Our Faculty
Maribeth Walsh-Villa
Maribeth is one of the first Playmates staff many new parents meet. And what a first impression. Soft-spoken and kind, Maribeth is Playmates' Administrative Director. Like several Playmates' staff members, Maribeth began as a teaching parent, becoming office manager in 2004. "The sense of community at Playmates is one of a kind. You know, some of my best friends I've met at Playmates, and my children met their best friends there, too!" Maribeth, a native of Leominster, Massachusetts, has a masters degree in recreation therapy. No wonder the thing she says she loves most about Playmates is "the childrens' beautiful faces and their laughter." Few people know that Maribeth was Santa Barbara's Special Olympics Coach of the Year in the 1990s, but it won't surprise any who know her. Caring, kind and ever ready to help a parent with a question, Maribeth always goes the extra mile. Find her anytime in the office, or at her favorite Playmates' events – the pumpkin parties and other great fall events.
Margaret Thrupp
In Playmates' morning program, there's a warm smile, quick wit and a voice from down under that our four and five-year-olds know all too well. It's Margaret Thrupp, a native of Sydney, Australia, and Playmates' AM teacher for older children. Margaret says Playmates fulfills her skills and passion — "being free to explore children's interests in a way that is appropriate to them," says Margaret. It fits. Margaret holds an MA degree in elementary education with a focus on children who have especially focused interests, such as sharks or dinosaurs. But Margaret is also known for introducing children to creative, often unexpected realms. "This year, we learned yoga, danced to the music of Saint-Saens, made nests, sat on papier-mâché eggs, and spent a lot of time with a dear, visually-impaired friend, Nancy, and her helper dog, Gypsy."
Back in Australia, Margaret thought she might be a music teacher. An accomplished flautist and band player, she earned an elementary music teaching credential there. But these days, she's on this side of the drink, sharing her infectious laugh for the last seven years with Playmates children and parents. "My favorite events at Playmates are the days when we get special visitors," she says, "like when a fire truck or a troupe of Lion Dancers visits." Margaret is first to give a hearty hello. You'll find the children grinning right behind her.
Rima Soudah
A generation of children has experienced Rima's warm hugs and soothing words. Rima has taught children at Playmates for 8 years and has been involved with Playmates as a parent. Both her boys, Chris (25) and Raymond (22) are alums. She exudes good will to the children and is an expert at mitigating conflict. When asked about what she loves about Playmates, Rima bubbled with enthusiasm. "Love!" she shouted. "Support!" Then: "The huge playground!" Asked to expound, she said, "Love is the No. 1 best thing. With love and support of these children, we teach them so much: how to play nice with other children, how to not tease, how to sing songs together, how to play outside safely." Best of all, they get to participate in Rima's many and homegrown arts activities. Examples include candle-making during the holidays, which lit up all our holiday seasons. A native of Amman, Jordan, Rima is a constant target for recipes she shares with the children. Her best: Tabouleh. And the children can't get enough of her healthy hummus. As an aside, this year at Playmates, Rima has loved the children into learning how to recognize their name on a sign, call 911 in an emergency, tuck and roll in a fire and jump up and down in a rousing "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, We're Going to the Moon." You have to see it to believe it.
Melissa Vivas
Melissa Vivas is a four-year veteran at Playmates, where she co-teaches our Young 5 group. "My children went to co-ops, and I loved it. From then on, I just started volunteering," says the Chicago native. Before long, Melissa found herself with teaching credentials in hand (early childhood emphasis), a spot at Playmates and the rest is history. "This is the kind of place where children can run around in the sprinklers when it's hot, they can get sandy, they can have fun," she says. "It's how it should be." Melissa's children are nearly grown now — her son and daughter — but her Playmates children are like family, too. For parents considering this or any co-op, Melissa says, "It's a big commitment but it is well worth it. You will never, ever regret having your children in a co-op," she says. "Putting my children in co-op education is probably the most unambiguously positive decision I ever made for my children and family."
Rob Gillespie
Hailing from San Antonio, Texas, Rob Gillespie is Playmates' newest teacher. "Playmates is fun, laid-back and has kind of a spacious goodness to it," he says, and he should know. Rob's a veteran of a number of schools, including San Francisco's Children's Day School, the Mission children' Co-op and a variety of Waldorf and Montessori programs.A self-described army brat, he knows how to get around. He especially gets around our playground with his infectious laugh and enthusiastic attitude.
A dual Irish and American citizen, Rob has a side many Playmates parents might be surprised to hear about. He is an accomplished composer and musician — his pieces are playing right now as part of an art exhibit at the the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. As for teaching, Rob says "there's always more schooling ahead for me." He's had two years of Waldorf teaching education, early childhood classes and loves his Responsive Classroom classes. If he's not at school watching our children, you might find this avid bird-watcher on one of the Bay Area's many backwoods trails. But we like him in the wild reaches of the sandbox right here at Playmates.
Carrie Maher
Sometimes, people just can't get enough of Playmates. Grownup members end up staying on as teachers and, as Carrie Maher's appearance shows, pre-school children return two decades later to the sandbox they held dear. "Well, I guess I just love the family atmosphere. And, of course, the director . . ." Carrie, yes, is daughter of Administrator Director Joelene Maher. A new addition to Playmates as of summer 2007, Carrie is a natural athlete. And she brings a lively sense of action to the playground. Currently a college student at City College studying child development, Carrie's long-term career goal is in the nursing field. Ask any Playmate child or grownup, and they'll say they hope Carrie changes her mind and stays right here. "It's such a caring and nurturing place for children," says the alumnus. If you're looking for Carrie, you won't have to look far. Her favorite Playmates event is the annual Pumkin' Patch visit in October.
Tomoko Honda
Tomoko Honda is the lead teacher of Playmates' AM younger group, and is the warm soul of that program. Tomoko joined the Playmates staff earlier this year, and has quickly won the hearts and minds of her students. In the early part of the day, you will often see her on the porch, with two children on her lap, talking in soothing tones, helping to ease the transition from home to school. Tomoko's experience as the mother of a middle-school child informs her teaching philosophy--a mixture of nurturing, positive discipline and creative expression. She also believes that children need space to run and room for imaginative play to blossom, both of which are readily available at Playmates. Research from the Alliance for Childhood reflects the validity of this approach: "Numerous studies have shown that children who engage in complex socio-dramatic play develop higher levels of thinking, stronger language skills, better social skills, more empathy and more imagination than children who do not play in this way. They are also less aggressive and show more self-control. Play also lowers stress levels in children." Tomoko has years of volunteer experience supporting families and children in a co-op school setting, and she studied early childhood development at San Francisco State University. She originally hails from Kiryu, Japan.
Maasa
Long before Maasa joined the Playmates staff as its PM older group teacher, she fell in love with the program as an intern. Maasa went on to earn her degree in early childhood development with an emphasis on young child and family at San Francisco State University. Parent education is paramount to Maasa, and she believes that the level of involvement of parents at the school helps to grow stronger parent-child bonds. Most of all, she loves that at Playmates, children are allowed to get dirty--in the sandbox, through process oriented art projects, and in our gardens. A background in ballet and piano influences her teaching style, and you will often see her group singing and dancing happily at circle time. A native of Kumamoto Japan, Maasa also teaches the children traditional Japanese songs and lore.