** All of Our Classroom Teachers are Florida State
Certified & meet the NCLB Highly Qualified Standards **
Amy Clay:
Fourth Grade Teacher
Ms. Amy has a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary
Education. She teaches our fourth
grade class.
Scot Davis: Drama, Chorus
Mr. Scot has had 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 B.A. degree in
Political Science from the University of Florida.
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.
Judy Gold: Teaching
Assistant
Ms. Judy has a Masters in Education from the University of
Florida, specializing in Reading Education.
Annie Hallman:
Office Manager
Ms. Annie has a Bachelor's Degree in Special
Education and a Master's Degree in Early Childhood Education from the University
of Florida.
Sarah Hinds:
Art Volunteer
Sharon Kuchinski: First
Grade and Dance Teacher
In the mornings, Ms. K teaches our first grade class. In
the afternoons, she becomes the teacher of the exciting dance and creative movements
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 B.A. degree from the
University of Florida and
an Elementary K-6 teaching degree from St. Leo's College.
Lee-Ann Laffey: Spanish
Teacher
Ms. Lee-Ann is a parent of a child in our school.
She has a Ph.D. in Spanish from Indiana University.
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.
Sharon Weissman:
Second Grade Teacher
Ms. Sharon is the classroom teacher for our second
grade. She has a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Florida, and a Florida teaching certificate in Elementary Education.
Johanna Weiss: Music
Ms.
Johanna has over 16 years experience in teaching music. She gives private music
lessons and is a versatile professional performer.
Jennifer Whyte:
Kindergarten Teacher
Mrs. Whyte has a University of Florida Masters Degree in
Early Childhood Bilingual Education and a University of Florida B.A. 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.
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.