Meet the teachers

SAGA School teachers are fully bilingual and most are native German speakers. They all have experience in early childhood education. The SAGA School financially supports and strongly encourages continuing education workshops for our teachers.

Margarete Chenoworth
Preschool Teacher, Issaquah

Margarete was born in Aschaffenburg, Germany and has lived with her husband David in the US for 9 years. They are raising their 3 children bilingually. As a teacher, Margarete enjoys educating the students in her native language.

"My class has to be interesting, fun and at the same time should encompass German culture. We learn German through play, reading and writing, celebrating fests and when we get together with other students during break." She has been teaching at EGLS since January 2002 and is pleased that most of her students come back each year.

Michelle DeBos
Assistant Teacher, Seattle
Administrative Assistant

I'm a native Seattlite with two brothers and a twin sister. First gained a passion for languages while attending Enumclaw high school, being the unique one who decided on picking up Spanish and French rather than early release. Moved on to the University of Washington to study Business after high school, while my twin sister moved to Germany for a year abroad. Went to visit her in the Koeln area during my first year of University and fell in love with the language and the culture. I then decided to switch my major to German Language and Literature and graduated March of 2008. During my time at UW I studied abroad independently in Berlin in 2005 and again via UW's Spring in Vienna program in 2007. Studying abroad not only increased my passion for the German language and culture but inspired me to want to work with children, passing on multi-cultural understanding to our next generation. I absolutely love working with the little ones, and take pleasure in helping them develop more and more every day.

Anita Dunlap
Curriculum Director
Playgroup, Music & Movement Teacher

Anita is an Early Childhood Specialist. As a German native, she completed her education in Nürnberg, Germany. For many years, Anita has been operating a successful German immersion preschool in Kent, and has just finished teaching her 8th year at the Eastside German Language School in Issaquah. Her 2 daughters are bilingual.

Regina Graw-Crocket
Preschool Teacher

Regina is originally from Essen in North Rhine-Westphalia, but has called Seattle her home for many years. Regina has been with the SAGA School for the past two years and is looking forward to teaching preschool. In addition, she is also teaches the SAGA School Kinder Club Program for children between the ages of 5 and 7 years old. She is experienced teaching children ages 3 -14 years old. Regina also teaches the playgroup (1.5 - 3 year olds) at the Eastside German Language School in Issaquah.

Kyri Khouri
Kindergarten Teacher

Kyri, a German native who moved to Seattle a few years ago, started her teaching career in Germany.

After graduating from Kiel University with the Staatsexamen I and the Master of Arts in English and German literature and German as a Second Language, she completed her Staatsexamen II with summa cum laude at a Gymnasium in Schleswig-Holstein, where she taught for 3 years until she moved to Seattle.

During her studies Kyri lived for some time in England, gained teaching experience in elementary schools in England and Germany and taught German as a Second language. After having moved to Seattle, she has continued teaching German as a Second Language at a Seattle College and is giving private tutoring lessons.

Kyri’s desire has been to return to school in order to be with children. She has been a teacher with SAGA School from the beginning and has gained a lot of experience in Early Childhood Learning since.

It is one of the most rewarding jobs for her, because she is able to present the German culture and German language to children growing up in Seattle, as well as contributing to the German community. She believes that an immersion setting is the best way to learn a language, to develop an understanding for another culture and to encourage children to be citizens of the world.

Her other interests include family, traveling, German literature, maintaining a very active lifestyle and learning foreign languages. Her approach to life as well as teaching is to live every day as fully as possible, care for the mind as well as the body and create an environment that makes living and learning enjoyable and purposeful in a positive atmosphere.

Henrica Lajoie
Kindergarten Teacher

I was born and raised near Munich, Germany. After graduating from High School (Abitur), I received my Elementary School teaching degree (Staatsexamen I) at the Otto-Friedrich University of Bamberg and my Staatsexamen II in Planegg. At the SAGA school, I have been teaching Preschool, Kindergarten and After School Programs since Spring 2007. I have also been teaching Elementary School classes at the Eastside German Language School (EGLS) on Saturdays in Issaquah since the Fall of 2007.

As a teacher I enjoy working with children of any age and seeing them grow and learn new things every day. I love to teach the German language as well as social and emotional skills. To help them develop in these areas and make learning German fun, I incorporate all kinds of games, German songs, crafts and different activities.

Marie Rubin
Preschool Teacher

Marie is originally from Switzerland and holds a B.A. in Drama and Set Design from the Colorado College. She is really excited to join the SAGA School team as a head teacher this year and is thrilled to have found a place to pass on her German and Swiss heritage AND use all of these overflowing artistic skills.

"I strongly believe in building self-esteem in children by establishing a strong sense of ability, accomplishment and personal boundaries. I particularly like to achieve this through a lot of art, play, music and movement. If children can understand that there are fun ways to learn difficult or sometimes seemingly uninteresting things, then learning can become a lifetime of amusement!"

Marie speaks both High German, and Swiss German as well as English, French and Spanish.