Our teachers
At the Swedish School in Washington DC, we have a dedicated and experienced team of teachers with deep roots in both the Swedish language and Swedish culture. Our teachers and principals contribute with broad pedagogical expertise and extensive experience from both Sweden and the USA. Together, they are passionate about promoting children's language development and creating an inspiring learning environment where the Swedish language and traditions can live on - even far from home.
Jenny Pugh & Tove Elfström
Principals
Jenny and Tove share the role of principal at the Swedish School in Washington, DC, where they together lead the educational work and work to preserve and strengthen the students' Swedish language and culture.
Jenny and Tove collaborate closely with the teaching staff, the board and guardians to ensure high quality teaching and develop the school's operations for the future.
Veronica Yarbray
Mom & Dad group
Veronica is a teacher for our youngest children. She grew up in Helsingborg and moved to the DC area in 1999. She lives in NoVA with her husband, two children, and a stubborn golden retriever.
The best thing about Swedish School is experiencing how the community develops between parents and children, while at the same time providing an insight into Sweden and Swedish for the youngest children, in a fun and stimulating way.
Maya Aldaz-Leander
The Playgroup
Linnéa was raised in Washington DC with a Swedish mother and Peruvian father. As a child she attended the Swedish School, but moved to Gothenburg for high school. Now she has found her way back to Washington DC where she works with aid at the Pan American Development Foundation.
The best thing about the Swedish School is that with the help of Moomin, Alfons, Bamse and all the other Swedish childhood favorites you get the opportunity to sing, read and do crafts with your children.
Agatha Facchini
The Playgroup (Assistant)
Agatha grew up in Stockholm and attended high school in Lund before moving to DC to study psychology. She speaks Swedish, English and Italian and has lived in seven countries, but Sweden has always been her home. Alongside her studies, she works at a preschool in Virginia.
Agatha loves working with children and especially appreciates their curiosity and playfulness. At the Swedish School, she enjoys sharing the Swedish language and culture and creating a fun and safe environment where the children can feel close to Sweden.
Sofia Aldaz-Leander
Knattegruppen
Sofia moved to the Washington, DC area five years ago. She attends Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and has two years of high school left. She has experience working with children as a lifeguard and babysitter.
Sofia enjoys introducing children to Swedish culture and especially enjoys seeing their curiosity and engagement when they learn new things.
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Inez Rawet
Knattegruppen (Assistant)
Ines moved from Sweden to Bethesda 2 years ago. She is in her second year of high school at Bethesda Chevy Chase High School.
The best thing she knows about working with children is how happy they are and seeing them develop throughout the year.
Jenny Pugh
Group 1
Jenny has worked as a teacher at the Swedish School since 2007. She is originally from Vimmerby in Småland and moved to the USA in 1996. Jenny is a trained preschool teacher and lives in Alexandria with her husband and daughters.
The best thing about working at the Swedish School, according to Jenny, is getting to know so many families and following how the children's Swedish develops during the year.
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Özge Barış-Tüzemen
Group 1 (Assistant)
Özge lives in Tysons with her husband and son and works as a teacher in Fairfax County. Before moving to the US, she was a visiting scholar at Uppsala University, where she also studied Swedish. Özge is very curious about the Swedish language and culture.
The best thing about Swedish School, according to Ozge, is the opportunity to share their appreciation of the language and culture with children and young people - and to make Saturdays really fun!
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Ingrid Ljungholm
Group 2
Ingrid was born and raised in Sweden and moved to the United States in 1989. Today she lives in Alexandria, Virginia, where she works with The Salvation Army with her husband Lars-Otto. She also has a background in music and teaching, both in Sweden and the United States.
Ingrid really enjoys working with children and young people and looks forward to Saturdays at Swedish School. She hopes to create a fun and safe environment where students can use Swedish and take part in Swedish culture.
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Johanna Bergenholtz
Group 3/4
Johanna is originally from Småland and spent her last years in Sweden in Helsingborg. She came to the US as an au pair in 2001 and currently works as a personnel officer at the Swedish Embassy in Washington, D.C.
After teaching at the Swedish School 17 years ago, Johanna is now back and finds it incredibly fun! According to Johanna, the best thing about the Swedish School is the community and the opportunity to pass on the Swedish language, culture and love for Sweden to the next generation. And coffee of course!
Gunneli Cambata
Group 5
Gunneli has been teaching at the Swedish School since 2010 and is primarily responsible for grade 5. She grew up in Sundsvall and describes herself as a Norrland native in both heart and soul. She works as a substitute teacher at several schools and enjoys spending her school holidays in Sweden, where she has a house to look after and gets the opportunity to spend time with her mother – her best friend – who is still in good health.
According to Gunneli, being able to follow a student's development and see them ready to move on to the next grade is a joy that cannot be described.
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Tove Elfström
Group 6
Tove has taught the upper secondary school class at the Swedish School since 2003 and shares the principal's work with
Jenny Pugh since the summer of 2025. He has an MEd from the University of Georgia and worked as a classroom teacher and crafts teacher at the Washington Waldorf School from 1985 – 2021.
Tove's main interest is
to engage the students at the Swedish School in the deep Swedish soil of culture and nature they
shares with the Swedes in Sweden. The reward that comes to a teacher is when these students feel
at home with the language, smiles in recognition of the cultural phenomena and sometimes continues to study in Sweden.
Do you want to become
a teacher with us?
We are looking for committed and driven people who want to help inspire the next generation of Swedish-speaking children and young people. We value joy in working with students, interest in Swedish culture and language, and the ability to create learning with both structure and warmth.
If you are passionate about language development, creative pedagogy and want to make a difference in an environment where community and culture are at the center - then we would love to hear from you!