

Welcome to


Shelley

Director
Shelley has a passion for children that stems from her youth. As a child herself, she
started working with kids and has never looked back. She is particularly drawn to age
1-3 year olds because of their curiosity about the world around them and how eager they are to
learn new things! Shelley understands how important education can be for a child at any stage in their life.
It’s her goal to make sure each child who attends her preschool has an engaging curriculum with plenty of opportunities for exploration and discovery; and to have fun while learning, too.
Shelley has a wealth of experience caring for children. She started working as an assistant in a 2-year old program, and as a caregiver to special needs children when she was just 17 years old. Since then, Shelley moved to the Washington D.C area where she spent 5 ½ years as a professional nanny caring for children 8 weeks - 9 years old, while also working at Kenwood Learn & Play in Maryland. She currently raises her own five children, plus fosters children from the area.
It's not only her extensive knowledge that sets her apart from other child caregivers; it is all the experiences with different age groups, backgrounds, and levels of development, which have helped make her such an adept caregiver.
Shelley is CPR, First Aid, and EMAT certified. She continues to build upon her child development skills through classes yearly while spending time with family and friends.
She loves cooking, reading, hiking, as well as being an active member at church. Shelley enjoys volunteering around her community, and finding ways to get her family involved, too.

Elana

Teacher

Elana is so thrilled to be working at Freetown Friends! She has lived in Reston all her life and has a great deal of experience with children due to her younger siblings and her babysitting jobs.
Elana finds that the curiosity that kids bring into the world is extremely needed and in times where reality can be daunting the imagination brought to us by the young children can be uplifting.
She likes to keep a spark of creativity and fun everywhere she goes and loves sharing it with the people around her. In her free time she enjoys doodling, trying new foods, shopping (a bit too much) and hanging out with her friends. Elana is a recent graduate of South Lakes High School and currently attending Northern Virginia Community College.
