I vividly remember my first visit to the Co-op about 20 years ago. I was on an admissions tour for parents, and as my husband and I entered the second-grade classroom and took in the vibrant hum of the children’s activity. My heart leaped. I thought: “This is the kind of school I want for my (then seven-year old) daughter.” Another—fainter—idea also formed in the back of my mind: “I’d love to be that kind of teacher.” Over the next few years, my daughter Halley entered and graduated from the Co-op; I earned an M.S. in Education at Bank Street College of Education; created the Co-op’s Museum Studies and Media Studies curricula for seventh and eighth grades; taught fifth and sixth grade at the Ella Baker School in Manhattan, and eighth grade at Stevens Cooperative School. When the Fourth Grade Head Teacher position opened up at the Co-op in 2009, I was thrilled to be selected for the job.
Before I became a teacher, I worked in the museum field as a curator and critic.
As an undergraduate at Brown University, I studied Art, English, and Semiotics, and photography at Rhode Island School of Design. I also earned an M.F.A from the State University of New York an interdisciplinary program in photography, media arts, and criticism.
What I love about being a Co-op teacher is that every September, I enter into a relationship with each child. We spend the school year engaged in an interior dialogue that is informed by our work together. I get to see how each child approaches their own learning and the fruits of their efforts. Best of all, I experience, on a daily basis, the sustenance of a rich community of children, parents, colleagues, and friends.
