Peter Hauge
Executive Director
Peter helped found ALPS in 1992 and has worked here ever since. His favorite thing about working at ALPS is meeting students from around the world and doing his best to provide a learning atmosphere where every student gains something useful from being here and where every student feels welcome. He loves teaching English and treasures every opportunity to be in the classroom. In his spare time he enjoys spending time with his family, messing about on boats of any kind, skiing and DIY home improvements.
Kerry Philben
Director / Admissions
Kerry started working at ALPS in 2018. She is originally from Redding, California. Her favorite thing about teaching English is hearing students' interesting opinions and experiences in speaking classes. In her spare time she enjoys playing the bassoon, reading long Russian novels, and brewing beer.
Jarrett Hopewell
Academic Coordinator / Instructor
Jarrett grew up in the Seattle area. Before joining ALPS in 2023, he taught Spanish in Virginia and English to Nicaraguan and Dominican students remotely from his alma mater in Montana. As a lover of languages and linguistics, he enjoys "nerding out" over grammar and vocabulary with his coworkers and students. Outside of work, Jarrett likes to ski, paddleboard, hike, spend time with his dog, and explore Seattle.
Alex Hubbard
Manager of Student Affairs / Instructor
Alex began working at ALPS in 2022. He grew up in West Virginia, spent some time teaching English in Japan, and now has been in the Seattle area since 2017. His favorite thing about teaching English is being able to give students the tools they need to achieve their goals in life, whether they be professional or personal. In his spare time, he enjoys things like hiking/backpacking, cooking, reading, bouldering, and writing.
Eric Bailey
Enrollment Development Manager
Eric has a wealth of business development expertise and a passion for helping clients from all over the world achieve their business goals. He enjoys learning about different cultures and helping people succeed in both their personal and professional lives. Before joining ALPS, he gained experience teaching and learning languages in small groups, a highly effective method that is also used at ALPS. In his free time, Eric loves to travel, read nonfiction, and spend time with his family.
Grace Gannon
Instructor
A Seattle native, Grace started teaching at ALPS in 2022. Prior to that, she taught English in Santiago, Chile, where she experienced more minor earthquakes than instances of rain in the three years she lived there. She loves the cultural exchange and shared moments of connection that happen in an ESL classroom. In her free time, she likes to run, watch foreign language movies, and keep up her Kindle reading streak.
Andy Nicks
Instructor
Andy grew up in Poulsbo, Washington. He has spent most of his life in the Puget Sound area and loves it here. He taught English in Taiwan for four years and moved back to Seattle in 2019. He started teaching at ALPS in 2021. His favorite things about teaching English are seeing students improve and hearing their opinions and stories. Outside of school, he enjoys snowboarding, watching movies, writing screenplays, reading nonfiction, and camping.
Anna Hart
Instructor
Anna started teaching at ALPS in 2021. She grew up in Seattle, lived in Turkmenistan for a year and then in northern Cyprus for about four years. She loves connecting with people from all over the world and helping people communicate in English well. She enjoys reading, writing, hiking, music, and long deep conversations.
Kevin O'Connor
Instructor
Kevin is happy to be teaching at ALPS! He has been a university and college English teacher in Seattle for over twenty years. Being curious, sharing interests and talking about what's going on makes for great learning! Outside the classroom, Teacher Kevin / KO plays the trumpet as well as dance music with the Yaamba African Marimba ensemble. He also enjoys local pubs and coffee and tea cafes and likes to garden and hike in the great Northwest!
David Frank
Instructor
David Frank is a writer, public speaker and teacher. Originally from Perth, Western Australia, David has taught in Japan, Vietnam, Scotland, England, Italy and the US. He moved to Seattle in 2017 and started teaching at ALPS and Seattle Public Schools in 2021. He is a former competitive sword fighter and a former radio DJ, and currently grows a lot of his own food.
Robert Mulligan
Instructor
Robert was born and raised in Boston. He moved to Seattle in 1997 after falling in love with the city during a visit. After teaching English as a Second Language for twenty years, including abroad in Korea and Japan, he started working at ALPS in 2023. His favorite aspect of teaching English is meeting students from all over the world, learning new things from them, and helping them reach their potential. He loves cooking, reading about history, playing with his dog Sparky, and all things Star Wars.
Ben Clayton
Instructor
Ben moved to the USA at the end of 2022 and started at ALPS in 2023. He has been teaching English for well over a decade and has taught in London, Oxford, Tokyo, and in the US. He loves language and communication and his passion is to help students to open the door into the next part of their lives. Teaching English gives him the opportunity to meet people from countries and cultures he would not normally be able to have contact with - and that is the most wonderful part of his job. Ben loves reading, listening to music, traveling, and going into the wilderness with his wife and dog.
Josh Matla
Instructor
Josh started teaching at ALPS in 2023. He grew up in Florida and then taught English in Japan for two years before moving to Seattle to pursue a Master's Degree in Urban Planning at the University of Washington. As a recent graduate he still has a passion for teaching, making connections with students, and fostering cross-cultural exchange through English education. Josh enjoys making biweekly trips to the cinema, exploring urban areas through Pokémon GO, and being a video game completionist.
