Salmonberry School welcomed its newest teacher into the community at a tea for parents and children at the school this week.

Linda Ellsworth brought her ukelele and entertained the children with folk songs and stories under the ripening cherries. A gentle breeze blew, the school’s chickens crooned and the kids nibbled on melon as Ellsworth regaled parents and children alike with stories from her life as a passionate educator of young children.

Ellsworth comes to Salmonberry from Seattle where she taught at the Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Co-op Preschool for 16 years. She has also taught at The Little School in Bellevue and has a combined 20 years of early childhood and elementary teaching experience.

Ellsworth will share her love for music, dance and arts, children’s literature and fostering children’s imaginative play with the Salmonberry Early Childhood program. She is also an accomplished textile artist, a spinner, weaver, knitter, sewer, birdwatcher and reptile expert.

“I love Orcas Island,” Ellsworth said. “This is where my husband and I had my honeymoon 30 years ago. I am so excited to have found a school like Salmonberry, where children are honored and respected.”

Salmonberry’s Early Childhood Program is currently open to enrolling children from three to five this summer. The multi-age, family-like classroom environment maintains a low student-teacher ratio with two teachers in an intimate, natural setting.

For more information about Salmonberry School visit www.salmonberryschool.org.