Contact Information
| Phone: | (253) 838-0507 |
| Fax: | (253) 838-6711 |
| Monday: | 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM |
| Tuesday: | 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM |
| Wednesday: | 10:00 AM - 8:00 PM |
| Thursday: | 10:00 AM - 7:00 PM |
| Friday: | 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM |
| Saturday: | 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM |
| Sunday: | Closed |
Meet the Tutors
Our Sylvan trained and certified tutors are dedicated to your child’s success. Working together with you, we will:
- Pinpoint your child’s learning needs using the Sylvan Skills Assessment®
- Develop a personalized learning plan based on your child’s goals
- Offer unique insights about what will work for your child
- Teach each lesson the way your child learns best
- Build a relationship with your child to provide learning that’s fun, engaging and rewarding
Darcy Webb
Director
Darcy has worked for Sylvan since 1991, becoming the owner of the Federal Way center in 2000. Darcy is instrumental in the community, serving as a board member of Community in Schools of Federal Way, secretary for Service Excellence Group of Federal Way, a mentor for 2 girls at a local middle school, attending school events, community functions and volunteering in the school district.
Darcy has a B.A. in Communication Arts and a M.A. in Education, from Austin College in Sherman,TX. She taught 4th and 6th grade in Texas before returning to her native Washington. Darcy, her husband, and son moved to Federal Way in 2002 having learned that Federal Way is indeed, as it is touted, a great place to live, work and play. For fun, she teaches Sunday school for pre-K children at church, is treasurer for her son’s cubscout troop, competes in triathlons, volunteers with her family at a local pet shelter, is a foster parent for cats and kittens, and reads every chance she gets.
Morgan Griffith
Center Director
Morgan earned an Associates Degree in Art from Cottey College. She also studied abroad for a year in Regensburg, Germany. Morgan finished her education at the University of North Dakota where she graduated with a double major in Elementary Education and German and a Master's Degree in Elementary Education.
She has been a teacher with Sylvan since January of 2007 and in 2008 she moved to Federal Way to take on the role of Center Director. Morgan is an active member of the community as a mentor with Communities in Schools, a member of an organization called PEO that supports women's education, and also the Membership Director of Referrals Unlimited, a local business networking group. In her spare time, Morgan teaches Sunday school at her church and volunteers in the community, but she especially likes shopping, working out, watching movies, and spending time with friends and family.
Patty Cram
Director of Education
Patty has a B.S. in Music Education from Warner Pacific College in Portland, OR, and a M.Ed. with an emphasis in the Arts from Lesley University out of Boston, MA. Her favorite place to visit is Georgia because of all the amazing history down there. She enjoys collecting Snoopy/Peanuts things, fix-it work around the house, drawing and sketching. When asked what she likes best about working at Sylvan, she said, "The idea of helping students accomplish something they have struggled with."
Pat Farmer
Instructor
Pat was born in Louisville, Kentucky. She holds a B.S. in Education from Bowling Green University in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Of all the places she has lived, Pat liked living on the islands of Hawaii and Cuba best. Although totally different economically, she enjoyed the sense of community and family each one had.
Her favorite hobbies include reading, walking and the theater. She enjoys college basketball. She is a great Duke fan! She likes to read all types of literature.
When asked what she liked best about working at Sylvan, she replied, “I like working with small groups and seeing achievements come quicker for the student. I also appreciate the support from the staff and taking the time to read our comments and the quick turn around time.”
Melissa Tatum
Instructor
Melissa was born in South Carolina. She holds a B.A. in Intermediate Education, a Minor in Language Arts and a M.A in Education.
Her favorite hobbies and sports include basketball, football, gymnastics, shopping and decorating. She loves to read historical fiction novels.
When asked what she liked best about working at Sylvan, Melissa replied, “I enjoy working with a much smaller amount of students who want to learn and improve their skills.”
Jenny Shaw
Instructor
Jenny was born in Renton, Washington. She holds a degree in Cultural Anthropology from Western Washington University and a Masters in Teaching from City University.
Of all the places she has visited, she love Disney World because there is so much to do, anyone can have fun there and the weather is fabulous.
Her favorite hobby/sport are reading, knitting, playing computer games and training her dog Cillian. She loves to read science fiction, fantasy, kid’s books, contemporary fiction, historical fiction, Harry Potter and the Eclipse series of books.
When asked what she liked best about working at Sylvan, she replied, “I love getting to work with so many different kids in different subjects and skill levels. You can really see the difference you’re making.”
Marilyn Hobbs-Gibson
Instructor
Marilyn was born in Beemer, Nebraska. She holds a B.M.E. from Cornell College and fifth year at the University of Washington.
Of all the places she has visited, she likes Europe for its art and churches, Hawaii for its plants, birds and animals, England, and Spain/Portugal for its very different culture.
Her favorite hobbies include reading, gardening, knitting, walking, camping, traveling and bird watching.
She enjoys reading newspapers, historical and science fiction, American Heritage, National Geographic, and Cuisine.
When asked what she likes best about working at Sylvan, Marilyn replied, “I enjoy the social contact; teachers and children.”
Tamara Painter
Instructor
Tamara was born in Longview, Washington. Her first degree is from the University of Washington in Seattle. She also has a BA in International Studies and a Master’s degree from City University in Seattle.
Tamara has been all over the U.S. and many places in Europe. Of all the places she has visited, Tamara said her favorite place to visit is her mom’s cabin on Hood Canal because it is so beautiful and relaxing there.
One of Tamara’s favorite hobbies is reading. She especially likes to read the Wall Street Journal on-line and laugh with Stephanie Plum. She also enjoys detective novels and love store adventures such as Twilight. Even more than that, Tamara loves to read children’s adventure books like Harry Potter, Maximum Ride, and Charlie Bone novels.
When asked what she liked best about working at Sylvan, Tamara replied, “I really like working with kids! I love working one on one, finding what kids like, and making them laugh!”
Jessie Cram
Instructor
Jessica was born in Washington – in her parent’s home on Lake Tapps. She has a degree in English Education with a minor in French from Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington.
Of all the places she has visited, her favorite is Ireland. The Irish people are very polite and welcoming. The country is beautiful and the architecture is exquisite! Not to mention they have WAY-cool accents.
Jessica is a very sporty girl. Her hobbies include: water polo, ultimate Frisbee, horseback riding, volleyball, camping and reading. She enjoys reading, basically, everything. Mostly she finds herself reading novels of all genres.
When asked about working at Sylvan, Jessica said she loves the opportunity to work with students to grow together and improve brain power!
Judy Cowling
Instructor
Judy was born in San Francisco, California. She holds a B.A. in Earth Science Education from the University of Hawaii and an A.A. from Centralia Community College.
Of all the places Judy has visited she likes Kauai and Nice, France the best. Kauai has lovely mature beaches and a quiet atmosphere. Nice is easy to get around, has lots of museums and gardens, and is close to Monaco which is home to the Jacque Cousteau museum.
Her favorite hobbies include ballroom dancing, sewing, cooking, scuba diving, sailing and watching sunsets. She likes to read magazines and historical fiction.
When asked what she likes best about working at Sylvan, Judy replied, “I like the opportunity to meet the students’ needs on an individual basis. I also like that I can follow and document a program that someone else prescribes. I like being part of a team with great people. I always want to come to work here.”
Marilyn Anderson
Instructor
Marilyn was born in Seattle, Washington. She earned a double major in Elementary Education and Special Education from Central WAshington University and later received her Master's degree in Curriculum Deveopment for the Creative Arts from Lesley College.
Of all the places Marilyn has visited, she likes Italy the best because of the beautiful landscape and architecture. She also loves the beautiful Italian language and the people. Marilyn says the margharita pizza melts in your mouth! She especially enjoys Venice, Rome, and Capri.
In her spare time, Marilyn likes to dance (social wing, waltz, zydeco, folk-contra, and square dancing!). Her favorete genre of reading is biographies. She particularly likes the historical time frame and light mysteries.
When asked what Marilyn likes best about working at Sylvan, she mentioned that commented that she gets to work with great kids.
Chris Gall
Instructor
Chris was born in Exeter, New Hampshire. She holds a B.A. in History, a M.A. in Political Science, and a teaching certificate in Secondary Social Studies from WWU.
Of all the favorite places she has visited, Chris said that Moscow, Russia was the one she liked best because of the good people, great sites, interesting food and cheap stuff.
Her favorite hobbies and sports include drama and sewing. She likes to read non-fiction and true crime.
When asked what did she like best about working at Sylvan, Chris replied, “The kids and the adults.”
Jana Wayland
Instructor
Jana was born in Vancouver, WA. She attended the University of Portland in Portland, Oregon where she received a BA degree in Elementary/Middle School Education.
Of all the favorite places she has visited, Jana loves Australia. It has the most GORGEOUS sunrises and sunsets, not to mention that everybody she met there was incredibly welcoming and hilarious.
Her favorite hobby is collecting different decks of playing cards. She also loves baseball and football. Her favorite things to read are mystery novels, magazines, and definitely cookbooks, even though they always make her hungry.
When asked what did she like best about working at Sylvan, Jana replied, “I love being able to help others reach their potential. I just love to see the joy on the students’ faces when they reach that A-HA moment showing me that they now understand something that was once a difficulty. Plus I thoroughly enjoy teaching math for a living because it’s something everybody uses in their everyday lives.”
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