Faculty & Staff

Ms. Brunetta was born and raised on the Gulf Coast in Mobile County, Alabama. In June of 2018, Ms. Brunetta, her husband, and their two children, relocated to Washington State. Ms. Brunetta received her Bachelor’s Degree in Education from the University of Mobile in Mobile, Alabama. Ms. Brunetta is back in school and is currently pursuing her Masters in Education. She has had extensive training in early and elementary childcare with over 14 years of experience working with children both in the school and home settings. Ms. Brunetta stated, “I realize that childcare and education are constantly changing, therefore, I am always willing to learn new things to better myself so that I can provide better services to the children in my care. I consider it a privilege and honor to support the amazing teachers and staff at Park Highland in providing your children with excellence in Early Childhood Education.”

This is Heather’s first year as Director of Cedar Crest Academy’s Kirkland campus. She has considered this school her home for over a decade now. Heather started at the Kirkland Campus in 2008 shortly after the school opened. It’s been an incredible journey growing from a floater, to preschool teacher, to creating the preschool curriculum and training new teachers as the Curriculum Supervisor. Heather has been dedicated to growing professionally while facilitating Cedar Crest’s growth by thinking of the school in its entirety and cultivating ideas that will impact our entire community. This new role will allow her the opportunity to further develop professionally while making a positive impact on all students, parents, and staff.

Linda grew up in Northern Ireland and went to university in Stirling, Scotland where she received a B.Sc. Hons in Psychology. She is married with two boys, now in their 20’s. She initially worked as a Social worker for adults with learning disabilities and then having completed a management certification went on to manage a Drop-In Center for the Elderly in England. When she and her family immigrated to the USA in 2003 she worked as a teacher for Preschoolers with Autism in LWSD for 5 years and subsequently as a Prek lead at Timberlake Christian Preschool for 3 years. She started working for Cedar Crest Academy in 2014 first as a Preschool teacher and then a year later as Director – a job she loves! Linda is currently working on her Washington State Certificate for Early Childhood Education.

Vinu Vijay is very excited to continue as the Elementary Director at Cedar Crest Academy. She has been part of the Cedar Crest’s family for six years now and has had the opportunity to teach Pre-K, First, Second, and Third Grade. During her time here, she has loved getting to know all the children and appreciated working closely with so many of the parents.Vinu has an Honors in Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Education from the University of Ottawa, and a Master’s in Education with a focus on Instructional Leadership from the University of Washington. She has lived in Seattle for five years now and before this, she was the Academic Head at a private school in Toronto, Canada. She was also a middle-school and high-teacher, with a focus on math and science.

Through her reflections over the years in education, she is excited to see not only how this school has grown over the years in numbers, but also in spirit and passion. As the next Elementary Director, she wishes to help this school continue flourishing and create a consistent environment in which the children can shine.Her educational philosophy is to motivate children to be not only strong in academics, but also teach them how to be good, well-rounded members of the community. She believes that a child’s success is mainly dependent on how we can come together as a team. In order to create this team, her goal is to create an open and honest communication channel with the parents every step of the way.

Ashley was born in California and lived in Nevada and Michigan before settling in Washington in 2008. She started as the Director of the Preprimary Program at Cedar Crest Academy Bellewood in 2018. She has been working with children regularly since 2013 as a nanny, teacher, and Director. She is finishing her degree in Psychology with an emphasis in children and families and has studied leadership through the training programs provided by the Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Within Cedar Crest, she has trained under the leadership of Linda Thelin, a long-time Cedar Crest Director and Heather Carpenter, a veteran in the education field! In her spare time, she loves to spend time with her little one, cook healthy meals, run, and do Zumba!