Teachers & Board
Ellen Carleson
My name is Ellen Carleson and I am the Director and Head Teacher at ICLC. I am also an adjunct faculty member at Olympic College and serve as the Parent Educator for the preschool.
I have been teaching at ICLC since 1989. My background is in music and drama, from performing professionally to teaching small groups of children. I believe in continuing education and attend classes and workshops, staying current in early childhood education practices.
The principles that guide my teaching are respect, listening, relationships from the heart, creative expression, and lots of fun. My goal is to help children learn the foundation skills for future learning: asking questions, finding answers, expressing thoughts and ideas, developing hypotheses and then testing them, and learning and understanding more about themselves and their world.
Tifanie Mitsui
My name is Tifanie Mitsui. I am the Assistant Teacher at Island Cooperative Learning Center. I have worked at ICLC since August 2007. Currently I am also attending college to receive my Bachelor’s in Elementary Education.
Since I was young I have pursued becoming a teacher. In high school I enrolled in the “Exploring Childhood Program” consisting of an ongoing preschool with two certified teachers, fifteen children and high school students. The students planned and created age appropriate lesson plans for the preschool. Throughout high school I also was a nanny for several families on Bainbridge Island.
After high school I moved to Hawaii where I worked as the Assistant Teacher at Tiny Hands Nursery Preschool. I helped to arrange weekly lesson plans, organize field trips and plan healthy meals. I also worked for Malahini Keiki Care, a nanny service catering to the needs of resort guests along the west coast of Hawaii.
I have always loved being around children and watching them comprehend while learning new things. I strongly believe in the power of learning through play. My passions in life are being outdoors, doing arts and crafts, exercising, reading, writing and learning new skills. I hope to inspire creativity and imagination of the future generations.
