Hi Friends and Families,

Welcome to Ms. Cat’s Classroom page! This is my second year teaching at Columbia Elementary and I absolutely love it here!

I grew up in California, the daughter of two educators and granddaughter of two more educators. I graduated from Chico State with a BA in Elementary Education. I then attended graduate school at Fresno State where I earned my Master’s Degree in Education and a credential in School Counseling and Social Work. Instead of working for a school district, I spent many years as a director of nonprofit youth agencies where I worked with families with young children.

After working in early childhood development for 9 years I decided it was time to return to school for another credential. I earned my Early Childhood Special Education teaching credential from San Francisco State while teaching a preschool classroom for students diagnosed with autism. I moved to Washington in 2017 and taught in Tacoma before moving to this area. My son Ryan attends the University of Washington and we have two dogs and a cat.

I’ve spent the past 12 years teaching preschoolers with an array of delays and disabilities and have continued my education so that I am better informed about teaching with different modalities. We use visual schedules in my classroom and students learn to follow a routine as independently as possible using their schedules. We also have 5 learning centers for students to rotate through: art/sensory center, literacy center, play center, math center and play kitchen. Our 2 paras, Ms. Tia and Mr. Kevin, help students throughout the day and are a wonderful asset.

Please contact me any time! I love supporting families and working together to make sure students are on their own journeys to success!

Engelcc@mukilteo.wednet.edu