Our Educators

All Odyssey Educators are CPR & First Aid certified, food handler certified, have taken child abuse & neglect awareness classes and
are registered in Oregon’s child care division’s criminal history database.

Tara Clark, MSW - “Miss Tara”, Owner & Executive Director

Tara Clark, operates from evidence-based practice, research, practice wisdom and personal experience. Odyssey Preschool focuses on the whole child and thus, believes in a holistic approach, delivering methods from early childhood education, psychology & social work best practices.

Tara has a special interest in empowering women, parents & children and an invested interest in empowering our military families. She is a mother of two and a military spouse of 14 years with her husband currently serving in the Marine Corps as a Career Recruiter. Tara received her AA in Arts & Sciences in 2004. After working in administration for several years, Tara returned to school to pursue her passion for helping others and graduated in 2011 with her Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) from George Fox University. She completed her Master of Social Work (MSW) with the University of New England December 2013. Tara’s studies have included a focus on environmental influences on human development & behavior, psychology, childhood attachment theories, trauma and military culture.

Tara has experience working in both a preschool and daycare environment, mentoring at-risk youth with Sherwood’s Willamette School House, working with and assessing children and older adults with physical and/or mental disabilities, matching volunteers with children & older adults, starting mother’s of infant/toddler support & play groups, spending time with Portland’s homeless, working as a county mental health assistant providing case management, screenings and leading A/D & wellness groups, volunteering within Marine Corps family readiness as an assistant & advisor to the Marine Corps Recruiting station Portland’s Commanding Officer, founding a non-profit empowering our Nation’s military families residing in Oregon, working as a Vet Center trauma and PTSD readjustment counselor providing therapy & crises intervention to our military’s Combat Veterans, volunteering within the Clark’s residing churches, sponsoring a Rwandan child through African New Life Ministries, educating, building community relations, providing preventative care and advocating for the vulnerable and promoting community change. Tara has attended several trainings, which have included family readiness, life skills, preschool, developmental disability, operational stress, trauma, suicide prevention and customer service.

In addition to providing excellent care to her preschool’s children, Tara hopes to facilitate awareness, discussion and action within her community to raise standards of excellence in education and providing safe & nurturing environments for the communities’ children. She believes building community relationships will produce resilient, strong, culture & diversity aware, smart and caring children residing in Oregon. Tara opened Odyssey Preschool in May of 2014. The Marine Corps unexpectedly relocated the Clark family to the San Diego CA area in March 2015. Tara realizes the need for quality care outside the Portland area remains and has committed to keeping Odyssey Preschool open for years to come! Two additional schools have been open since!

Tara loves positively impacting children, gardening, nature, traveling, photography, cooking, art, interior decorating & creating.

Raeme Falco, “Miss Raeme”, Director

Welcome Raeme! Raeme was born and raised in Oregon and is the middle child of five. Ever since the adoption of her two younger brothers when she was 11 years old, Raeme was drawn to a career in social services. As a teen, Reaeme babysit and was a camp counselor to preschool-age children. Once a young adult, to better understand the dynamics and effects of trauma, Raeme pursued and obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Oregon in Family and Human Services and minor in Special Education in 2012. Raeme has experience working with children and adults with special needs and mentoring rural at-risk youth and also experience in training and supervising staff. Raeme spent 3 years working on the treatment team with emotionally disturbed youth at Jasper Mountain, a residential treatment facility. This experience intensified her understanding of the correlation of early childhood experiences and outcomes of physical, mental, and emotional health. This essential knowledge and strong desire to positively impact her community inspired Raeme to seek a position as a child welfare caseworker for the State of Oregon where she was able to advocate for at-risk and highly vulnerable children. Raeme is very excited to shift her focus to early intervention at Odyssey Preschool. Raeme has been drawn to the inherent curiosity, creativity, and imagination young children so readily exhibit. Raeme is excited to be a part of Odyssey preschool to impact the early educational experiences children have here while imparting empathy, laughter, exploration, and fun.

Raeme loves her animal fur babies, going on adventures with her husband, gardening, holidays, and spending time with her family.

Dalia Rocha, "Miss Dalia", Circle Time Licensed (in process) Primary Educator

Welcome Dalia! Dalia was born and raised in Oregon. Dalia joined our team with a passion in her heart to make a difference in young children’s lives. Dalia comes to us with both customer service experience working at Apple and unique experiences in childcare. Dalia’s experience in childcare consists of babysitting & nanny work, mentoring middle school age children though the Intercambio program providing life skills, moral support, tutoring & positive activities and more recently with Metzger Elementary’s dual language kindergarten class as a teacher’s assistant. In addition, Dalia is bilingual, Spanish/English. She is currently enrolled in Portland Community College's Early Childhood Development degree. Dalia joined Odyssey Preschool with a lot of enthusiasm and positive energy and looks forward to the reward of facilitating our children’s growth. Dalia teaches through play and exploration, our youngest Circle Time children and teaches our music program for CT and PT school's students in Spanish.

Dalia loves children, hiking, going to the beach, cooking, photography, arts & crafts and watching soccer.

Emily Pelot, "Miss Emily", Circle Time Educator

Welcome Emily! Emily was born and raised in Oregon and has greatly enjoyed growing up in the Pacific North West. Emily graduated with her Bachelor’s in Social Work (BSW) from George Fox University in April of 2017. Over the years, she has had many diverse experiences working with children varying in age from 6 months to 18 years as a camp counselor, nanny and a trauma relief nursery assistant teacher. Emily has discovered her passion to work with young children as they bring to light a unique sense of excitement and joy to life. She feels that each child deserves to know they are loved, appreciated, and have the opportunity to grow and learn in a safe environment. Emily is excited to help foster healthy development and environments as well as continue to grow and learn at Odyssey working with little hearts and minds.

Emily enjoys fueling herself with lots of coffee, going to the theatre, helping children grow, hiking, reading, swinging in a hammock, and traveling with her friends and family.

Allison Momb, "Miss Allison", Intermediate Preschool Time Licensed Primary Educator & Assistant Director

Welcome Allison! Allison is originally from Spokane, WA and is one of eleven children (with step brothers and sisters included!). Allison graduated with her Bachelor's in Social Work (BSW) from George Fox University in April 2017 and is currently completing her Masters in Social Work from the University of Southern California. Allison is passionate about social work; helping people meet their life goals. Allison has experience in customer service working in retail, has three years of experience with caregiving for older adults and interned with Odyssey Preschool for her senior BSW year. A fun fact about Allison is she was an exchange student to Ecuador for a year in high school through Rotary. Allison is bilingual in Spanish/English and teaches music in Spanish to her school's students! Allison loves interacting with children and can’t wait to teach Odyssey Preschool students’ good communication skills and foster a healthy and positive learning environment for them over the span of the next year.

Some of her many hobbies include reading, writing, sports, traveling, and taking care of her cat, Bodie.

Kelsey Heath, "Miss Kelsey", Intermediate Preschool Time Educator

Kelsey was born and raised in Beaverton, Oregon and has twin three-year-old sisters whom she adores. She has studied Spanish for years and is currently learning Swedish. She is currently enrolled in a Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology degree at Portland State University. After her undergraduate program, she hopes to pursue a Masters and Psy.D. in Child Psychology and eventually open a private practice. Kelsey began working with special needs children as a skills trainer in 2015, which gave her a passion for teaching and working with kids. She is particularly passionate about aiding in development of socio-emotional skills in young children to best prepare them for the next steps in their lives. She has taken coursework in art therapy and thinks that art and visual learning are critical to early development. Additionally, she has spent time teaching in a preschool setting along with babysitting and caregiving independently. She identifies strongly with Reggio-Emilia education philosophies and believes that children learn best when given opportunities to be curious and explore.

Kelsey enjoys hiking, climbing, painting, petting dogs, and exploring the PNW.

Amanda Schmaltz, "Miss Amanda", Intermediate Preschool Time Afternoon Educator

Welcome Amanda! Amanda was born and raised in Oregon where she has gained an immense love for nature and going on outdoor adventures. Amanda graduated with her Bachelor’s in Psychology with a minor in Educational Psychology from Western Oregon University in June of 2017. In her time at Western, she worked with middle school through college students as a teaching assistant and mentor for at-risk youth. Her passion for younger children was sparked when she met her long-term boyfriend’s daughter and instantly fell in love with her as well as her zeal for learning and exploring the world. She feels there is something indescribably invigorating about helping a child to learn and grow in all aspects of life. Through her work with adolescents, understanding the positive impact of early intervention for a child’s future, Amanda is inspired to work to enhance the lives of children by offering them support, compassion and education in any way that she can. She takes pride in implementing this at Odyssey Preschool.

Amanda loves hiking, road trips, concerts of all genres, reading, dogs, and spending quality time with her incredible family.

Natalie Salgado, MA - "Miss Natalie", Preschool Time Licensed Primary Educator

Welcome Natalie! Natalie grew up in the Carolinas before moving to Oregon in 2015 in pursuit of a master’s degree in Global Development and Justice (MAGDJ) at Multnomah University. Natalie has experience working as a nanny, provided childcare to traveling private companies and the US military, mentored young children using art as a medium and has worked as a global advocate for those impoverished. Her passion is helping others find ways to live a fully present and engaging life. Helping people experience “life to the fullest” (John10:10) is what propelled her into an intensive two-year study of the structures and patterns that keep individuals, families, and communities from thriving and finding solutions to overcome those barriers. This is where she finds herself in her present work – helping children and families find a safe and secure start into the beautiful journey of life through education. She is joyfully embracing her time at Odyssey Preschool as an opportunity to live, learn, and grow with the beautiful children and families in her new home community.

Natalie enjoys being married to an incredibly charming husband, taking photographs, growing in faith, enjoys a sense of community and making seemingly simple moments something precious and memorable.

Alexandra Hartman, "Miss Alexandra", Preschool Time Educator

Welcome Alexandra! Alexandra grew up in New Mexico and moved to Oregon to join Odyssey Preschool after completing her undergraduate degrees in physics and speech pathology from New Mexico State University. Her home school education prior to attending high school taught her the value of teaching students to their abilities and interests instead of following traditional curricula. She has always had a passion for working with young children and for teaching those around her. Whether this was expressed through babysitting, assisting children with disabilities, tutoring friends and peers or taking on leadership roles in organizations to provide younger students with foundational life skills, she loves to guide young people. She desires to pursue further early childhood development education. Alexandra comes to us with a strong understanding in both Spanish and ESL languages.

Alexandra loves reading, playing with her dog, crocheting and baking!

Makayla Fitchett, "Miss Makayla", Substitute Educator

Welcome Maykayla! Makayla graduated with her Bachelor's in Social Work (BSW) from George Fox University in April 2017 and is completing her Masters in Social Work at GFU in spring of 2018. Makayla was born and raised in Pasco Washington. She is one of three siblings. Makayla has several years experience volunteering in the community, babysitting, nannying and has had the pleasure of working with children with intellectual & developmental disabilities at the Arc of Tri-cities. She has also interned and worked at Odyssey Preschool since summer 2016. Makayla’s future interest is working as a child's play therapist. She has a passion for working with children as they give her great joy. She is very excited to be part of the Odyssey Preschool educator team engaging the preschool children in their growth and development.

Makayla loves tennis, animals, crafts, playing with children, shopping, and meeting new people.

Sini Mullins, "Miss Sini", Substitute Educator

Welcome Sini! Sini is born and raised in Finland. Sini came to the United Stated in 2007 as an AuPair. After finishing two years as an AuPair, she met her husband and moved to Oregon in 2010. Sini has experience working with children in daycare, as a nanny, as a riding instructor, as a teacher teaching Finish at the Portland Finnish School and as a mom to a preschooler. Sini is working toward her Early Childhood Education and Family Studies AAS degree. Sini loves working with the Reggio Emilia Approach at Odyssey Preschool.

Sini enjoys training horses, making crafts with her daughter and getting out for adventures with her family.

Lori, "Miss Lori", Substitute Educator

Lori grew up in central California with two sisters. She received a BA in Education with a Special Education minor from Dordt College, Iowa, in 1985. After marrying her college sweetheart, Don, they moved to the Bay Area where she taught 2nd Grade at San Jose Christian School for five years.
Don and Lori have four adult children. Lori home-schooled all four children in their early years. Lori loves to teach young children and often led them in musicals, Sunday school and VBS programs at their church. She admires the Reggio Emilia style of teaching that Odyssey offers - imaginative play and hands-on learning. This was how she taught her little ones. Lori and her husband have resided in Oregon for over 25 years now. Their children are in the fields of teaching, web design and athletics (decathlete).

Lori enjoys riding tandem with her husband, fitness with friends, spending time with grandchildren and co-leading women’s bible studies.

Meet the entire Clark family!

The Clark family welcomes you to Odyssey, their in-home Preschools!
The Clark's enjoy spending time with each-other, traveling, good food, music, their community, cool parks, farms, camping, quading, motorcycles, snowboarding, boating, the sunshine, the beach, hosting friends into their home, their church, family, holidays, learning about different cultures, art, gardening, golf, karate, dancing, tinkering, Home Depot, legos, checking out new library books, princesses, tea parties, Star Wars, pirates, essential oils, learning new things, being American patriots and lots of adventures. The Clark family currently resides in the San Diego area of CA.