Staff

* All of Our Classroom Teachers are Florida State Certified **
& meet the NCLB Highly Qualified Standards

Cheryl Valantis: Principal, Media Specialist, Teacher of the Gifted, Curriculum Resource Teacher
Ms. Valantis has a Masters of Education degree from the University of Florida. Since 1989 she has been teaching library media and early elementary education. Her special areas of interests are teaching and interacting with students, music, performing arts, and children's literature and harp.

Judy Fox Brown: Office Manager

Jennifer Whyte: Kindergarten Teacher
Mrs. Whyte has a University of Florida Masters Degree in Early Childhood Bilingual Education and a University of Florida Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education with a certification in ESOL (English as a Second Language). She has been teaching since 1992, and her interests include her students, multicultural children's literature, and Caribbean culture and music.

Annie Hallman: First Grade Teacher
Ms. Annie has a Bachelor's Degree in Special Education and a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Florida.

Sharon Kuchinski: Second Grade Teacher, Dance Teacher
Ms. K teaches second grade. She also teaches the exciting dance and creative movement classes in our school. She has worked extensively with the Gainesville Association of Creative Arts (GACA) in all areas of fine arts. Ms. K. has been teaching the arts to young children since 1980. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Florida and an Elementary K-6 teaching degree from St. Leo's College.

Sharon Weissman: Third Grade Teacher
Ms. Sharon teaches third grade. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida, and a Florida teaching certificate in Elementary Education.

Juniper Di Giovanni: Third Grade Teacher
Ms. Juni has a Masters Degree in Education. Her prior teaching experience includes all elementary grades, and middle and high school math. Her special interests are all of our students, music (especially guitar), beading and crafts.

Amy Clay: Fourth Grade Teacher
Ms. Amy has a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education. She teaches our fourth grade class, with a special focus on writing, Social Studies, and Language Arts.

Aase Zori: Fifth Grade Teacher, Curriculum Resource Teacher for the Arts
Ms. Zori graduated from Odense Seminarian College in Denmark with a teaching degree. Her areas of special interests include her students, social studies, languages, and fine arts.

Scot Davis: Drama, Chorus
Mr. Scot has more than 16 years professional experience in drama and performing arts in Gainesville. He has worked in children's theater as a member of the Fable Factory. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Florida.

Sarah Hinds: Art Specialist
Ms. Sarah teaches art at Expressions. She has been a professional glass blower for 13 years, showing her work at art festivals and galleries throughout the southeast. Ms. Sarah also teaches a glass bead making course for the Community Education Program at Santa Fe College. In her spare time, she enjoys her two lovely children, gardening, and bee keeping.

Lee-Ann Laffey: Spanish Teacher
Ms. Lee-Ann teaches Spanish at Expressions. She has a Ph.D. in Spanish from Indiana University. Ms. Lee-Ann is also a parent of a child in our school.

Johanna  Weiss: Music
Ms. Johanna is a graduate of University of Victoria, B.C. Canada and holds a Bachelor of Music in Education and is a certified K-12 Music Educator. Ms. Johanna teaches music theory, history, solfege, singing, recorders, and band at Expressions. Johanna has an after-school private winds and piano studio. She also performs with a local jazz band, Stardust, and Klezmer band, Klezmer Katz. Ms. Johanna has over 20 years experience as a music educator.

Sarah Ingley Maze: Dance
Sarah Maze joined Expressions in 2010 as the dance teacher. Prior to that she taught dance at Alachua Learning Center and Caring and Sharing charter elementary schools. In addition to teaching at ELAA, she directs Williston School of Dance, where she teaches ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop, and Irish dancing. She also heads the Gainesville Association for the Creative Arts (GACA) summer arts camps at Littlewood Elementary School. She is the dance columnist for The Gainesville Sun daily newspaper. Mrs. Maze is certified in the American Ballet Theatre® National Training Curriculum.