LittleLeaf School llc.

I have always been a teacher.

My grandmother had a home day care where I spent most of my time as a child and teenager. I am the oldest child in my family with 20 first cousins, two brothers, and many little children at the daycare who looked up to me for guidance and role modeling.

My love of the Arts showed me a path that was just right when I attended Buffalo State College for Art Education, Fine Arts in Ceramics, Art Therapy, Photography, Painting and Drawing. I  graduated with a NYS teaching cert. B.S. in Art Ed, BFA in Ceramics, and Minors in Art Therapy, Painting and Drawing. During this time, I discovered my love of the Waldorf Pedagogy and I researched endlessly and incorporated the Waldorf theory within my lessons.

I was teaching in schools as a substitute and accomplishing the pre-service teaching experience work throughout my college years. In the summers I would run summer camps and programs with children from pre-k through 8th grade. Then I continued on with teaching art at an inner city Buffalo High School, Lafayette High School. While teaching there my students and myself were honored on the front page of USA Today and the local news channels for our work on African-American Slave Quilts and  donation to children with Cancer. Most of my lessons were Waldorf -inspired, as was this one. Did you do quilt work as part of your High School Art class?

I loved my work so much that I moved to the inner city areas of New York City. I was first hired as a teacher to teach both children and teachers how to incorportate learning through the arts into the classrooms. I designed curriculum and lessons for the Magnet Art Schools that were shared throughout schools in NYC and based in Waldorf pedagogy.

After four years in NYC, I decided that I would like to start to settle down, as I would not like to live in NYC forever, or raise children there on a teachers salary. I finally enrolled at Sunbridge College and started my studies of the Waldorf Education methods formally.

During my studies, I was offered a position at The Stone Circle School in Ithaca, NY. I immediately packed my bags and started teaching again. I had a beautiful and magical k/1st class that grew to be 1st/2nd graders by the time I had to leave on maternity.

Which brings us to today. LitteLeaf has been in the planning stages of my heart since I was a child. I have always wished for a little school of my own where I could nurture, celebrate, and create community with the families and children in my classes. This will be our second year and we have grown from 4 students to nine! I would like to keep the class small, as learning social skills and incorporating a home atmosphere is imperative and a small group is perfect for learning and exploring.

I look forward to filling up the classroom with love and light each day.