Dr. Custer earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has over 35 years of experience working in medical (Johns Hopkins, Children’s National Medical Center) and educational (Maryland, Illinois, Washington State) settings, and recently retired as a school psychologist.

UNDERSTAND: Through conversations with you and your child we will determine your child’s strengths and areas of concern. We will also review interventions that are in place at home and school, and any other relevant information.

ADDRESS: Careful evaluation, target academic skill strengths and deficits, and plan appropriate lines of interventions that address specific skill goals.

RESOLVE: Build your child’s academic confidence through effective, structured, in-person sessions.

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MarninSaylor is a little world of imagination tucked inside Seattle’s historic Pike Place Market. It’s the home of Donut Cat and the rest of the Pastry Pets; a whole crew of sweet, silly friends designed to bring smiles to kids and grown-ups alike.

Started by creative partners Skye Saylor and Thomas Marnin, MarninSaylor began with one quirky idea: what if a donut could be a cat, and what if Donut Cat could be a plush toy? What started in 2012 as a doodle and a few playful experiments quickly grew into a bustling creative studio and a colorful storefront filled with soft, funny, and totally lovable characters. MarninSaylor’s creations go beyond toys: they’re little reminders to slow down, laugh, and keep a sense of play in everyday life. Whether it’s a plush, a sticker sheet, or a coloring book, everything they make has a touch of sweetness and purrsonality baked in.

Every design begins in Seattle, where Skye and Thomas dream up each new character and bring their joyful ideas to life with color, humor, and heart. Inside their bright Pike Place Market shop, you might spot some Maple Bear (like a maple bar, get it?) merch or a whole lineup of Donut Cats ready to be adopted and taken home. The MarninSaylor store is a cozy, cheerful stop for families exploring the Market’s winding halls. You’ll often find Skye or Thomas behind the counter, happy to chat about their latest characters or help a little one pick out their very first Pastry Pet.

More than just a store, MarninSaylor is part of the Market’s artful heart. Skye and Thomas are proud members of Seattle’s creative community, and they love being surrounded by fellow artists and craftspeople who share their passion for bringing joy and authenticity to the city. Since opening their first Market table in 2013 and their flagship shop in 2019, MarninSaylor has grown a loyal following of fans who collect Pastry Pets and share them with family and friends around the world. But no matter how big the brand gets, the heart of it stays the same: a love for storytelling, design, and the simple happiness of something unexpected.

If you’re looking for a fun Seattle memory, a unique gift, or just a smile in plush form, come say hi at Pike Place Market. You can also find all of MarninSaylor’s creations, available for shipping worldwide, at MarninSaylor.com.

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Grades K-12

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Art of Problem Solving Academies in Bellevue and Redmond offer after-school and weekend math and language arts enrichment. In the AoPS classroom, our scholars (1st-12th grade) do the heavy lifting. Driven by rigor, creativity, and collaboration, we’re committed to empowering the next generation of problem solvers.

Grades 1 – 12

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Spring Street International School is a progressive, independent college-preparatory coed day and boarding school located in Friday Harbor— a small town on San Juan Island — approximately 100 miles northwest of Seattle. With a focus on experiential learning, we serve students from diverse backgrounds in grades 6-12. We build problem-solvers, team-players, learners and leaders through advanced academics and hands-on curriculum.

ACADEMICS: At Spring Street, teachers work to build relationships that prepare each student to meet the requirements of a rigorous curriculum, fostering the complex reasoning crucial to thriving in both college and life. Collaborating on projects, fieldwork, experiments, and presentations, students and teachers create meaningful understanding of themselves,their community, and their world.

EXPERIENTIAL EDUCATION: Classes at Spring Street might take place on campus through hands-on work, but it also takes place in the waters of the Salish Sea, on the trails and at lakes throughout the island, and at UW’s Friday Harbor Labs. Each fall and spring, the classroom expands to the trails of the North Cascades mountain range, to the streets of New York City, to the Himalayas, and beyond. Providing a global perspective through internships, museums, language immersion, trekking, homestays, and service projects, our expeditionary learning program challenges students to put theory into practice.

BOARDING: In a home-like setting, boarding students are nurtured by caring dorm parents in our spacious residence. From sharing meals as a family to daily chores, supervised study halls, and local weekend activities,the boarding program balances academics with the emotional, physical, and social needs of our students. (Our boarding program serves students in grades 8-12).

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Pike Market Child Care & Preschool is a high-quality early learning center in the heart of Downtown Seattle. Tucked away in historic Pike Place Market, our program offers skilled and nurturing educators, low ratios, and nutritious meals. Inclusive anti-bias practices are embedded in our child-centered education approach.

At Pike Market Child Care & Preschool, we provide far more than daycare. We are an early learning community that emphasizes social, emotional, and academic growth in an environment built on equity, belonging, and respect. Families find not just child care, but a place where children thrive, families feel supported, and lasting community is built.

Now enrolling infants, toddlers, and preschoolers – schedule a tour today!

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Our Pre-K through 5th-grade community operates on a simple premise: when children feel genuinely known, they take intellectual risks and advocate for themselves. With 9:1 ratios, teachers know students deeply, both academically and socially.

We believe parents are essential partners in their child’s education, collaborating on learning goals and celebrating milestones throughout each child’s journey.

Our students think independently, collaborate authentically, and approach the world with confidence and humility.

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At Bright Water Waldorf School, we provide more than just an education; we offer a dynamic journey that equips students to thrive academically and socially in an ever-evolving world. Our holistic approach nurtures the whole child, fostering not only academic excellence but also social awareness and emotional resilience.

Discover the transformative journey awaiting your child at Bright Water Waldorf School, where our Waldorf-inspired curriculum is meticulously crafted to ignite young minds at every stage of development. From the enchanting realms of early childhood to the empowering strides of eighth grade, we offer an educational arc that nurtures holistic growth and sparks a lifelong love for learning.

Nestled in Seattle’s vibrant International District, Bright Water stands as a beacon of educational excellence amidst the dynamic cityscape. Here, amidst the hustle and bustle, our students find solace in a nurturing environment that cherishes creativity, connection to nature, and the arts—values deeply embedded in the century-old Waldorf pedagogy.

Bright Water Waldorf School offers a developmentally appropriate, multidisciplinary, experiential, and academically rigorous approach to education for students through Grade 8. As students move through the grades, their education evolves into rigorous academics, vibrant arts, and character-building experiences. Subjects like lab sciences, physics, foreign languages, and history are taught in interdisciplinary blocks, while every student participates in music, theater, and handwork.

Our “micro middle school” program addresses the post-pandemic needs of youth, offering a learning environment that prioritizes active engagement over screens, fostering both emotional and intellectual growth. With a small student-teacher ratio, our middle school students receive individualized attention that encourages independent learning and healthy development. This leads to academic excellence and creative self-expression in an atmosphere of kindness and compassion. By eighth grade, our students are ready for high school with strong academic skills, a deep sense of self, and lasting relationships. At Bright Water, students graduate prepared for their next chapter—confident, capable, and curious.

Bright Water Waldorf School offers a STEAM based curriculum (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math), which includes an academically rigorous engagement with language arts, world and local history, the sciences, and mathematics. Every student’s learning experience is infused with music, movement, Aikido, world languages, and the arts.

At Bright Water Waldorf School, we prioritize uninterrupted, focused learning by maintaining a no-cell phone policy. This approach ensures that students engage fully in their education without distractions from media and technology. We are committed to providing an environment where analog teaching methods foster real-time, human-centered interactions, enriching the learning experience and supporting each student’s growth.

The Waldorf pedagogy balances academic, artistic, and practical activities. It develops the child’s self-confidence and self-reliance, while fostering personal integrity and a sense of social and environmental responsibility. The curriculum is crafted as an intentional journey to inspire morality through the cultivation of gratitude, reverence, and love for the world. Bright Water strives to evolve and re-imagine this holistic learning philosophy into a pedagogy that serves our students in the 21st century and beyond.

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FROG HOLLOW SCHOOL: WHERE YOUNG WRITERS THRIVE

Now in its 16th year, Frog Hollow offers full-day immersive Core Classes for homeschoolers in West Seattle and Carnation as well as online after school Young Writers’ Workshops for middle/high schoolers.

FOSTERING THE NEXT GENERATION’S VOICES

Our classes respect young writers as artists, humans, and children, giving them the skills to be articulate and powerful voices, making a space for them to be kids, and sparking their love of writing.

SPARKING EAGER AND RELUCTANT WRITERS

Frog Hollow’s curriculum centers on open, creative prompts. Classes are lively, excited spaces where enthusiasm for writing is infectious and everyone is encouraged to find their voice.

CORE CLASSES: IMMERSIVE LANGUAGE ARTS
The Frog Hollow Core Class curriculum integrates arts, music, social studies, mythology, and ecology into a solid core of language arts. Through a mix of writing, art projects, stories, games, and singing, students receive a firm foundation in creative writing, rhetoric, grammar, spelling, and literature.

In this comprehensive, in-depth class, we will immerse ourselves in language arts broadly and creatively. We will cover writing mechanics including spelling, grammar, and word roots in addition to writing poetry, stories, research projects, persuasive essays and more. We’ll explore storytelling, the history of the English language, and map-making as a narrative tool. Classes also incorporate art, singing, and active outdoor play and nature immersion.

YOUNG WRITERS’ WORKSHOP: CREATIVE CAMARADERIE

In the Young Writer’s Workshop, students meet weekly with other young writers. Classes are safe spaces to write about what matters to you, plumb the limits of your imagination, challenge yourself, try new forms and techniques, and develop your voice as a writer and a human being.

We explore writing fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. Every week we will learn about writing craft, practice writing techniques, and listen to each other’s work — and of course, we’ll write! Drawing on the work of contemporary and classic writers as well as our own lives and imaginations, we will experiment with many elements of creative writing, from metaphor and sound-play to dialogue and voice.

Located in West Seattle, Carnation and Online

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