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Our Staff at the Children's School
We as teachers can provide valuable information about what children of different ages know, understand, and believe; what their misconceptions are; and what is likely to guide their thinking in a productive manner. We can help each child.
There are sixteen qualified educators who plan, teach, and administrate at the Children's School. Each year, new areas of the curriculum are developed, coordinated, and incorporated into the school program, and we collaborate with parents to enhance communication and services. Educators meet on Friday afternoons to plan, implement and evaluate the program. Educator Teams 2011-2012 (pdf)
 Dr. Carver honored for Distinguished Teaching (March 2011)
Administrative Team
Dr. Sharon Carver
Director
412-268-1499
sc0e@andrew.cmu.edu
Miss Allison Drash
Administrative Coordinator
412-268-2199
adrash@andrew.cmu.edu
Miss Linda Hancock
Educational Administrator
412-268-2198
lh37@andrew.cmu.edu
Mrs. Maggie Rosenblum
Educational Administrator
412-268-2199
rosenblu@andrew.cmu.edu
Preschool 3's Team
412-268-2199
Mrs. Brynn Flynn
AM 3’s Teacher
jbflynn@andrew.cmu.edu
Mr. Tim Salinetro
3’s Associate Teacher
salinet@andrew.cmu.edu
Mrs. Charline Tomer
AM 3’s Teacher
charline@andrew.cmu.edu
Preschool 4's Team
412-268-2199
Mrs. Jean Bird
AM 4’s Teacher
jbds@andrew.cmu.edu
Ms. Jillian Mangan
AM 4’s Teacher,
PM 4’s Associate Teacher
jmangan@andrew.cmu.edu
Mrs. Krissy Opferman
AM 4's Teacher
opferman@andrew.cmu.edu
M to R, 8am to 2pm F, 8am to 4pm
Mrs. Estelle Solomon
AM 4’s Teacher, PM 4’s Teacher
esolomon@andrew.cmu.edu
Preschool Extended Day Team
412-268-2199
Mrs. Jean Bird
Extended AM Teacher
jbds@andrew.cmu.edu
Miss Lisa Furman
Extended AM & PM Associate Teacher
lfurman@andrew.cmu.edu
M to R, 10am to 6pm; F, 8am to 4pm
Miss Beth McMichael
Extended AM & PM Teacher
prizner@andrew.cmu.edu
M to R, 10am to 6pm; F, 8am to 4pm
Mrs. Krissy Opferman
Extended AM Associate Teacher
opferman@andrew.cmu.edu
Mrs. Charline Tomer
Extended AM Teacher
charline@andrew.cmu.edu
Kindergarten Team
412-268-2199
Mrs. Caitlin Armbruster
K Associate Teacher
csa10@andrew.cmu.edu
Mrs. Violet McGillen
AM K Teacher
vmcgille@andrew.cmu.edu
Mrs. Donna Perovich
K Teacher
perovich@andrew.cmu.edu
Physical Education Coordinator
Miss Beth McMichael
Support Staff/Substitute Teachers
Mrs. Annie Smith
Mrs. Cheri Mack
Resources for Staff
The Carnegie Mellon Human Resources Department provides helpful information for current employees regarding benefits, professional development opportunities (called learning and development), equal opportunity services.
Lifeworks, an expanded Employee Assistance Program, is available to employees and their dependents at no cost. Use of any Lifeworks service, from web surfing to material requests to counseling, is always 100% confidential.
Children's School Staff Documents are available by clicking on the links below. (pdfs)
 2011-2012 Staff Handbook (10.B.02)
 Director Job Description
Undergraduate/Volunteer
Assistant Teacher
Teacher
Administrative Coordinator
Assistant Director
Educator Teams 2010-2011
Staff Professional Development
 Staff Development for Curriculum Planning, January 2012 (pdf)
Professional Development Outreach, October 2011 (pdf)
Professional Development for Educators, October 2010 (pdf)
Professional Development is a high priority at the Children's School because it supports our continuous quality improvement. We dedicate 1.5 weeks at the beginning of the school year, every Friday afternoon plus two full days during the year, and 1.5 weeks at the end of the year as paid professional development time. This time is separate from the 4 full days we schedule for teacher-parent conferences each year. In addition, staff members often engage in professional development on their own time (i.e., evening, weekend, or summer experiences), and we make every effort to provide classroom coverage for staff members who wish to participate in professional development opportunities that are scheduled when school is in session. Parents are informed of our professional development activities via our monthly school newsletter.
Dr. Carver coordinates our "in-house" professional development with input from the whole staff. Our time is divided roughly equally between advancement seminars, staff and team planning and reflection meetings, and independent activities. Seminars may be facilitated by Dr. Carver or another staff member, other CMU professionals, or outside speakers, depending on the topics chosen. In all cases, we consistently focus on applying what we learn to enhance our program. Staff and team meeting time is essential for both maintaining and advancing our work because of the team-building, dialogue, and reflection emphasis. Finally, independent time is necessary to support the educators' curriculum development, conference planning, and outreach efforts.
The Children's School provides PAEYC / NAEYC memberships for each staff member, which means that everyone receives the PAEYC bi-monthly newsletter and the NAEYC bi-monthly journal, "Young Children". We offer to pay for every staff member to attend the local PAEYC conference and send several representatives to the national NAEYC conference. In many cases, attendees also present workshops at these conferences. Dr. Carver typically attends and presents at the NALS and NCCCC conferences, occasionally inviting a staff member to collaborate on a joint presentation. Through our school's Early Childhood Professional Development Center, we offer tours, consulting, and workshops for area educators. Our most popular event is a two-day workshop in late August, which many teachers use as a back-to-school-boost for their early childhood programs.
Beginning in 2004, the four partners in the Alcoa Collaborative for Early Childhood Professional Development (Children's School, CMU Cyert Center for Early Education, Shady Lane, and the University of Pittsburgh Child Development Center) have collaborated on a joint professional development project for the 125 staff people across all four centers. Staff members have had opportunities to hear national speakers, dialogue with colleagues during center visits, participate in book club and roundtable discussions, shadow colleagues in another center, and visit high quality early childhood sites outside of Pittsburgh. All of these activities are planned by a team of educators representing all four centers and funded by a joint grant from the Alcoa Foundation. In all of these ways, Children's School educators are better equipped to provide the best possible learning context for each of our students by being lifelong learners ourselves. We appreciate parent support of this valuable time for professional development.
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