Dear Co-op Families,
I am so excited to be writing this email to you! As you know, the hiring committee has been working this summer to find a new teacher for our school. We hit on a few stumbling blocks with our licensing and certification needs, but now we know those stumbling blocks were meant to be. Efforts paid off and we feel like we hit a home run!!
Enter Karen Oatley, a veteran preschool teacher from Nevada AND Susan Rambeau a newly certified preschool teacher from Loretto. Yes, the hiring committee has hired not one, but two wonderful teachers. As we went through the hiring process, we came to realize that our school runs best with 2 teachers, and that it is worth the financial challenges to give our children the best playschool experience possible.
Fate is such a beautiful thing. Karen was first introduced to our school last summer, when we were trying to fill an open teacher position that was eventually filled by Mindy. She inquired about the job and felt like it would be a perfect fit. Her biggest decision wasn't to apply for the position, but to determine if State College was in her future. Karen lived in Reno Nevada and was pondering a move to State College to be closer to her grandchildren. Long story short, she stayed in Nevada and remained teaching at her school. But this summer, the need to be with her family and see her grandchildren grow was very clear and she moved to State College. She retired and didn't know for sure that she wanted a job again. But, I think we all know teachers like this... she just didn't feel complete, sitting around while her grandsons are in school! She needs to be with kids, so she made a call to us, not knowing we were hiring again this year... but as fate would have it, the hiring committee got the call 48 hours before the last day of interviews. We were able to work her into our interview schedule and the rest is history... Her experiences as lead teacher and director are the kind you notice just from talking to her. She KNOWS children. She knows what it means to know them individually, to reach them, to teach them, to be a part of their playful day of learning. Karen will be our Lead Teacher and we know you will be pleased once you get a chance to meet her.
Susan graduated this past May, and has already been working with children in a preschool setting for the past few years during winter and summer breaks. She believes in our play-based program, and in the power of community, respect and cooperation. She is excited to work and learn alongside Karen. Fate had a part in Susan's story as well. She had many opportunities to choose from and declined our original offer. But, after a night to reconsider her choice, she determined that our school was the right place for her and accepted the position.
We can't wait for you to meet these fabulous teachers. We believe they will make an incredible team and give our children a wonderful preschool year. Next Wednesday, September 1st, we will have a Meet The Teachers play date. It will start at 10:30 AM and it will be on the Coop Playground. We'll bring snacks, and you bring your kids! Karen will be there, and we are still waiting to see if Susan can get the morning off of her summer job. We'll ask that Karen and Susan have a small group activity for the kids to be a part, very similar to what we experienced at Circle Time. Then, the children can play and you will all have the chance to introduce you to our new teachers and get to know them.
With our efforts to find the perfect teachers, we are slightly behind on preparing the school for the first day. We'll have more information to share about the beginning of the school year and provide opportunities for you to get involved and help build our community and cooperative environment as we prepare our school for our children. We definitely need your help!
If you have any questions or would like additional information, please don't hesitate to contact Either Ona or Ed.
We could not have written a more perfect story (except this all happening in July instead of August :-) ), but it would not be possible without the efforts of the Alumni Families who volunteered to be part of the hiring committee. We'd like to give a special thanks to Pam Adams and Judi Glaze who committed their time and made the investment to ensure the best interest of school and our children was made. There were some long days and many, many email... but as you are soon to see, it all paid off. Thanks Pam and Judi!!
We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday as we begin this fantastic year!
Warmly,
Ona Feinberg & Ed Zuech
Co-Chairs
