The Blue Igloo Playgroup
Washington, DC
A cooperative playgroup for children 6 months to 3 years old, meeting September through May in Washington, DC's Georgetown neighborhood.
Sabria has been with the Blue Igloo Playgroup ``since the day it opened its’ doors.” Sabria was born in Ourgla, Algeria to a diplomatic family. She worked as a flight attendant where she met her wonderful pilot husband Moncef.
In 1998, Sabria and Moncef moved to Washington, DC where Sabria worked as a certified nurse's aid and a nanny. In 2000, she co-founded Blue Igloo, and one year later began her role as Director of the playgroup. Sabria's love of children, boundless energy, enthusiasm, warmth and humor, not to mention her expertise in developing programs for young children, are at the heart of the Blue Igloo experience.
In addition to her leadership at Blue Igloo, Sabria teaches French, designs and sews beautiful children's costumes, sings, and smiles all the time. She has a degree in childcare management. Recently, Sabria and Moncef, and sister Shiraz, welcomed a new baby daughter into their family. Both Shiraz and Shanez attend Blue Igloo.
Luis is originally from Lima, Peru and has been living in Washington, D.C. since 1995. He moved here to pursue a music career and has found great success both domestically and abroad as bassist/vocalist for the band Nayas (which can be seen weekly at different venues around the city).
He brought traditional Andean music to children in DC schools, and thus began his life with little chairs and playdough. Luis became an assistant teacher and later Aftercare Director at the Oneness School in Bethesda MD. A thousand spills and band-aids later, he happily found himself at Blue Igloo. Working at Blue Igloo has introduced Luis to many firsts: first smiles, first dance moves, first steps.
A professional musician, Luis incorporates guitar into the daily routine of Blue Igloo. He introduces music, movement and rhythm to our little ones in their earliest stages. Luis loves to see the children soaking up the music and finds their quick minds in action quite amazing. He really believes in the power of these first interactions with music and language.
Luis shares his life with his lovely wife, Elizabeth, a professional photographer and native of California. They welcomed their delightful daughter Magdalena into the world in December 2008. He revels in each day of his new journey as a father and can't wait to see her face smiling among the other Baby Blues!
Ezree Mualem is originally from Manhattan Beach, California and is a graduate of American University. She has her BA in Psychology with an interdisciplinary minor in Theatre and Education. Ezree has always loved working with children, having been a tutor and nanny for many years. For the past two years she has worked at Horace Mann Elementary School in kindergarten and first grade classrooms, providing one-on-one assistance to children with special needs.
Back home, Ezree has also worked at Pacific Elementary School, helping coordinate the afternoon program. Ezree's studies in psychology and child development were combined with her focus in the incorporation of the arts in education. At the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Ezree studied puppetry and alternative art forms while researching the role of arts as an educational tool. Ezree has also been very active in Children's Theatre since high school, writing scripts and performing for children. She is looking forward to getting involved with projects such as Imagination Quest, a program designed to increase literacy in inner city schools through arts-based teaching. Ezree is thrilled to be at Blue Igloo and cannot wait to be around the children every day, enjoying art projects and story time together!