The staff at Community are experienced and highly qualified, degreed professionals in early childhood education and related fields. They attend, present, and actively participate in continuing education programs on an ongoing basis, including national and international early childhood conferences. Educated and experienced staff is the core of Community's programs. The average tenure for staff is 15 years, which significantly contributes to the continuity and stability of the programs.
DIRECTOR
Mrs. Jean Wallace-Baker is beginning her 30th year at Highland Park Community Nursery School and Day Care Center, having been a teacher and assistant director before becoming the Executive Director in 1994. Previously, she was the Director of the school-age child care program serving 300 children in Evanston’s District 65.
Ms. Wallace-Baker is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in child development and kindergarten education. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Highland Park/Highwood Home Child Care Association and the Community Family Center. The Home Child Care Association is a group of licensed in home educators for infants and toddlers. The Community Family Center is a proposed new facility which will house Highland Park Community, Tri-Con Child Care Center, Family Service, Family Network and the Highland Park/Highwood Home Child Care Association. Jean is also a member of the Lake County Child Care Coalition, the National Association for the Education of Young Children and the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance. Jean has one son, Charlie, a fourth year medical student.
ORANGE ROOM NURSERY SCHOOL TEACHERS
Mrs. Pam Carlson is a graduate of the University of Texas in Austin. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Education and a Masters of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Pam has been teaching since 1984 and has had experience at the kindergarten through fourth grade levels in Dallas and Austin, Texas and in the Winnetka Public Schools. This is her eleventh year in the Orange Room. Pam is also Community's part-time curriculum coordinator. Pam and Bruce Carlson and their two teenage daughters live in the Ravinia area of Highland Park. Pam enjoys reading, gardening, raising butterflies and teaching Sunday school.
Mrs. Rachel Magnani is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She also holds an associate’s degree in child care from Moraine Valley Community College. Rachel is married to Joe and has two children, Joey (16) and Samantha (13). Before getting married in 1993, Rachel taught pre-school for about 8 years. She now teaches with Mrs. Carlson in the Orange Room on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. In addition to teaching, Rachel is a Boy Scout Committee Member, a member of the North Suburban Special Education District Association of Parents and Staff, PASK112 liaison for Elm Place School, a member of the Elm Place School PTO, a Sunday School and VBS teacher, and owner of MAG Construction. She very much enjoys time with her family, caring for her many pets, reading, shopping, making cards and making jewelry.
Ms. Rachel Stauss is a graduate from Columbia College, Chicago. She has a degree in Early Childhood Education and a minor in American Sign Language. Rachel has studied the Reggio Emilia approach for the last four years. This past spring, Rachel visited Reggio Emilia in Italy and is excited to implement some of the techniques she observed on her trip in the classroom. Rachel teaches in the Monday/Wednesday/Friday Orange Room class, Kindergarten Enrichment, and lends a hand to the Tuesday/Thursday Orange Room. Rachel lives in Chicago with her fiancé, Joey, and their two cats. In her free time she enjoys baking, watching movies, traveling and spending time with her family.
Mrs. Lynn Darin received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Education from Northeastern Illinois University. She has taken additional early childhood classes at Oakton Community College. She has enjoyed working with and learning from young children for the last 20 years and has been at Community over 10 years. Lynn feels fortunate to have traveled and studied in Reggio Emilia, Italy with other educators from across the U.S. in the spring of 2007. She currently teaches in the AM Orange Room and PM Blue Room classrooms. Lynn has been a resident of Highland Park for thirty years and has been active in scouting programs, PTA, and parent networks. She enjoys gardening, biking, reading, and being inspired working with young children.
Mrs. Laura Weinberg is a graduate of the University of Illinois-Chicago with a Bachelor’s degree in Special Education and Elementary Education and a minor in Early Childhood. She has taught for 16 years at Community. Before coming to Community, Mrs. Weinberg taught for five years at the day care center associated with the University of Illinois-Chicago; a demonstration sight for a Piaget curriculum based on how children learn. She has also taught part-time at various family support centers in Oak Park and Highland Park. She and her husband live in Highland Park and have four sons. In her spare time she enjoys traveling, hiking, camping with her family, reading, gardening, and antiquing.
BLUE ROOM NURSERY SCHOOL TEACHERS
Mrs. Lynn Darin and Mrs. Laura Weinberg teach the PM Class. Please see their information under Orange Room Teachers.
GREEN ROOM DAY CARE TEACHERS
Mrs. Darcy Fitzsimmons graduated from Tufts University in 2000 with a degree in Child Development and certification to teach Pre-K through 3rd grade. She is now in her 12th year at Community. Darcy is currently the lead teacher in the Green Room Preschool for All class. Darcy and her husband Dave live in Wheeling and have 2 children: Conor (4, a current Yellow Room member) and Molly, 2, who looks forward to joining her mom and big brother at Community this summer.
Mrs. Leticia Lagunas graduated from Northeastern Illinois University with a degree in Elementary Education and an endorsement in Bilingual/Bicultural Education. This is Leticia's second year at community. Leticia and her husband Ricardo, live in Chicago. They have a daughter named Anilyda (4 months). Leticia enjoys every minute with her daughter. Being a mom is the best gift on earth. :)
Ms. Alison Temkin, a native of Highland Park who attended Wayne Thomas, Northwood, and Highland Park HS, graduated in 2001 from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana with a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies and minors in Psychology, Sociology, and Spanish. She then received her master’s degree in 2006 from Northeastern Illinois University in Early Childhood Special Education and General Education. This is Alison’s first year teaching at Community. Prior to this year, she taught children with autism for 9 years, 7 years in Chicago and 2 years in Philadelphia. She has been teaching children in preschool and kindergarten for the past 2 years. Alison teaches in the Green Room in the mornings and Kindergarten Enrichment in the afternoons. She just got engaged a few months ago, and currently lives in Evanston with her fiancé. In her free time she enjoys working out, reading, going to nice restaurants, and hanging out with her friends.
YELLOW ROOM DAY CARE TEACHERS
Ms. Kelly Noonan is a graduate from Texas State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (Education). She taught Early Childhood Special Education for 8 years in Austin, Texas, before moving to Chicago in June 2008. This is her fourth year teaching the Preschool For All Program and Daycare in the Yellow Room. She lives in Bucktown with her boyfriend Mike and Labrador Bella. She enjoys running, biking, walking her dog, cooking, traveling, shopping, and going back to Austin to visit family and friends.
Mrs. Alice Rissman is a graduate of Northern Illinois University with a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and many graduate hours from National Louis University. She taught elementary education for sixteen years. She returns to Community for her twenty-second year, now in the Green Room. Alice is a mother of two sons and has two dogs, ChaCha and Tinker Bell. Alice also works full-time at Walgreen’s in Deerfield. She enjoys quilting, knitting, and crafts. Community has been “a home away from home” for 20+ years.
Ms. Abby Culiver is a graduate from Indiana University with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Upon graduation, she moved to North Carolina to work with children with special needs. Abby then moved to Chicago three years ago, where she decided to go back to school in education. Abby recently graduated from Roosevelt University with a Master’s degree in Elementary Education. She lives in Chicago with her boyfriend and cat. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, camping, cooking, learning to play guitar, and going to musical events with friends. Abby is currently a teacher in the Yellow Room.
KINDERGARTEN ENRICHMENT PROGRAM TEACHERS
Mrs. Jill Stuart received her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with a specialty in primary education from Bradley University. She taught elementary school for five years in Schaumburg School District #54. Jill received an English as a Second Language Endorsement from National Louis University. Currently, Jill enjoys teaching Business English on a part-time basis to adults. Jill’s interests include traveling, playing golf, going to the theater and spending time with her family.
Mrs. Aviva Plummer graduated from the University of Colorado in 1975 with a B.S. degree in Journalism. She worked in newspaper and radio in Colorado before returning to Chicago in 1980, where her career took an accidental turn into high tech and she spent 15 years marketing and engineering voice /data business systems. In 1992 she left work to be a stay at home mom to Sarah, now 18 and a college freshman, and Danny, a 16-year old junior at Highland Park High School. During those stay-at-home years she was an active volunteer on the board of HP Community Nursery School and later served on the PTO Executive Board at Ravinia Elementary School, including two years as president. She worked as a substitute in District 112 and at Community while taking courses at National Louis University toward her teaching certification. She has been working at Community as a substitute and an assistant in the yellow room since 2007. She currently serves as Day Care Parent Coordinator. She lives in Highland Park with her children and husband, Tom. She enjoys gardening, cooking and walking her boxer Charlie.
Ms. Alison Tempkin and Ms. Rachel Stauss teach the After-Kindergarten Enrichment Class. Please see their information under Green Room and Orange Room Teachers, respectively.
Ms. Judy Zambrano has been teaching at Community since 1976. She has taught in every classroom-day care, nursery school and kindergarten. Prior to working at Community, she participated in the federal CETA program. A resident of Lake Bluff, she came to this country from Ecuador in 1963. Ms. Zambrano has taken education courses at the College of Lake County.
FINE ART TEACHERS
Mrs. Heather Lowery joined our staff in 2008 as the Studio Arts Teacher. She is a graduate of SUNY Buffalo with a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design and a Master of Arts and Humanities in Graphic Design with a minor in Early Childhood Education. After graduation Mrs. Lowery moved to Chicago to work as a Graphic Designer specializing in the field of prepress production. She also created and was chairperson of the Computer Graphics certificate and associate degree programs at the International Academy of Merchandising and Design in Chicago. In addition she has also been the owner of two businesses, PreFlight, a prepress production company and Over the Moon, a handmade greeting card company. She is married to Steve and has two children, Max (12) and Aidan (9) who attended the Orange Room, Blue Room and the Kindergarten Enrichment program. Mrs. Lowery enjoys staying active with her boys, antiquing, gardening, reading and creating art.
Mrs. Carol Kenneally is a graduate of Northern Illinois University with a bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. She has been teaching music and movement (voluntarily and professionally) since 1998. She is currently teaching in three Highland Park preschools and one Park Ridge preschool. This is her eighth year teaching here at Community! Her eclectic curriculum is tailored to each classes' specific age group and musical level of the students. She develops children's natural gift of music through a variety of experiences such as: group singing, individual singing, age appropriate instruments, circle dancing, partner dancing, whole body movement, and engaging props. She considers it a joy and privilege to encourage future musicians! She also has the pleasure of accompanying Carole Peterson, of Macaroni Soup, in performing children's concerts. Carol had been leading children's music in her hometown church since 1998, but this year she has has had to leave that position in order to accept a new position of worship leader with the adult worship band. Carol previously taught Kindergarten and fourth grade after graduating from NIU. Carol and her husband Chris reside in Park Ridge with their four children (20, 19, 18 and 16 years old). In her spare time Carol enjoys camping, kayaking, jogging, reading, antiquing, and jammin' with her musical family!
Ms. Nancy Shaffer is a highly experienced Early Childhood Music Enrichment Specialist. As a professional singer and guitarist, Nancy brings her talent to the most important stage of all, that of our children. With a Bachelor's degree in Music Education from the University of Illinois, Nancy's method uses Music and Movement to sing and teach every day skills and concepts. The children experiment with age appropriate instruments/percussion, props and dance. Nancy buzzes with energy and it's contagious throughout her classes. She loves her work and it shows. The children love music time with "Miss Nancy."
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT STAFF
Ms. Tania Toledo graduated from Lake Forest College with a degree in Psychology and Spanish. She is now in her fourth year at Community. She currently assists in every day-care classroom, nursery school and kindergarten program. Tania has completed her LPN program and plans to continue her studies in an RN program in the near future. She lives with her family in North Chicago.
Ms. Sofia Alvarez joined the staff in the summer of 2009. She earned her BS in Business Administration from Millikin University and her MS in Marketing Communication from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Before Community, Sofia worked in higher education for over 10 years in both the Admission Office and Academic Services at North Central College and DePaul University, respectively. She and her husband, Pablo, a counselor at Highland Park High School, moved to Highland Park in 2008. They have two daughters, Olivia (7), alum of Community, and Eva (2½), a future Community student. In her spare time, Sofia enjoys photography, designing stationery, playing piano, family time and especially being creative with her daughters.
