Mimi is a native New Yorker and a transplanted Connecticut nutmegger. She studied Early Childhood Education and is a graduate of Queens College where she earned a Bachelors of Science degree. She continued her Education studies at Southern Connecticut State University where she earned a Masters Degree of Science. Mimi attended Yale University Child Study where the focus was on supporting children’s social and emotional well-being. Yale University Child Study’s mission is to improve the mental health of children and families. She has been trained in the Comer School Development Program (SDP) founded by Dr. James P. Comer, Professor of Child Psychiatry at Yale University. The SDP Program is a research-based, comprehensive K-12 education reform program grounded in the principles of child, adolescent, and adult development. She worked in the government funded Head Start Programs both in New York City and in New Haven, Connecticut where she provided comprehensive high-quality services supporting the school readiness of young children. Mimi holds both a preschool and elementary teaching certificate. She holds an education consultant’s state certificate permitting her to provide guidance services to students, parents and teachers regarding academic matters. It permits her to work with teachers and school boards to assess areas for improvement in curricula, classrooms, technology usage or student activities. She is experienced in working with infants and toddlers, preschoolers and elementary school age children. Many years ago while living in New York City, her mother planted a seed in her thoughts to open a preschool. In January, 2008, The Little Schoolhouse opened with 5 children. Over the years, the number of children enrolled in the program has grown under her guidance. Parents love the intimacy because of the coziness felt within the structure of the school. The Little Schoolhouse has become her practice where she promotes equity for all children, high quality learning experiences, provision of individual support to meet each child’s needs and the support of teachers to ensure their understanding of age appropriate content and approaches to children’s learning. She led her team of teachers and staff in the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation process. It is a large organization working on behalf of young children. Being accredited signifies a school is being operated as a high quality program that adheres to the several hundred standards outlined by NAEYC. Mimi believes strongly in the work for young children knowing that many of them just need guidance, love, patience and support to be successful.

Helen is a native New Yorker and after relocating to Connecticut has learned to appreciate the best of two worlds, the city life and the suburbia.  She now pays attention to the birds chirping outside her door and thinks of their chirping as music to her ears.  However, she remembers the loud and endless city noises such as the honking of the horns, the slamming on brakes and the drilling that is heard during construction.  She has worked in the business world for many years.  She is our part time administrative coordinator.  She welcomes families and provides administrative support.   She assists with any documentation pertaining to the school to ensure time frames are met and the work is complete.

Joy has been a staff member at The Little Schoolhouse for over five years.  Joy eagerly shares her Nigerian culture with our children, staff and parents.  She informs students the world is a bigger place than what they see.  Just an airplane ride can land them in her birthplace.  Joy completed her Bachelors degree in her country of Nigeria. She is currently attending Charter Oak State University and is earning college credits in early childhood education.  She  finds joy in attending professional development workshops that enhances her opportunities to have a better understanding of how to work with young children.  Joy is a mother of two – Ayomide and Oluwadare.  Both of her children attended the Little Schoolhouse.  Her older one is in elementary school and is doing very well.  His teacher wishes she had more students like him.

Sara has two lovely daughters, Beatrice and Margaret who attended our school.  Beatrice is an awesome and serious student on the elementary level.  Since Beatrice’s departure to the elementary level, Sara has become our infant and toddler teacher.  Sara comes to us from the country of Ivory Coast, a country of eastern sub-Saharan Africa.  French is her native language.   Knowing that language has been an asset to our school community.  She takes the time to share her language with her students.  They are often heard counting and whispering words or singing songs in French.  From the time Sara first arrived to the United States, she was on a mission to pursue her education.  She attended Hamden High School where she acquired her General Education Certificate.  Sara did not stop there.  She pursued higher education and attended Post University.  At Post, Sara was diligent about her studies in Early Childhood Education and was awarded a Bachelors Degree of Science.   Sara has a great rapport with young children who adore her.

Valeria is one of the bilingual assistant teachers; fluent in Spanish and great with technology.  She has many opportunities to enjoy authentic Mexican cuisine thanks to her dad who cooks plenty of those dishes that makes your mouth water.  She is an asset to our school connecting with parents whose first language is Spanish.  That connection gives those parents a feeling of comfort knowing that someone can communicate with their child in their native language.  Valeria has been employed at the school for more than five years.  She is interested in pursing an early childhood degree, becoming a lead teacher and eventually seeking a master’s degree in the education field.

Nayeli is a mother of two beautiful girls; one is very new to the world and the other is in elementary school.  She is very capable at juggling responsibilities thanks to having that motherly experience.  Nayeli is good at establishing relationships with parents.  She is the other bilingual assistant teacher who often communicates with our Spanish speaking families to keep them informed about school information and events.  Nayeli has a special knack for working with babies, toddlers and preschoolers.  Nayeli has enrolled in a two year college and plans to pursue early childhood education as her major.

Khadija holds a Bachelors degree with a major in linguistics from the university in her native country of Morocco.  She has the gift of the gab but in many languages – English, Spanish, French and Arabic.  She has insight into how children acquire language, the structure of language in general and of particular languages and how languages vary.  Her own children, two boys, are fluent in more than one language.  She often engages children in conversations to increase their language skills and vocabulary.  She has been employed at the school for more than eight years and is an assistant teacher.

Isabella speaks the romantic language French that is spoken in her native country Benin in West Africa.  She encourages our children to pay attention and learn the French language as she engages them in counting activities and language that includes poetry and songs.  She has a special talent for classroom management using creative attention grabbers that causes children to follow her lead when necessary.  She has experience raising children having three sons of her own.  Isabella has been employed at the school for two years as an assistant teacher.  She is high-spirited and has a good rapport with both children and staff and is an asset to our school.

Autumn is inherently blessed with an eye for design and uses her talent to make things beautiful in the classroom.  She thinks of colors and how children’s artwork should be hung to make the classroom setting appealing.  She works diligently to keep the classroom organized and clutter free.  Her patience is somewhat magnetic drawing children to her side.  Autumn is interested in working with young children but her passion is fashion.  She is enrolled and has started college courses.  Autumn has been employed at the school for almost three years as an assistant teacher.

Troy is an assistant teacher who is our musical instructor and is very adept at playing the drums.  His love for music has inspired him to not only start his own band but to write songs as well.  He enjoys working with the infants, toddlers and preschoolers.  He loves playing quiet games with young children giving them opportunities to practice listening skills.  Troy has enrolled at Gateway Community College and is completing his studies there.

Elsa has been our Education Consultant for more than five years.  She has a wonderful hobby of being a Zumba instructor and keeping people fit not only mentally but physically as well.   She holds a Master of Arts in Child Development from Tufts University.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Wellesley College.  Elsa holds certification from Connecticut’s State Department of Health to act as an education consultant to support staff in preschools.   Elsa is a trainer/coach for the State of Connecticut working with teachers and administrators in multiple Early Childhood Programs. She holds local, regional, state and national workshops and/or conferences on such topics as Intentional Teaching with Families, A Look at Quality in Family Child Care and Kith & Kin Care, Using Performance Indicators to Strengthen Family Support and Are You Feeling Up to Your Eyeballs in Documentation.  Elsa holds professional membership in the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) and National Head Start Association (NHSA).

Dionne has been our Health Consultant for over five years actively engaging our children, teachers and parents in the demonstration of health care practices through workshops and hands on experiences.   She holds a license from the State of Connecticut for the profession as a Registered Nurse.  Dionne attended Syracuse University College of Nursing where she was awarded a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and she attended the State University of New York at Stony Brook where she earned a Bachelors degree in Multidisciplinary Studies.  Dionne has provided her medical support to agencies such as The New Haven Board of Education (Connecticut), Yale New Haven Hospital and St. Vincent’s Medical Center.  Dionne is a dedicated wife and wonderful mother of five children.

Charles Bryant is our Family Advocate/Case Manager who majored in Sociology and graduated with a Bachelors degree from Southern Connecticut State University. His love for sports keeps him on his toes and drives him to not only connect with basketball and football but with families and children. He focuses on empowering family members and is our liaison between families and agencies in the community. Outside of his work, Charles gives back to his community through his coaching of young children in football. Thinking about a master’s program in sports, Charles’ study in Sociology continues to drive and pursue his interests in “families,” providing parents with opportunities to learn how to support their child’s needs and development.