Elyse began her journey in the arts at University of Michigan, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design and Painting. For her graduate degree, she attended Maryland Institute of Art, receiving a Master of Arts in Art Education. Elyse has been a dedicated art teacher in the public school system for over twenty years, beginning her teaching career in Fairfax County, VA. She later moved to New York City, where she taught middle school students in the South Bronx, and served as the Department Chair of a dynamic program that included Film, Dance, Theater, Music and Visual Art. Elyse arrived at MELS in 2013, when the high school first began, building its first Visual Art program. Since then, she has had the privilege of teaching all grade levels and driving an after-school Art Portfolio program. Student who have followed a visual art path have been accepted into prestigious undergraduate art programs including Parsons, Pratt, School of Visual Art (SVA), School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), SUNY New Paltz, New York Institute of Technology, Art Academy of Cincinnati, and more. What Elyse enjoys most about teaching Art at MELS is introducing students to contemporary artists, grounding art in historical contexts and the real world, exposing students to a variety of art mediums, taking students on fieldwork to museums and galleries, and helping students to express their unique life experiences, feelings, and personal beliefs in a visual form.