Early Childhood Faculty

Kate Hammond, Roots and Shoots Director/Lead Teacher

Kate Hammond is a Waldorf graduate and has a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in Applied Linguistics. She began studying Bothmer Gymnastics in England in 1995. While class teaching at the Calgary Waldorf School, she completed her movement training with the Spacial Dynamics Institute in 1999. She graduated from Emerson College with a certificate in Waldorf Teacher Training specializing in Early Childhood Education, and has taught kindergarten, preschool, parent and child classes, and infants. On the weekends she teaches for LifeWays North America and on Waldorf teacher training courses. She has been a lifelong student of Anthroposophy and is the intrigued mother of two teenage boys who both attend Summerfield.

Phone: (707) 575-7194 Ext: 311

 

 

 

Catherine Schlager, Rosebud 5-Day Preschool Teacher/Early Childhood Section Coordinator

Catherine was raised in Wisconsin, attended college in Chicago and graduate school in Boston. She has worn many hats over the years: professional actor, baker, small-business owner, professor of nutrition and international health, and program manager for an international field research organization. Her love of children, handwork, and music as well as her concern for the future of humankind inspired her to take up Waldorf teaching with the very young child. She considers herself privileged to be working in this realm. Catherine enjoys working with fibers and textiles, writing, hiking, and traveling with family and friends.

Phone: (707) 575-7194 Ext: 322

 

 

 

 

Stacy Ito, Lead Blossoms Preschool Teacher

For the past twenty years, Stacy has been working with children in various teaching capacities, including teaching special education classes for students with severe needs, directing a before and after school program for a local school district, and for the last decade she’s been in her “happy place” teaching Waldorf preschool. She has also been a teacher and Student Support Services Director for LifeWays North America, an organization that offers a year-long training in Waldorf education and care for birth through 5 year olds. Stacy holds a BA in Liberal Studies/Teacher Education from Dominican University, and a certificate from LifeWays North America. Currently she is enrolled in the Bay Area Waldorf Teacher Training program, in the Early Childhood track. She is a mother to three growing and blossoming daughters and has been a volunteer board member at Live Oak Charter School for the past 5 years. In her free time, Stacy enjoys hiking in the redwoods, sitting by the ocean, or working on one of her various knitting projects.

Phone: (707) 575-7194 Ext: 322

 

 

 

Delia van der Plas, Rosebud 3-Day Preschool Teacher/Lower School German

Delia grew up in San Francisco and Frankfurt, Germany. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in music from UC Berkeley. Delia taught piano for many years, worked as an International Student Advisor, and as an Interior Designer. After enrolling her daughter, Daphne, in a Waldorf school, she decided to delve deeper into understanding the foundation of Waldorf Education. She recently completed her training at the Bay Area Center for Waldorf Teacher Training. When she toured Summerfield as a parent, she felt called to work in the Early Childhood Village. She was the Assistant Teacher in our Roots & Shoots program, was a lead Aftercare teacher, and has substituted in Kindergarten both at Heartwood Educational Collaborative and at Summerfield.

Phone: (707) 575-7194 Ext: 322

 

 

 

 

Saree Heydenfeldt, Red Rose Lead Teacher

Saree brings to the children a deep love of nature, singing and play supported by her years of working in beautiful settings with plants, food and people. While receiving her BA in Human Services in Iowa, Saree served both teens in crisis and adults with disabilities. Saree was encouraged to lead classes at various support centers, teaching cooking, gardening, health and art. She started to discover her love for teaching and became an assistant teacher in a high school special ed. classroom. She continued to explore education and took on various roles in public schools, as a para educator in both middle school and kindergarten and served as director of an afterschool program.

Upon discovering the Center for Educational Renewal at Summerfield, Saree instantly fell in love with Waldorf Education and the Summerfield community. She graduated from the Waldorf teacher training while working in Roots and Shoots and the Kindergarten Village. Saree is just over the moon she has found a place that will foster her love for learning and play. She is currently studying Curative Education with Robyn Brown while simultaneously working on credits towards a special ed. credential.

On the weekends Saree loves to cook, kayak and sing karaoke.

Phone: (707) 575-7194 Ext: 310

 

Rachel McGarva, White Rose Teacher

Rachel has extensive Early Childhood training: she did the Foundation Year through Rudolph Steiner College, the LifeWays Early Childhood Training and the Center of Educational Renewal Teacher Training. During these years of study, Rachel also had a home program for young children and then went on to work as an assistant in the White Rose Kindergarten here, leaving to have her third child. Working with children in this magical time of their lives and being able to offer them stories and games that make their eyes shine with wonder is one of Rachel’s greatest loves. She is delighted to return to the children and to a school that offers an education that cultivates a child’s blossoming self at each moment of their lives.

 

 

 

 

 

Cristal Ayala, Kindergarten Assistant

Cristal has been a Kindergarten Assistant at Summerfield since 2022.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Linden Fye, Kindergarten Assistant

Linden has been a Kindergarten Assistant at Summerfield since 2022.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Petal Held, ECE Assistant

Petal graduated from Summerfield in 2021.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fernanda Olin, Rosebud 5-Day Preschool Assistant

Born and raised in southern Brazil, Fernanda first discovered Waldorf education at a young age while attending the Waldorf Teacher Training in Brasilia (FEWB) and as a Waldorf preschool teacher in nearby Alto Paraiso. Fernanda then achieved her Bachelors degree in Hospitality and Culinary Arts at the University ASSESC in Florianopolis, spending the next decade marrying her love for food, travel, and language in Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, and ultimately California. It was here where she fell in love with her husband and reconnected with her passion for Waldorf education. She has completed the LifeWays Early Childhood Certification and is currently attending the Waldorf Teacher Training at the Center for Educational Renewal. Fernanda is the preschool assistant teacher in the Rosebud land where she loves working with young children and finds the spirit of adventure in everyday living.

 

 

 

Mariane Sansone, Rosebud 3-Day Preschool Assistant

Mariane has been an ECE Assistant Teacher at Summerfield since 2017.