youth sports including soccer, volleyball and softball for 18 years. Mary Ann loves teaching pre-schoolers and having the opportunity to spark their curiosity and build their self-esteem. Mary Ann's other interests include art, gardening, nature outdoors and sports.

Mary Ann and her husband are long time residents of Mercer Island. She is also the very proud mom of 2 grown daughters.

David Weston

David has taught at Sunnybeam for the past five years. His compassion and love for children is well known in the Sunnybeam community. Kids love David.

David recognizes what a special time pre-school is in a child's life and enjoys seeing and fostering new challenges and discoveries for them each day. He also loves sharing in their accomplishments and wonders.

David has worked with children in some capacity since high school. As an employee of the Bellevue Parks Department, he worked with middle-school children as a referee, coach, site supervisor, and assistant director of a summer day camp. Before joining Sunnybeam he served as lead teacher of a toddler class at The Learning Garden in Bellevue.

David is from Bellevue, Washington and studied Geology at the University of Washington.

Claudine Pereira Koyama

Sunnybeam is thrilled to have Claudine as a Teacher Assistant since 2006.

She brings with her a developed love for music, language and young children. With a background of teaching piano to children since 1997, she hopes to share her love for music with the children at Sunnybeam. She speaks fluent English and Malay and is proficient in Japanese and Cantonese (Chinese dialect).

She was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and her family moved to Seattle in 2005. She currently lives on Mercer Island. She is a mother of two, Ken (6 yrs) and Mia (3 1/2 yrs).

Her future plans are to pursue an early childhood and music education.

A volunteer Parent Board of Directors now runs Sunnybeam. The Board's purpose is to hire the teachers and oversee the operation of the school while preserving the building in its historic state. Fundraising activities and continued community involvement provide the financial and moral support for this ongoing effort.