Our Story

Elisha Georgiou is the Founder and Executive Director of Willow Nest Studio, which has been growing in community with Brooklyn families since 2015. Willow Nest began as a dream after graduating from Teachers College Columbia with a Masters of Education. The path to opening her own school was years in the making. Originally from Napa, California, Elisha has been a first grade classroom teacher, a k-6 language arts specialist teacher, and then a teaching artist in schools all over New York City. She has lived with her husband and raised two children in Brooklyn since 1999. Becoming a mother further grew her resolve to create a program for children that would be exciting and creative and that would build community and holistically nurture the development of children all the children in her care.

As a young girl and into adulthood, Elisha studied dance, theater, fine arts, education and English literature. She loves music of all kinds, getting to know people from all over the world, travelling to new places, hanging out in art museums, eating interesting foods, using her imagination, making art and designing interior spaces. She also loves reading and collecting illustrated children’s books. She is inspired by nature and light and feels it is very critical that we find ways to get back to who we are in connection to the natural environment. She also believes it is important for people to find their inner songs and stories and to express them in community with others. She is thrilled to have been able to dedicate her life to a career in early childhood and arts education.