Preschool Staff

Children’s Program Director
rebeccal@samena.com

Rebecca has worked with children in various capacities for 17+ years and originally joined Samena as a Lead Teacher and Swim Instructor for our preschool in 2017. Her passion for working with our unique community led to her promotion as the Preschool Coordinator.  In 2023, Rebecca took on the role of Children’s Program Director and now oversees all Children’s and Preschool programs, including our summer camps. She enjoys establishing personal connections with the children and families we serve, with her primary objective being to create a safe, nurturing, and enjoyable environment where children can explore & learn. She believes children are our greatest treasure and feels it the highest honor to get to work with them everyday!

Rebecca and her husband have 3 children, and a pit bull named Sephora. She loves to explore outdoors with her family, cook and bake.

Little fact:  She first learned to read and write in Spanish.  She originally went to college to study biochemistry, but the only thing she knew she wanted to be, for certain, was a mom!

Teacher, Pre-K & 3-5’s

Ms. Chris has Bachelors in Spanish from the University of Illinois and a Masters degree in early education from Eastern Washington University.  She taught as a Spanish bilingual teacher for the Chicago Public Schools for 2 years before working as a special needs paraeducator for the Issaquah School District.  She joined the Samena team in 2016 while also working as a High School Spanish tutor. Ms. Chris is passionate about literacy and second language acquisition.  Her goal as an educator is to teach children to love learning.

She is married and has 5 children, and when she isn’t busy in the classroom or with her own children, she enjoys reading, watching Netflix, playing Wordle, eating and baking.

Little fact:  Ms. Chris loves to bake and listen to loud music in her car!

Teacher, 3-5’s

Ms. Diana started working at Samena as a Preschool Kid’s Camp Counselor in 2022, moved to Assistant Teacher, and now is our Whales Preschool Teacher.  She previously worked as a nanny for many years where she realized that working with kids is the most rewarding and fulfilling job there is!

Ms. Diana grew up locally in the Renton Highlands, and her favorite color is pink. She was a competitive dancer from the age of seven until high school and she was a gymnast too!

Little fact:  Ms. Diana is double jointed and her favorite animal is a whale!

Music Teacher

Ms. Suzanna is our music teacher. Ms. Suzanna loves turquoise, spring, and hiking.  She is a violinist with a Master’s in violin performance and has taught private violin and small group theory lessons for the past 15 years.  IF your child comes home with ‘blue jello, huckleberry’ rhythms in their vocabulary, blame her!  She and her husband have 4 boys and they love to play music, all kinds of games and explore as a family.  She started teaching at Samena during the Spring of 2014 and took some time off during Covid and is happy to be back!

Little fact:  Suzanna has lived in all 4 continental zones and her husband taught her like camping.  She doesn’t like the color yellow.