About Us: Meet the Staff
The Teachers and Staff That Make The Preschool Place & Kindergarten
The Place for Your Children
We are very proud of our outstanding team of director, teachers, assistants and office staff here at The Preschool Place & Kindergarten. We are pleased to be able to boast that they have over 200 years of combined classroom experience. The majority of our teaching staff have come to us after having had their own children go through our program. As educators and parents they were so impressed with what their children did here that they too wanted to be part of our team. What we do not only includes educating your children, but educating ourselves. Our staff actively keeps up with the latest research in early childhood education, and attends professional development programs, all with the goal of giving your children the quality education they deserve in their early years.
CAROL RUBNITZ, Director, Heritage Street teacher
crubnitz@preschoolplace.com
Appointed: 1990
Education/Experience: MS in Early Childhood Education from Queens College as well as a BS in Elementary Education from Queens College. She is certified in Early Childhood Education as well as Elementary Education. She has been at The Preschool Place since 1990 as a teacher, she became the Assistant Director in 2001 and has been the director since 2005.
Fun Facts: Both of her children attended The Preschool Place and Kindergarten beginning in 1986. She enjoys taking all kinds of exercise classes and traveling. She has also taught ESL to adults at the English Language Institute at Queens College.
MINDY BRAINUM, Kinder Plus teacher, English Language Learning (ELL) teacher for adults
Appointed: 1988
Education/Experience: BA in Elementary Education from Brooklyn College. She is certified Pre-K through 8th grade. She co-created the Hand in Hand enrichment as well as the Kinder Plus enrichment at our school.
Fun Facts: Both of her children attended The Preschool Place and Kindergarten beginning in 1991. Mindy enjoys reading, biking, teaching and spending time at the beach, which she calls her “happy place”.
CHRISTINE CLARK, Fours teacher (5 days)
Appointed: 1998
Education/Experience: BS in Office Systems Administration from Montclair State
College. She has a certificate in Early Childhood Education from Raritan Valley Community College.
Fun Facts: Her son attended The Preschool Place and Kindergarten.
JANINE COOK, Threes teacher (3 days), Art Unlimited teacher
Appointed: 2005
Education/Experience: CDA (Child Development Associate) Credential, 2009
Fun Facts: All three of her children attended The Preschool Place and Kindergarten beginning in 1998. When not at preschool she spends her time taking care of her children and volunteering in her children’s activities.
CATHY GIALLORENZO, Kindergarten teacher
Appointed: 2000
Education/Experience: BS degree in Speech from Montclair State College and her Masters in Elementary Education and Reading from St. Johns University. She is certified in Early Childhood Education as well as Elementary Education. She taught in our “fours” program before teaching kindergarten and taught for 4 years before joining The Preschool Place in 2000.
Fun Facts: Her son attended The Preschool Place and Kindergarten beginning in 1996.
SHARON JOHNSON, Office Manager
Appointed: 2003
Education/Experience: BS in Elementary Education from The University of Maryland. She is certified in Early Childhood and Elementary Education K-6.
Fun Facts: Her children attended The Preschool Place and Kindergarten beginning in 1998. She spent years as a mortgage banker in NYC. She enjoys reading and cooking in her spare time.
KAREN KALMAN, Fours teacher (3 days)
Appointed: 2002
Education/Experience: BS in Elementary Education/Early Childhood from College of Misericordia in Dallas, PA with a minor in library science. She has been teaching enrichment classes here since 2002 and has been teaching the fours since 2008.
Fun Facts: Her son attended The Preschool Place and Kindergarten.
AMY KESSLER, Marketing and Programming
Appointed: 1993
Education/Experience: BA in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. She taught the three year old class from 1993 until 2009 and now is teaching computers to the fours and kindergarten as well as doing administrative work as the quality improvement specialist.
Fun Facts: All three of her children attended The Preschool Place and Kindergarten beginning in 1982. She enjoys travel, especially Caribbean beaches, and playing with her granddaughter.
GINNY KIRK, Threes assistant (5 days, 2 days), Discover Ease teacher, What's Cooking teacher
Appointed: 1988
Education/Experience: She is pursuing her CDA (Child Development Associate).
Fun Facts: She enjoys traveling, scrap booking and interior design. She is passionate about the enrichments, What’s Cooking and Discover Ease which she teaches.
HOLLI KOURY, Fours assistant (3 days), Mini Maestros teacher
Appointed: 2007
Education/Experience: BA from Binghamton University in English Literature; MA from Binghamton University in Accounting. CDA (Child Development Associate) Credential, 2009.
Fun Facts: Her children attended The Preschool Place and Kindergarten beginning in 1998. She enjoys rock climbing.
CAROL LEVINE, Mini Maestros and Discover Ease assistant
Appointed: 1996
Education/Experience: BS from Syracuse University
Fun Facts: Her son attended The Preschool Place and Kindergarten beginning in 1992. In her free time she enjoys the beach and working with her dollhouse.
LEONA LOMBARDI, Fours assistant (5 days)
Appointed: 1986
Education/Experience: BA and MA from Farleigh Dickinson University
Fun Facts: Both of her children attended The Preschool Place and Kindergarten beginning in 1982. In her spare time she enjoys cooking, knitting, crocheting and spending time at her house in NC.
PATRICIA LYNCH, Three's assistant (3 days)
Appointed: 1989
Education/Experience: She completed her education in England.
Fun Facts: She was born and raised in England and became a citizen in 2002.
MELISSA PYLE, Someone Special and Me teacher
Appointed: 2005
Education/Experience: BS from University of Delaware. She comes to us with many years of experience working with toddlers and preschoolers.
Fun Facts: She spends her summers at Meadowbrook Day Camp as a division head for the early childhood program.
JEANNE ROBINSON, Threes teacher (5 days, 2 days)
Appointed: 2002
Education/Experience: BS in Education from Purdue University, MA from Purdue University in International Business. She taught preschool for 5 years prior to joining us.
Fun Facts: She enjoys reading. She has also gone sky diving.
AMY WEINSTEIN, Twos teacher (5 days, 3 days, 2 days)
Appointed: 1998
Education/Experience: BA in Early Childhood Education from Rider College. She taught Someone Special & Me from 1998– 2007 and has been teaching the twos since 2007.
Fun Facts: All of her children attended The Preschool Place and Kindergarten beginning in 1996. She enjoys baking, reading, traveling and is an avid sports fan for her children’s teams.
STACY ZELLER, Heritage Street coordinator/teacher, Little Bytes teacher
Appointed: 1988
Education/Experience: B.A. from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. She’s taught Judaica and Hebrew for 18 years.
Fun Facts: All four of her children attended the Preschool Place and Kindergarten beginning in 1983. She enjoys the beach and cruising and reading and has belonged to a bowling league since 2005. She also likes playing games especially Bunco, Mah Jongg, and all kinds of word games.