{"id":741,"date":"2013-09-20T01:34:16","date_gmt":"2013-09-20T05:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.playgroupsschool.com\/?page_id=741"},"modified":"2019-10-22T14:53:53","modified_gmt":"2019-10-22T14:53:53","slug":"staff","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.playgroupsschool.com\/index.php\/about-us\/staff\/","title":{"rendered":"Staff"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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Staff<\/h1>
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Administration<\/h2>
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Maddy Friedman (Educational Director), Jennifer DeLeo (Business Manager) and Maggie Holland (Assistant Director) form the administrative team of Play Groups School.\u00a0 All three chose the school for their own children\u2019s experience, and all three served on the school\u2019s Board of Trustees when they were parents at the school.<\/p>\n

Maddy holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in special education and a master\u2019s degree in liberal studies and is dual-certified by the New York State Department of Education in elementary education and special education. After teaching an enrichment program at Play Groups, Maddy became Educational Director in 1990. Maddy\u2019s primary responsibilities as Educational Director include curriculum planning, student assessment and staff development, but she still loves the classroom and can often be found helping a toddler to separate, sharing a book with the three-year-olds, or joining the four-year-olds in the Outdoor Classroom. Maddy has also directed the Summer Camp program since 2001.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div><\/div>

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Jennifer holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in accounting and worked for many years in banking and management. Jennifer came to Play Groups in 2010 as the parent of a toddler and served on the Board of Trustees as Treasurer. In 2013, Jennifer joined Play Groups as a member of the administrative team. She currently serves as Business Manager with primary responsibility for fiscal management and regulatory matters.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><\/div>

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Maggie collaborates with Maddy on curriculum development, serves as the school\u2019s Outdoor Classroom Coordinator and teaches in our prekindergarten program.\u00a0 Maggie holds a bachelor\u2019s degree in psychology and a master\u2019s degree in early childhood education.\u00a0 She has also completed extensive coursework in outdoor learning for young children, much of which was offered jointly by the Council for Environmental Education and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.\u00a0 Maggie is also involved in staff development, particularly as it relates to the school\u2019s outdoor education initiative, and oversees facility operations.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div><\/div>

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Teaching Staff<\/h2>
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Extensive research has shown that the single most important predictor of high quality in an early childhood program is the quality of the staff. With this knowledge, Play Groups has assembled a teaching staff that is characterized by exceptional educational qualifications, extensive experience and warm, nurturing dispositions. Every member of the teaching staff is a member of the NAEYC.<\/p>\n

Each class at Play Groups is staffed by a teacher with state certification, teamed with a skilled teaching assistant. More than half of the members of the school\u2019s teaching staff hold master\u2019s degrees, another third hold bachelor\u2019s degrees and the average number of years of related experience approaches nearly a decade. Play Groups has enjoyed great success in attracting and retaining this extraordinary team of gifted and committed early childhood educators and acknowledges them as the single greatest asset of our school.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div>

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