Our Staff

Our loving staff has over 100 collective years of experience working with children!

Pastor Susan Smith
​Preschool Director

​In her role as the children's pastor at Willow Glen UMC, and Director of Woodhaven Preschool, Susan is committed to providing a place where children and families can grow together in their faith, experiencing God's presence in their lives and learning to respond to that incredible love.  Susan's husband is a high school teacher in the area and her son attends UC Davis.  When she's not at church or preschool, Susan enjoys reading, knitting, running, hiking and getting outside to the beach or the hills.

Michelle Partsch
​Executive Assistant

Miss Michelle is now in her 11th year at Woodhaven. She was an Aide and Preschool Teacher before transitioning into the office. She loves getting to know all of the children and their families, and supporting Susan and our teaching staff. It has been fun to combine her background in project management with her teaching experience into the Executive Assistant role. She and her husband have three children, two of whom attended Woodhaven. When she's not volunteering with her kids' activities, she likes to travel, cook, and read.

Miss Yen
Pre-K Teacher

​Miss Yen has been teaching at Woodhaven since 2000. She loves shopping and traveling with family and friends and scrapbooking with her sisters and cousin. Watching the Food Network inspires her to cook and bake more often.

Miss Traci
Pre-K Teacher

​Miss Traci is now in her 12th year teaching at Woodhaven. She has a BA in Child and Adolescent Development from SJSU. In her spare time, Miss Traci and her fiance enjoy hiking with their dogs, going to Sharks games, and baking. She loves all things Disney and vacations there often.

Miss Sandra
Pre-K Teacher

Miss Sandra joined Woodhaven in 2016. In her spare time she loves to attend sports games and go to Disneyland. Working with children has always been a passion of hers. Miss Sandra is thankful to be an additional supporter to her students' lives to enhance and brighten their future!

Miss Reanna
Preschool Teacher

​Born and raised in Willow Glen, Miss Reanna taught pre-K and kindergarten before joining our staff five years ago. She likes to unwind as a family at the beach, at the lake, and watching movies with her husband and three boys.​

Miss Thilini
Preschool Teacher

Miss Thilini is very excited to start her third year at Woodhaven this fall. She was born in Sri Lanka and moved to the USA in 2008. She graduated from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka in Computer Science and worked for three years as an IT teacher. After coming to America, she became a stay-at-home-mom to take care of her children. When her youngest started preschool, she started working at a church preschool in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Woodhaven Preschool reminds her of the environment that she happily worked in for the last six years until her family moved to California in December 2018. Miss Thilini loves spending time with her family and gardening.

Miss Kristen
Preschool Teacher

Miss Kristen is now teaching her second year at Woodhaven.  Miss Kristen and her husband Stephen were members of WGUMC before they married more than 20 years ago. Their sons Ken and Julian are Woodhaven Preschool graduates who are now in college and high school.  A graduate of Santa Clara University, Miss Kristen is back in school at Grand Canyon University where she is wrapping up a master’s degree in early and special education.  As a parent in our local San Jose Unified School district, Miss Kristen is Chairperson for the Community Advisory for Special Education, Vice-President for Willow Glen Education Foundation, and volunteers as a peer-to-peer support parent for Parents Helping Parents. In the little bit of free time she has, Miss Kristen can be found gardening, walking the family dog, hiking, biking, or updating the decorations in the Willow Glen UMC Sanctuary!

Miss Nicole
Preschool Teacher and Preschool Aide

 ​Miss Nicole joined our staff as our Busy Bees' Aide in the Fall of 2021, and this year she is a Monkeys Teacher and our Busy Bees' Aide. Nicole was born and raised in the Bay Area. She graduated from UCSC with a BA in Sociology and then completed her education in early childhood development. Nicole taught preschool for eight years before having children. She also coached club volleyball for over 10 years in the bay area with her husband. Both of her daughters attended Woodhaven making friends they still see today. In her free time, Miss Nicole loves spending time outside with her family.

Miss Stephanie
Preschool Aide

Miss Stephanie was happy to join Woodhaven Preschool as a substitute teacher before she became our Monkeys' Aide in 2019. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Child Psychology from Sacramento State. She loves working with children and taught grammar school for 6 years on the Monterey Peninsula before moving to the Bay Area. She lives in Almaden with her husband and two girls. She was fortunate to have the opportunity to be home with them for the last 16 years. Being involved in their schools and travel sports has kept her very busy. She is having so much fun teaching at Woodhaven and is grateful for the time she spends working, laughing, and having fun with the children.

Miss Allie
Substitute Teacher

 ​Miss Allie joined our staff as a substitute teacher in the Fall of 2021. She is a former elementary school teacher who worked as a classroom teacher, as well as a special education aide. She has two young kids who both attended Woodhaven. In her free time, she loves spending time outside with her family, and making cookies. ​

Miss Sarah
Substitute Teacher

 ​Miss Sarah joined our staff as a substitute teacher in 2022. She was born and raised in Massachusetts and moved to the Bay Area in 2014.  Miss Sarah is a former 4th grade teacher, with a Masters degree in Elementary Education.  She has two children who both attended and loved Woodhaven. She loves spending time outside on adventures with her family, soaking in the beauty of the beach, and taking photos.  

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Miss Heather
Substitute Teacher

​A former elementary school teacher, Miss Heather also previously taught preschool at Woodhaven. She is very familiar with our program, as all four of her children attended Woodhaven. In her free time when she is not attending her children's activities, Miss Heather likes to garden and watch the Hallmark Channel.