Our Staff

Teachers

Amanda Lizáno

Teacher (Adventurers, Discoverers, Inventors), Outdoor Teacher (Imagineers)

Teacher Amanda (she/her) believes that children and families all have stories to tell in the work they do, and bring in vast knowledge of their connections to their identities and the world and the classroom. Centering her pedagogical work in anti-bias and anti-racist work, Amanda enjoys observing, documenting, and facilitating children’s play and partnering alongside families.

Amanda is a first generation Cuban American, hailing from Miami, Florida. Having lived in Seattle over seven years, she’s enjoyed exploring the PNW and seeing Seattle and Shoreline through the eyes of children and families. She received her bachelor’s degree from Florida International University and her master’s degree from Portland State University in Curriculum and Instruction (with a focus on Inclusive Education and Constructivism).

Amanda is a mama and enjoys knitting, reading, and exloring new challenges!

Chris Blackstone

Teacher (Imagineers), Outdoor Teacher (Inventors)

Chris has been a member of the SCP community since 2014, first as a parent and board member and now as the teacher for Discoverers and outdoor teacher for the Imagineers and Inventors classes.

She received a Bachelor’s Degree from Hamilton College. Chris has taught piano to children since 1999, and has led numerous Program for Early Parent Support (PEPS) groups.

She cares deeply about the community at SCP and supports parents and children alike. She lives in Shoreline with her husband Grant and her daughter Ren.

Elisabeth Heftel

Teacher (Wonderers)

Director

Elisabeth Heftel

Elisabeth first joined SCP as a parent in 2017, while working on her Masters at UW, where she researched racial equity in public schools. She has worked in educational justice in several settings across Shoreline: doing youth outreach in middle and high schools for the City of Shoreline, working with adult immigrant and refugee students in the ESL and GED programs at Shoreline Community College, and lending support to SCP’s Anti-Bias/Anti-Racism committee. She also works as a substitute in Shoreline Public Schools, where her two children now attend elementary school. 

Elisabeth cares deeply about education as a communal good, schools as sites for healing, redistributing power and centering those who have historically been marginalized in our schools, and viewing students and families as the experts in their own lived experience. Elisabeth says, “Co-op preschools are a beautiful place to foster healing, learning, community, and joy, and prepare young children and families for K-12 education in a way that works towards equitable outcomes and educational justice. SCP taught me so much as a parent of young children and I’m so honored to have an opportunity to work hard and give back to our school community.”