Teaching Team & Staff

Jessie Beyer

Born and raised in Seattle, Jessie attended Seattle Public Schools but gained her love of learning for learning’s sake when she attended a Montessori school during pre-school and kindergarten. Jessie graduated from Central Washington University with a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy with an emphasis on non-profit and government accounting, then went on to get her CPA license. She worked in public accounting for over 14 years specializing in small business and biotech. Wanting to get back to more soulful aligned accounting work she worked at a local Waldorf School before joining The Attic. She has always had a deep interest in the nonprofit world and education so working at The Attic is the perfect marriage of those interests. In her free time Jessie creates stained glass, reupholsters furniture, crochets, takes horseback riding lessons and spends time with her husband and two rescued English Bull Terriers.

Melissa Eriksen

Bio coming soon!

Brent Hood

Bio coming soon!

Trent Latta

Trent is an actor, writer, and comedian based out of Seattle, Washington. He’s been performing professionally since he was 11 years old and has performed in theatrical productions in Seattle, Chicago, and Los Angeles and can be seen in many short films, feature films, and television shows.

Angie Lazzar

Angie has worn many hats in the ten years she has worked for private schools, from Office Manager and Assistant to the Head of Schools, to her current role as Director of Marketing and Admissions. She loves the balance in her current role of creativity and story-telling in marketing, and the community building and support in her Admissions position. Angie loves serving the wonderful Attic community!

Angie is an accomplished painter with both local and international collectors. In her free time she enjoys travelling, creating art, listening to music, and gathering with friends and family.

Alison Letfus

Alison joined The Attic Learning Community as the Fundraising Coordinator in 2014. Her belief that public service is at the heart of healthy communities is what drew her into the non-profit sector. Alison grew her career in non-profit development while living in New Zealand for eight years. She held positions at the HELP Foundation, the Auckland SPCA, and the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind. She specializes in revitalizing underperforming fundraising programs by reactivating donors, writing successful grant applications, building mutually beneficial relationships with major donors, introducing successful direct mail programs, and implementing large fundraising events.

Alison attended the University of Idaho, earning a BS in public communication and writing. She and her husband are the parents of two young children, one a Field and Forest learner. Alison is proud to work at The Attic and to be a part of reimagining what education can be for our children.

Catherine Lewis

Catherine Lewis (she/her) is so excited to be teaching Merganser and Raven classes, as well as being The Attic Program Assistant. Catherine worked at The Attic from 2008 to 2016 and is returning after some time away during which she earned her Master’s degree in Contemplative Education from Naropa University, explored Montessori philosophy at the adolescent level, and had her son, Oliver, who is now two-and-a-half years old. Catherine is a passionate, creative, life-long educator who strives to create and maintain learning communities where all members feel known and valued. As a strong believer and proponent of The Attic philosophy, she is looking forward to getting to know the current Attic while working to support its ongoing strength and success. Beyond teaching, she enjoys fiber arts, spending time outdoors, and writing.

Lauren Mathews

Lauren is beyond excited to work within an environment that places the students first and meets them where they’re at. She looks for equity across the system and advocates for the students and families who need an extra person in their corner. Lauren works hard to create a healthy and safe environment for all learners, because every student is worth it, capable, and deserves to be empowered by their education.

When with students, Lauren’s approach is a medley of solution-focused brief therapy, play and creative arts therapy, and cognitive-behavioral therapy theories. At The Attic, Lauren will offer individual and group work with students, as well as parent and staff education on a variety of topics related to the overall well-being of the community. She holds a MAC from City University of Seattle and a BA in English and secondary education from the University of Portland. 

In her free time, you can find Lauren reading and enjoying the rain with her cat, road tripping the West Coast with her partner, belting out at karaoke, jumping on any opportunity to host dinner parties, and embroidering gifts for her friends and family.

Freda Prouty

Freda was born, raised, and schooled in the city of Cork, Southern Ireland. After completing secondary school, she attended The Crawford Municipal school of Art, where she completed course work in metal design, art history, and charcoal sketching, before leaving Ireland to travel. She lived and worked in Europe (mainly Germany and Spain) for three years. Freda then returned to Ireland, where she worked for the next three years assisting in the field of occupational therapy for mentally and physically disabled youth until 1986. Freda has lived in the Seattle area since 1990. Over the years, she has traveled extensively, throughout Central and South America, the Greater Middle East, Asia, South East Asia and Australia, and she has worn many ‘noble’ hats to earn her keep along the way. Prior to joining Field & Forest, Freda worked as an assistant teacher at the Monarch Preschool in Seattle for ten years. She is the parent of an Attic alumna.

Grace Rogers

Grace grew up on the Kitsap Peninsula and attended the University of Washington in Seattle. In college Grace studied environmental science and landscape architecture. After graduating, she spent time exploring many different job opportunities and found herself working in fabrication labs and shops, construction sites, healing gardens, dog shelters, and classrooms. Grace developed a passion for cultivating learning environments, and found herself teaching outdoor preschool. She spent nearly 2 years teaching kiddos in unconventional classrooms in forests and on farms, and fell in love with the work. Grace recently got married and moved to Lynnwood with her husband and dog Winnie. Outside the classroom you can likely find Grace starting yet another project, either in her gardens, her garage workshop, at her sewing table, or somewhere cozy with some new yarn. Grace brings her enthusiasm for learning, and her grab bag of hobbies and interests with her to The Attic.

Dylan Ruef

Dylan joined The Attic’s teaching team in 2016, teaching social studies part-time while finishing his Masters in Teaching degree at Northwest College. After finishing his degree, he began teaching full-time at The Attic in the fall of 2017, teaching Middle and High School Programs history and social science classes, as well as Middle Program mathematics. Dylan himself was a student at The Attic Learning Community from 1999 through his high school graduation in 2010. He then attended Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, graduating in 2014 with a degree in political science. He also enjoyed attending Quiet Heart Wilderness School outdoor programs throughout his youth, ultimately working as a lead youth camp counselor for the summer program for several years.

Dylan not only understands the importance of intrinsic motivation and trusting the child, he has lived it throughout his own education.

Nick Satnik

Nick grew up in Bellevue and Redmond Washington while attending The Attic Learning Community for the whole of his K-12 education. After graduating he spent a year travelling the United States, visiting family and writing, before spending four years at Western Washington University. He entered college looking for a Statistics degree, but left it with a Creative Writing one instead. While he taught several classes as a student, Nick is excited to be returning to The Attic this year in an official teaching position to give a Thursday class on tabletop roleplaying games, game design, storytelling, and mathematics. In his writing and work outside of the teaching world, Nick strives to push the boundaries of conventional storytelling into unexplored pastures by using digital technology, tabletop role playing games, and innovating on genre stereotypes. He is a strong believer in the story’s profound ability to connect, and deepen the human experience, and wants to make that storytelling experience enjoyable and available to as many people as he can.

Jeremy Thomas

Jeremy began teaching at The Attic in 2018, where he leads middle and high school science classes and teaches math to learners of all ages, as well as taking care of facilities. He has been part of The Attic community, however, since 2009, when he enrolled his daughter as an Attic learner. He was drawn to The Attic because of its student-driven teaching philosophy. Children learn through discovery and natural interests, and The Attic recognizes this and structures itself around their needs. Jeremy earned a BS in physics from the University of Washington. Prior to joining The Attic’s faculty, he was a software developer for nine years, working in office products and video games, and later a stay-at-home dad.

Emma Tuck

Bio coming soon!

Sandi Wollum

Sandi was thrilled to join The Attic Learning Community as its Executive Director in July, 2024. She has been an educator for nearly 40 years in public and independent schools, and served as Head of School at Seabury School in Tacoma, Washington from 2005-2024.

Sandi is a passionate advocate for child-centered education that supports the intellectual, academic, social-emotional and developmental needs of each child. She was drawn to The Attic because our program is built around the interests, passions and strengths of children, and honors the wonderment of childhood.

Sandi is the mom of an adult son and is active in her community. She is a Rotarian and a Senior Fellow with the American Leadership Forum of Tacoma-Pierce County. She has served on a number of boards including as a member of the University of Puget Sound School of Education’s Educational Advisory Board (PSEAB), the private schools representative to the WAETAG board, and the WA State Gifted Advisory Board. Sandi founded and facilitates the Child-Centered Gifted Education Consortium through the Gifted Development Center.