Administration

Early Childhood Program Director

Somer Serpe trained as an artist and as a teacher, earning her BFA degree at Parsons School of Design and her Masters in Waldorf Early Childhood Education at Sunbridge College. After teaching Nursery and Kindergarten at the Great Barrington Rudolf Steiner School for 15 years, Somer founded and leads Harmonious Child, a Parent and Child program for families with children birth to 4.  Somer was recently a Regional Representative for WECAN for seven years and continues to serve as a mentor and site visitor for teachers and schools as well as an inspirational coach for parents. She leads workshops and parent education opportunities online and around the country. In the classroom, Somer enjoys gardening, puppetry,  singing, purposeful work and creating healing stories for children and parents. At Sound Circle, Somer is inspired by the integrative and healing approach of using artistic and biography practices to deepen our understanding of anthroposophy and the unfolding child.

Grades Program Director

Daniel Packer studied philosophy at Tufts University, and the evolution of consciousness in graduate school at the California Institute of Integral Studies. His studies traced the metamorphoses of cultural world-conceptions throughout the course of history, involving the integrated developments of the arts, sciences, and religious expressions over time. He discovered a love and inspiration for teaching, and has ever since applied his studies in the context of human development by working intensively with Rudolf Steiner’s educational indications as a grades class teacher, high school humanities teacher, and mentor at Waldorf schools. He completed his Waldorf teacher training at the Center for Anthroposophy, and he was a part of founding an experimental high school program that prioritized the cultivation of living thinking and the evolution of consciousness.  He went on to develop new capacities through further training in the art of eurythmy, and for the past few years he has been teaching courses on the pedagogical and anthroposophical foundations of Waldorf education at Sound Circle, as well mentoring local schools. Daniel reveres the task of education as a true vocation, which is nothing less than the very practice of the evolution of consciousness. The students (and teachers alike), as developing and self-unfolding human beings, within a morally significant and imaginatively resonant world-process, are the very beings who carry the past, present, and future within them. He believes that parents and teachers carry an enormous potential and responsibility in this regard, and he hopes to inspire and cultivate a love for this mighty task, along with the capacities to meet it. He lives outside of Salem, Oregon on a homestead (a tree-farm) with his wife (a eurythmist) and their dog (an animal): all of whom ask and support him to grow in unexpected ways.

Administrator

Bryan McGriff grew up in the Pacific Northwest and has called the region home for a majority of his life. Bryan was first introduced to Waldorf education in 2003 when he and his wife enrolled their oldest child at Bright Water Waldorf School in Seattle. Since that time, he has been inspired by the dedication of Waldorf teachers, the depth of the Waldorf curriculum, and the principles that guide the work of a school and its whole community. In 2006, he became the school's Movement Teacher, enrolling in the Spacial Dynamics training, and completing a five year course in movement for Waldorf educators and professionals. After a decade of teaching Movement, expanding the school’s athletic program, and serving in a variety of leadership roles, he became Bright Water’s Development Manager as well as the Self-Study Coordinator for the school’s accreditation process with AWSNA and NWAIS. In 2019, he became the Development Manager at Seattle Waldorf School before moving to Port Townsend in 2020 to become the Educational Director of Sunfield Farm and Waldorf School.  Bryan is a graduate of the University of Washington and attended Leading With Spirit’s three year training on the Art of Organizational Leadership in Waldorf schools. He has worked closely with Sound Circle Center for Arts and Anthroposophy, initially completing the foundation year for Waldorf teachers at SCC, serving as a faculty member for a number of years and eventually becoming a member of its board in 2019.

Grades Practicum Supervisor

Sally Boyd’s love of learning inspired her in her studies in English at Portland State University, in Waldorf Teacher Training at Sunbridge Institute, in Goetheanum Studies at Rudolf Steiner College, and in many curriculum and anthroposophical courses. She began class teaching on Orcas Island and then took three classes grades 1-8 at the Kimberton Waldorf School in Pennsylvania. She then moved to Whidbey Island and taught as a special subject and class teacher at the Whidbey Island Waldorf School. During her 34 years of teaching, she also mentored teachers, led teacher training courses, and taught blocks at different Waldorf schools. Now retired from class teaching, Sally finds time to read, explore different arts, garden, and help homeschool her grandchildren. 

Early Childhood Program Advisor

Holly Koteen-Soulé was an early childhood educator for 25 years at both the Seattle Waldorf School and the Bright Water School.  She was one of the founding faculty members of Sound Circle Center and was for many years the SCC Early Childhood Director.  In August of 2024, she stepped back from the role of Director, but continues to teach courses at Sound circle and to work as an EC advisor. During her career, she also served on the WECAN Board and as the Chair of the WECAN Teacher Education Committee.  Currently, she is a member of the WECAN Early Childhood Research Group and the Pedagogical Section Council for North America.