Saint Marks Bright Beginnings Preschool

PRESCHOOL TEAM (3'S) 

Miss Cara

Hello my name is Cara Di Bernardo and I have had the pleasure to work at Bright Beginnings for the 2007-2008 school year in the Bright Starters room. It was such a priceless, wonderful experience and I am pleased to be returning again for the 2008-2009 school year. I will be moving up to the 3 year old preschool program as a teacher and look forward to an even more exciting experience for both myself and the young ones. Teaching is what I always wanted to do and is most definitely what I was meant to do in life. There is nothing more rewarding than seeing a child succeed and become life-long learners.

            I enjoy spending time with my family and my nephew on my free time. Photography is of great interest to me and I am constantly taking pictures of everything around me, including the little ones! I also hope to start traveling within the next few years as well. This year I can’t wait to not only see the children grow but for myself to grow as an educator as well. Bright Beginnings is a great place for children to be comfortable and in an environment conducive to their learning needs in all areas.

Miss Kim

I am thrilled and excited to be joining the Bright Beginnings staff as a preschool teacher this year.  Although I am new to this school, I am not new to the field of education.  I have had the wonderful fortune to work with 3 and 4 year old children since 1993, making this September the beginning of my 17th year as a preschool teacher.  I can truly say working with young children is so very rewarding.  The enthusiasm and love for learning they bring to the classroom is energizing and refreshing.  It is fun to look forward to work every day!

In addition to my love of teaching, my family is at the heart of my being as well.  Being a wife and a mom of two girls (ages 13 and 11) keeps me busy!  (Love being a mom - not loving the taxi driving part!)  My family members also include 6 cats, a guinea pig, a hamster and a rat.  Yes, you read that correctly.  As you can guess, we are animal lovers!

On a final note, I am looking forward to a successful, fun school year.  Hope you are too!

Miss Jesse

My name is Miss Jesse and I am a Preschool teacher here at Bright Beginnings. I completed my Masters Degree in Special Education and Elementary Education at Dowling College. I also hold a Bachelors Degree in Psychology. I have always loved working with children, first as a babysitter in high school, and then as a full time nanny to two little boys during college.

I have a great husband, Matt and the best kids ever! My stepson Austin is 10 and my daughter Ella is 18 months old. We have a puggle, Yogi and a frog, Dash. In the summer we love to spend time together on our boat, going fishing and exploring the beach. In the winter we love to go to Vermont so the boys can go snowboarding. My interests include photography, cooking, and floral design, but most of all I love spending time with my family and friends!

Miss Anita

Wee Starters (18 months to 2 1/2)

                Joining the program at Bright Beginnings feels a bit like coming back home. My career in the field of early childhood education began  in a small privately owned nursery school followed by 15 years working as the lead toddler teacher and assistant coordinator at IGHL, Suffolk County’s first on-site corporate child care center. While working at IGHL, my husband and I welcomed our two daughters in to the world. This allowed me the opportunity to know early childhood programming not only from the perspective of teacher and administrator, but parent as well!   While my children were still quite small (in fact they were toddlers) I returned to SUNY Empire to receive my certificate in Infant Toddler and professional issues. In 2001, I received the Diane Grayson Wallace Child Care Advocate of the Year Award.

            In 2002, I joined the staff at the Child Care Council of Suffolk as the Regional Infant Toddler Resource Center Coordinator.  This was an exciting opportunity to develop and deliver training and technical assistance to others in the field caring for children under the age of three. This project was funded by the NY State Office of Children and Family Services to improve the quality of infant toddler programs across NY State. My daily travels involved visiting programs across Suffolk County – from the Nassau County boarder and as far east as Shelter Island. I also had the opportunity to work with the NY State Child Care Coordinating Council in Albany, where the State’s Infant Toddler Specialists received training from some of the nation’s most highly recognized authorities on Infant Toddler Development.  While working as the Infant Toddler Specialist, I contributed to Newsday’s Parent and Child Magazine Ages and Stages Column on a regular basis.

            While my career was always interesting, traveling so far from home and working long hours was a difficult balancing act.  My husband is a duck farmer and this means working long hours with little time off.   In 2007 I left my position with the Council to spend more time with my daughters who are now 12 and 13, but have continued to work with the Council on a consultant basis.

            I am looking forward to the opportunity to develop a program for toddlers at Bright Beginnings and return to the classroom.  While we travel the path of potty training, separation anxiety, temper tantrums and the wonder and joy of the toddler stage, please know that I will always view our relationship as a partnership. We’re in this together! Your children are so very new to this world and how we help them to feel safe and cared for while allowing them to explore and learn about the way the world works will set a foundation for all the many exciting experiences to come!

PREK TEAM 

Miss Karen

Hello everyone, my name is Karen Minunno, I am the new PreK II teacher. Let me tell you a little about myself so you get to know me a little and surprisingly some of the parents may have seen my face around town.  I have a B.A. degree in Human Relations from 

St. Joseph 's College, and I also have my M.S. in Elementary Education from Dowling College.   I worked for the Westhampton Beach School District for the past 6 years in varied teaching capacities, but mainly in kindergarten as a teaching assistant. After working in K for 4 years I never wanted to work in another grade again, the wonder of young children and their true love of learning have made me an educator of the very young.  My other teaching experience is just from having four children, Kaitlin 17 1/2, Courtney 15, and my two step-children Rebecca 13 and Rob 12 1/2. My oldest daughter is going away to college in the fall, I know how many parents feel leaving their young child at school for the day, I will daughter will be 5 hours away from me.

MISS JEN

Hello, my name is Jennifer Weisse and I am excited to begin my third year teaching at St. Mark’s Bright Beginnings Preschool.  Teaching preschool for the past two years was a wonderful and rewarding experience.  This year I am looking forward to teaching Pre-K! I can’t wait to work with our Pre-K students and watch them learn and grow.  I welcome the challenges and fun times that the 2009-2010 school year will bring. 

My background was in business, and I worked for British Airways for 6 ½ years.  However, awhile back I decided that I wanted a change, so I went back to school for teaching.  I currently have a Masters degree in childhood education from Molloy College.  When I’m not teaching at Bright Beginnings, I enjoy spending time with my family.  My husband Rob and I have been married for 10 ½ years and we have a Cocker Spaniel, Brady.  I also like sports, such as baseball and hockey and enjoy reading, music and movies.  I am sure we all look forward to a wonderful school year at Bright Beginnings!

MISS KERRY

My name is Kerry Koenigsdorf and I am very excited to be a new member of the St. Mark’s Bright Beginnings Staff. I began my teaching career over twenty years ago, spending the last sixteen working with preschool children.  I have worked hard to instill a love for learning in each and every child that I have had the pleasure to work with. I am constantly amazed by the energy and enthusiasm of my students.  Working with three and four year olds has been sometimes challenging, sometimes exhausting, yet always rewarding.

When I am not teaching preschool, I am most likely busy with my family.  My husband and I just celebrated our 25^th wedding anniversary.  We have three children (two teenagers and a soon-to-be twenty year old college student) and a cute little Bichon Frise.  We spend endless hours rooting on our High School students at their various sporting events as well as attending countless concerts.  Life is hectic to say the least!

September will soon be here and I am looking forward to a wonderful school year!