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Our Teachers
Classroom Teachers
2-Day Preschool Lead Teacher – Kim Schmucki joined the SRV staff in January 2004. Kim has an MA in art therapy from Hahnemann University and a BS in nursing from the University of Pennsylvania. Kim worked as an art therapist in the Dade County School district in Miami, Florida gaining experience in working with hildren from different cultures. She has worked in a number of hospital settings and especially appreciated working with children in the pediatric oncology unit at Children's Hospital. Kim's professional interests include children's artwork and incorporating music into the preschool classroom.
Kim has two children who are current SRV students. She enjoys spending time with her family, cooking, singing and biking.
3-Day Preschool Lead Teacher – Molly Wing-Berman Molly brings a rich and creative background to her preschool teaching. She is an accomplished artist and experienced teacher. Most recently she was the art teacher at Media Providence Friends School. Molly went to Oberlin College and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Molly's two daughters, Hannah and Leah, are SRV alums. Molly's creative stamp is seen all over the SRV campus – including the floor in Grace's foyer which she did with Kathy McCarron. She is a gardener, paper maker, felt maker, and loves to draw, paint and do pottery (her father is a master potter). She and her family live across the creek with a menagerie of animals including their 4 corgies.
5-Day Preschool Lead Teacher – Maureen McHugh has taught at both SRV and our summer camp for almost ten years. She has her BS from Cabrini College and was the Director of Today's Child and Cassoria Learning Center. She also taught Kindergarten at Cassoria. In addition, Maureen has worked for the Philadelphia Head Start program. Her professional interests are play therapy, working on furthering her education and publishing her book. Maureen loves to travel, listen to music, refinish furniture and explore history museums. The recent additions to her family of Vaughn (2) and Avery (8 months) keep her busy as well!
Kindergarten Lead Teacher – Nita Singh started working at SRV in 2001. Nita has a BA in psychology, M.Ed. in special education from the University of Delaware and is certified in Pennsylvania. She has worked as a preschool teacher at Kinder Care and the Delaware County Head Start Program. At the Overbrook School for the Blind she worked with visually impaired and other special needs preschool children. Nita has also worked with autistic children through the Delaware County Easter Seals Society. Nita thoroughly enjoys teaching early childhood pre-reading and reading skills, as well as making children aware of different countries and cultures. When she is not busy raising twin sons, SRV alumni Anup and Sanj. Nita enjoys reading fiction, pottery, jogging, traveling and cooking.
Kindergarten Co-Teacher – Ann Suchecki has taught in the kindergarten since 1999. This year she is a co-teacher in kindergarten. She has her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the College of Mount St. Joseph and her Master of Art from University of Louisville. Before coming to SRV, Annie was an artist in residence at 3 city elementary schools in Chester and she worked as an assistant in second grade special education in the Upper Darby School District. Annie also teaches at the Community Arts Center in Wallingford, teaching pottery courses for adults, children's art classes and "art for homeschoolers." Annie is active in the local art community, past president of the Potters Guild of Wallingford, and she exhibits her work both locally and nationally. She is the mother of 2 boys ages 13 and 15. Annie takes computer courses, participates in the National Council for the Education in the Ceramic Arts and participates in many national and international workshops in pottery. Her passion for literature is her favorite hobby.
1st Grade Teacher – Karyn Robinson Payton holds a Bachelor of Art in Psychology from Temple University and a Master of Art in Education and Human Development from The George Washington University. She is certified in two states in Early Childhood Special Education, and is obtaining Pennsylvania certification in Early Childhood Education (preschool-3rd grade). Karyn began her career teaching young children with developmental disabilities and delays. Her most recent position was teaching in the second grade at Friends Select School in Philadelphia. Karyn is trained in Stratford Friends' Multisensory Reading Instruction Program and has completed the first stage of the Wilson Reading System training (both Orton-Gillingham methods). She has varied experience with computers in professional, personal and academic environments.
As an SRV alumna, Karyn is excited about returning "home" to teach. Her professional interests include children's literature, teaching reading and math, and adapting curriculum for diverse learning styles. She enjoys reading, baking and spending time with her family – husband, Lee, who teaches at William Penn Charter School, and children, Savannah and Davis.
Third & Fourth Grade (Main Circle) Lead Teacher – Gloria Bonsall-Shepard grew up with no thoughts of becoming a teacher. While studying about the natural environment as an undergraduate, she become fascinated with questions about how people learn and change. After completing a degree in Environmental Education from the University of Michigan, Gloria spent several years as an environmental educator leading caving expeditions, facilitating group problem-solving, helping kids through a low-ropes course, and teaching environmental science. She was thrilled to find her way to SRV and new opportunities to work with groups of children for much longer periods as SRV's science teacher. During that time, she also pursued her Masters Degree in Elementary Education from Cabrini College.
After taking five years off to give a good start to sons Julian and Skye, She returned to SRV as the Lead 3 day preschool teacher. This provided deep opportunities to explore emergent literacy and socialization. In 2005, she returned to full time teaching as a Lead teacher in the Main Circle. Her main professional interest is in learning as a tool for personal and social transformation . Personal interests include reading, the great outdoors, and hanging out with her family and their dog.
Fifth and Sixth Grade (Oldest Group) Lead Teacher – Meg de Moll most recently joined the SRV staff in 1999 as an Oldest Group teacher. Meg also taught at SRV early in her teaching career and helped run the camp for 15 years. Before returning to SRV, Meg taught 5th and 6th grades at Lansdowne Friends. Meg received her BA from Bennington College in literature doing her thesis on King Lear. She is interested in teaching social studies through Drama, Literature and Art and has developed a strong math curriculum for the Oldest Group. Meg's personal interests include art, family and traveling.
Fifth and Sixth Grade (Oldest Group) Assistant Teacher – Erin Thack has a BS in Education from Temple University and a M.Ed in Education from Saint Joseph's University. She holds a preschool through 8th grade certification in Pennsylvania as well as her certification in reading. Erin was a reading specialist/librarian in the Chester Upland School District as well as a kindergarten teacher in the Rose Tree Media School District. In these various capacities Erin has tutored small groups in reading and math, collaborated with classroom teachers, been part of the Instruction Learning Support Team, maintained the library/media center, and supervised practicum students. Erin has two young children, Julia and Christian who both attend SRV. In her spare time Erin likes to take tap dancing class, garden, go to flea markets and spend time with her family. Erin grew up in Rose Valley and even babysat former SRV students – the Finkbeiners.
Specials Teachers
Art – Kathy McCarron is an award winning fiber artist who loves to work with clay, make books, create mosaics and felt. She has a degree in recreation management from Algonquin College. Her creative mark can be seen throughout the school, most notably in the etched concrete floor in Grace's foyer that she did with Molly Wing-Berman. Kathy has taught both art and special needs students in public, parochial and independent schools. She was part of SRV's preschool team for many years before taking over the art program.
Kathy is an avid outdoors woman. She and her husband backpack, camp, whitewater raft, and sail across the globe. When not busy renovating her old Victorian house or making tiles, she gardens, cooks, travels and hikes with her dog.
Music – Jodie Brown has been SRV's music teacher since 1996 and a professional musician since 1974. In addition to performing professionally most of her life, she has directed music for dinner theatre and played the piano for many musicals. She has been a piano teacher since 1975, and a preschool music teacher since 1994. Jodie has her BME from Louisiana State University as well as many post-graduate and graduate credits. Jodie's mission as a teacher is to find and bring out the musician in all children. She utilizes Edwin Gordan's "music learning theory," Orff and Kodaly methodologies, and the many discoveries she's made in her years of teaching.
Jodie has three teenage children. They are all involved in music and are often seen at SRV performing with their mom for special events. Jodie's interests include retired racing greyhounds (she has 2), gardening and cooking.
Shop, Sports & Computer Network Administrator – Mike Nowell started teaching at SRV in 1982. The grandchild of a former SRV teacher, son of an alumnus and an alumnus himself, Mike had little hope of escaping the community he loves. Returning to the school as a volunteer while taking undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Pennsylvania, Mike worked hard to make himself indispensable. Positions in the Afternoons and Camp programs, substituting, and co-teaching gave Mike the opportunity to teach subjects that ensure his status as a very active learner and afford him some sense of job security. (Marrying the former schoolmate who would become Assistant Principal didn't hurt either.) Mike has taught Shop and Sports at SRV for many years and moved from teaching Computer Science to installing and maintaining the school's growing network when the campus computer count topped 60 in 2002. In his free time, Mike likes to keep abreast of current advances in science and technology, plumb the shallows of Western philosophy, play a variety of musical instruments poorly and spend time with his wife, Lauren and son, Luke, a third generation SRV Nowell.
Science – Dawn Knipmeyer
has a BS in Elementary Education from Chestnut Hill College and is currently finishing her Masters in Environmental Education from Arcadia University. Dawn stays current in the education world by going to seminars, workshops and classes. For personal enjoyment she loves to mountain bike, backpack, camp, garden and do just about anything outdoors. She also enjoys baking and reading. She volunteers once a week at the Schuykill Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. She has two dogs named Piper and Chloe and a cat named Felix.
Administration
The Board of Trustees of The School in Rose Valley is pleased to announce that on May 14, 2008, Donna Sanderson was appointed as the new Head of School, effective July 1, 2008.
Donna Sanderson brings an impressive level of educational leadership experience to The School in Rose Valley, including currently serving as both an Associate Professor in the Department of Elementary Education and the Interim Associate Dean for Grants, Partnerships and Faculty Development in the College of Education at West Chester University. She has also held past posts as a Field-Experience Coordinator and adjunct faculty member, plus considerable public-school teaching, and administrative experience. She is a teachers' teacher, with advanced degrees and certifications in early childhood education, elementary education and literacy, in addition to a principal's certification.
An extraordinarily bright and energetic professional, Donna is a gifted educational leader. She is a person who is passionate in her belief that teachers are at the heart of a great school. Donna has demonstrated, working with The School in Rose Valley's pre-school over a four month period, excellent organizational leadership skills and a deep understanding and respect for the school's core progressive values. She is a problem-solver who wins people over by listening, researching, and helping and has demonstrated ease with our various constituencies.
Carlye Nelson-Major - Carlye began her tenure as Head of School at SRV in 2000. Prior to that Carlye had many years of experience as a classroom teacher and consultant in both public and independent schools. Carlye received her B.A. from the University of Vermont and her M.Ed from Cabrini College. Her professional interests include curriculum development, literacy learning, staff development, leadership, and organizational theory. 
Lauren de Moll is the Director of Program Administration and has worked at SRV full time since 1980. She received her BS from Bennington College in history. Lauren began working at SRV at Afternoons, Preday and summer camp when still in high school. She taught K through 8th grade for more than 11 years, and worked in the administration for 4 years before officially becoming the Assistant Principal. In another life she worked for an environmental publication in Portland, Oregon and an environmental lobby group in Washington DC. Lauren's professional interests include preserving SRV's traditions where appropriate, facilitating its development where needed, and just trying to be helpful around the house. She is deeply interested in preserving childhood and supporting families. Her personal interests include history, genealogy, reading, gardening, travel and sports.
Dana Marcus - Dana joined SRV as Director of Admissions & Communications in 2000. She has a BS in Business Administration from Bryant University. Before working at SRV, she traveled throughout the U.S. seeking artists for The Franklin Mint and held positions in marketing and admissions at The Please Touch Museum and Hussian School of Art. Dana attends various ADVIS and NAIS workshops and seminars and her professional interests include community collaboration, parent involvement in schools, and improving communications. Her personal interests include travel, reading, yoga and meditation, spending time with her family, and working on home-improvement projects. Dana's husband, Adam, attended SRV as a child. Their oldest daughter, Haley, graduated from SRV in 2005, and youngest daughter Molly, will graduate this year.
Bob Thomas, Director of Admissions and Communications, brings over
thirty years of teaching, admissions, and athletic experience to SRV.
Prior to joining The School in Rose Valley, Bob worked as Director of
Upper School Admissions/Associate Director of Tuition Assistance at The
Haverford School and Associate Director of Admissions at Princeton Day
School. He was Haverford School's first Director of Community, helping
launch the School's Principles of Community policy. Bob was a classroom
teacher for 20 years, teaching American & English Literature, American
History, and International Relations. A native of Philadelphia and a
graduate of St. Joseph's University, Bob and his wife, Caroline have
lived in Ardmore for 4 years. He has one daughter, Jacie, 3, who will be
attending the 3-Day Preschool Program. Bob is an avid golfer and a
certified golf teaching professional.
Director of Staff and Program Development – Anupama Anand. Before joining SRV, Anu was the Management of Information Systems Program Associate and Curriculum Editor at Eastern University. Anu, who is originally from India, received her B.A. in Economics from Delhi University, her A.S. in Multimedia and Web Design from the Art Institute in Philadelphia, and her M. Ed. in Multicultural Education and Curriculum Design from Eastern University. Anu's most recent position was as a Management of Information Systems Program Associate and Curriculum Editor at Eastern University where her primary responsibility was designing curriculum for the School of Management Studies on-line programs of study. She is also a free-lance multimedia specialist and graphics designer.
Anu's professional interests include multicultural literacy, gender and women's education, anti-bias curriculum, curriculum integration and development, and website development and instructional technology. In her spare time, she does volunteer work teaching and working with immigrant and ESL adults. Anu also enjoys yoga, art, reading, writing, traveling and watching Broadway shows and opera.
Mary K. Miluski is the Executive Director of Summer Camp. She has worked at SRV since 1996, running camp and previously as a member of the administrative team. Mary K. received her AB from Brown University and her JD from Boston University School of Law. Before joining SRV, Mary K. practiced law for 12 years in Providence, Boston and Philadelphia as a civil litigator. She maintains her license to practice law and takes various workshops related to her work at SRV. Mary K.'s son graduated from SRV in 2000, and is now living and working in St. Augustine, Fl. Her personal interests include the beach, swimming, walking, gardening, reading, spending time with her family and her too-many dogs.
Laurie Grant, Director of Resource Development, brings over twenty years of development and marketing experience to the administrative team. Prior to joining The School in Rose Valley, Laurie worked as Director of Development and Marketing for the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, WHYY Inc., and NetworkArts. She also launched a parenting publication, Parents Express in 1989, and held several positions with major advertising firms in both Philadelphia and NYC. A native of Connecticut and a graduate of the University of Michigan, Laurie and her family have lived in Rose Valley for 7 years. She has two sons Harrison, 21 a junior at Bucknell University and Fletcher, 15 a sophomore at Strath Haven High School. When not busy working or spending time with her family, Laurie enjoys competitive tennis, traveling, reading and running.
Nava Hall, Institutional Advancement Assistant, has a Bachelor of Science in Policy Management and History from Carnegie Mellon University and a Masters of Liberal Arts from the University Of Pennsylvania. Nava is a skilled data base manager, writer, and collections manager. Prior to joining SRV in July of 2007, Nava managed a small classical architecture office in Center City and before that was museum administrator at the Mütter Museum.
Nava is keenly interested in Philadelphia history and has spent several years as an historical guide at Christ Church Burial Ground where Benjamin Franklin is buried. She moved to Philadelphia five years ago to go back to school after living for many years in Traverse City, Michigan. She lives in downtown Philadelphia for easy access to Old City, the orchestra, and theaters.
Susie Metrick is SRV's School Psychologist and chair of the Learning Support Team. She has earned her doctorate and is a licensed Clinical Psychologist as well as a certified School Psychologist. She attended Oberlin College for her undergraduate degree. Susie also provides testing and consultation for children in a group private practice.
Susie lives in the distant town of Phoenixville with her husband, Sean, and their two young sons, Keenan and Noah. She enjoys going on excursions and exploring the outdoors with her children, as well as reading, hiking/walking, and playing sports when on her own.
Kj Weist, Receptionist, Kj has an Associate's Degree from Delaware County Community College and has many years of experience as an office and administrative assistant. She has worked in the graphics and design area as well as the medical field in a variety of positions including optometry and surgical technology.
The greatest joys in her life are her two teenage daughters, Alyssa and Carmen. She has been very active in her children's schooling, serving on their school PTO Board along with other community projects. Kj enjoys reading, going to the beach, making candles, home projects and animals of all types.
Rose Casey who says she was born educated, has been working at SRV for many years as the Bookkeeper. Before coming to SRV, she worked for a number of federal government agencies and for the Pennsylvania Civil Services Administration. She has done bookkeeping for a realtor, a psychiatrist, and another school. Rose is the mother of two daughters, one of whom attended SRV, and the doting grandmother of two. During her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, listening to music, and "puttering around the house.
Maria Rice current SRV board member, alum and mother of three boys; Jesse, 6th grade, Gabriel, 3rd grade, and Evan, in preschool. Maria studied theatre and art history at Sarah Laurence College and received her master's in interior design from Drexel University. After living and working for 10 years in New York City in the design world, she relocated back to the area for her children to attend SRV. Her pasttimes are varied, but travel, camping with family, any sports or activity with water and reading are favorites and oh yeah, cooking of course....
Dan Tracey brings many years of experience and a diverse range of skills to SRV as he manages all of our buildings and grounds. He is a graduate of Coatesville Area Vocational Technical School. Dan grew up on a farm, built his own house, and owned his own home improvement business before joining SRV. Dan is a skilled carpenter, plumber, electrician, roofer and landscaper.
When not tinkering around the house or school, Dan enjoys spending time with his family and grandchildren. He is also very involved in the community where he volunteers with a number of different organizations. When he gets the chance to relax, Dan enjoys watching football and baseball.
Mary Gordon, Director of Afternoons Program, has worked in the Afternoons program since 1995. She's worked in independent schools in Philadelphia and both of her children attended preschool at The School in Rose Valley. Mary is an accomplished fine artist and has a BFA from the University of Texas and a Masters Degree from Tyler School of Art. She is also a co-founder of Heron Gallery and Studios, an artists' cooperative in Rockdale, PA. Mary's passions are painting, travel, the outdoors and children.
Lea Robbins, Assistant in Afternoons,is a senior at Strath Haven High School. Lea is involved in a child development course that takes her to student teach a 4th grade class at Swarthmore Rutledge School. She is also involved in working with preschool children brought into Strath Haven's child development program. Next year, she hopes to attend the University of Delaware as a nursing major.
Valeria Bisaccia, Assistant in Afternoons, is a senior at Strath Haven High School. She also works with preschool children brought into Strath Haven's child development program.
More on Our Faculty/Staff
