Our Team
Who We Are

Linda was fortunate to grow up studying violin, piano, music theory and drama, as well as ballet and other styles of dance. After high school, she became a skilled business administrator for the Vancouver School Board and then the Vancouver Principals’ Association. After marrying and starting to raise a young family, she returned to her artistic roots and built a home music studio in Steveston, out of which she taught music. Thirty-two years later, she has grown her business into a full-fledged performing arts school and developed Vancouver’s first fine arts preschool. Linda has been a board member of the Community Arts Council of Richmond for over 20 years and was chair of the City of Richmond’s Childcare Development Advisory Committee for 12 years. Today, she publishes and distributes the Kelly Kirby music program throughout Canada and the US and has worked to develop additional materials to further enhance the program.

AWARDS

• Three-time recipient of the Ethel Tibbits Woman of the Year Award
• Richmond Chamber of Commerce Business Entrepreneur Award (2003)
• City of Richmond’s Arts Education Award (2014)
• Richmond Chamber of Commerce Business Leadership Award (2019)

Lily oversees and ensures that our business exemplifies our core values through personal interactions, dedication and commitment to every individual who walks through our school’s doors. Lily’s love of music and arts started at a very young age. At the age of five, she began piano lessons and later on explored many different avenues of art: painting, sculpture and architectural design.

Lily graduated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in economics. After graduation, she moved to the world’s financial hub, Hong Kong, but quickly found that life in finance was not giving her sentimental fulfillment in her career. In her five years abroad, she started tutoring local students in private and public schools from nursery level to Grade 12, and found she needed to move on with a career that blended her desire for teaching young children and her love for music and art. In 2009, she moved back to Vancouver and started her life-long career at The Arts Connection. This role has provided her with a career that matches her background studies in economics and passion for the arts for young children and youth.

As a devoted mother of two boys who have gone through basically every single program here, she has seen first-hand the true benefits of creating resilient and determined individuals through a well-rounded fine arts academic program. Lily is honoured to work with a wonderful team of creative thinkers who consistently show the same perseverance and never-ending passion for what they do: to nurture, foster and develop young minds.

Adena’s love for the arts is evident in her piano compositions, her drawings and her paintings. Yes, she is Linda’s daughter, and yes, she began working in the family business when she was 16 years old. There she gained hands-on experience at our Paddington Station Fine Arts Preschool, taught the Kelly Kirby Piano Method and worked part-time in the accounts department. Her passion for early learning led her to a career in Early Childhood Education where she graduated at the top of her class.

After taking over management of our daycare location on No. 2 Road, Adena and her family moved to the beautiful town of Vernon where she now works remotely as our accounting director, since her second passion is a love of numbers. She enjoys singing for and with her four-year-old daughter while opening up the world of early learning and the arts to the next generation of our family.

Kaylie earned her diploma in hospitality management and worked as an administrative assistant in the corporate environment for 10 years. Her brother had two kids and she became instantly attached to them and she felt her career take a turn towards childhood education. She enjoys spending time with them and enriching their lives in the creative realm. Her ultimate goal is to continue being a positive role model for them.

As the operations and education specialist, Karen ensures that teachers are supported in delivering an enhanced curriculum for their students in a safe and stimulating environment. Working at Renaissance Kids since the summer of 2012, Karen has really valued the opportunities she has been given in many different departments at the school.

Karen loves spending time with her family and making art with her two- year old son. As an avid music lover, Karen has a vinyl record collection that some might call eccentric! Karen’s favourite places that she has travelled to are Cuba and Paris, and she hopes to see many more parts of the world in the years to come.

Terra graduated from Stenberg College. After receiving a diploma in Early Childhood Education, she worked in a Montessori preschool until she got a job at Reach Child and Youth Development Society. This experience is where her love for working with children with exceptionalities began. She received training to work with children who required extra support.

Terra looks forward to working closely with you in providing quality care for our families. She has always loved the fine arts and believes that including the fine arts in the curriculum is essential to furthering children’s education.

Joyce immigrated from China with her family in 2010 and began her work in Early Childhood Education in 2013. She loves spending time with her students and watching them explore their world in their own way. Her dedication to the social and emotional development of each child drives her to create the best environment for them, helping them to learn and try new things.

As one of the Renaissance Kids managers, Joyce hopes to bring creativity and experience to those around her. Her passion for Early Childhood Education is clear and she looks forward to spending time with the children and helping them grow.

Coming soon.

Coming soon.

Crystal is thrilled to be an RCM SmartStart teacher, administrative assistant, and substitute teacher at Renaissance Kids. Music holds a very special place in her heart. Crystal’s earliest memories are listening to her parents singing along to songs in different languages and remembering how much she wanted to explore different genres of music. These memories inspired her to look at different programs that are tailored for musical learning in
the early ages.

This was the beginning of her journey at the Arts Connection, where she started teaching the Kelly Kirby program with the school of music. In
addition to teaching this program in private piano lessons, she was inspired to learn more about children’s development in the early years and completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of British Columbia with a major in psychology and a minor in early childhood education.

Through working as a teacher at Renaissance Kids, she has observed how intertwining music and art with early childhood education leads to holistic
development. She is looking forward to developing musical and cognitive skills with exciting activities from the SmartStart program.

In Crystal’s free time, she loves to read books, travel, and exercise. Ask her about what sport she is playing or watching at the moment!