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| Meet Our Staff |
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Charlene Breindel (Pre-K Teacher)
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Mrs. Breindel lives
in the Downingtown area with her husband
Ralph. Mrs. Breindel
is beginning her 15th year
teaching at St. James Preschool.
She holds
an Associate Degree from Penn State University with an emphasis on Early
Childhood Education as well as an
Associate Degree in Business from
DuBois Business College. She's very
proud of her son Jesse (Professor at
Harcum College and teacher at Villa
Maria and Brandywine Learning Center) ,
daughter Nikki (Director of Packaging
for Frito Lay), and her son in law
David. She enjoys
walking, shopping, reading,
cooking and baking, and visiting the beach and
Disney! Mrs. Breindel teaches our
3 day AM Pre-K programs this
year . Mrs.
Breindel has always been active in her children’s education and activities and,
now that they are all grown up, she is happy to be able to continue to work with our
youngsters here at St. James. She
finds every day to be a new, fun
experience and loves the children's
excitement to be at school and learn
new things and master new skills. She
loves to listen to their stories! Mrs. Breindel's creative ideas and love of learning and
children make her a very valuable member of our staff. |
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Nicole Campadonico
(Teacher Assistant)
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Mrs. Campadonico is
thrilled to be starting her fourth year
at St. James Preschool, after many years
of being one of our favorite
substitutes! Both of her boys are St.
James Preschool alumni, Ethan is now in
seventh grade and Dylan in fourth grade.
She has earned an Early Childhood
Education Certificate and is very happy
to be a part of the St. James Family.
She looks forward to seeing each child
learn and grow everyday and we love her
kind and loving demeanor and calming
presence in the midst of any situation.
Mrs. Campadonico always has a sweet
smile for everyone and we are so happy
to have her as a part of our staff to
brighten everyone's day! |
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Suzanne Diodato
(Co-Director)
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Mrs. Diodato has been at St. James Preschool for
over 17 years,
starting as a Pre-K teacher (and a parent of a student) and then taking on the
position of co-director in 2006. Mrs. Diodato has
three beautiful daughters. She holds
a B.S.
in Elementary Education from East Stroudsburg University. She’s been teaching
for over 20 years and loves the new adventure every day with the children. She feels
that each day is a fun and exciting experience for herself and the whole class.
Her enthusiasm and love for the children make her a favorite among St. James
families and we all enjoy her
creativity and fun projects. In her spare time, Mrs. Diodato enjoys
crafts, spending time
with her daughters, and watching her
daughters play
softball and basketball. |
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Courtney Farabaugh
(Teacher
Asistant)
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Courtney Farabaugh is excited to have joined the St. James Preschool staff as a teacher assistant
and is starting her second year.
Her 9 year old son Noah is a proud SJP alumni! Mrs. Farabaugh spent 8 years teachering Pre-K and kindergarten before she had
her son and is thrilled to be back in school—especially at St. James. She hold a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education
from Millersville University. She enjoys baking,
crafting, outdoor activities and spending time with her family.
Mrs. Farabaugh’s bright smile and cheery personality light up the classroom!
She says, "The minute I walked into St.
James as a parent I fell in love with
the school. I am thrilled to now
be a part of the amazing family of
staff!" |
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Katherine
Grandizio
(Older Threes/Fours Teacher)
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Mrs. Grandizio is
starting her eleventh year as a teacher
at St. James, though we have known her
as a St. James parent for an
even longer
time. She has four children
ranging in age from 16-24.. Mrs.
Grandizio has a Bachelor of Arts as
well as her Elementary Education
Certification from The College of
Wooster. She teaches our Older Threes and Fours
Classes. She enjoys spending
time with her family going on long
walks, watching her children do
whatever it is they love to do,
strolling through a museum, or curling
up with a good book.
Mrs. Grandizio loves learning about
different times and places in history,
especially Ancient Egypt. Mrs. Grandizio loves
everything about preschool, especially
helping young children explore the
world around them. She is
rewarded by drawing them into new
learning experiences and watching them
grow. We love having her
creative spirit a part of our St.
James Family. |
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Terri Haggerty
(Teacher Assistant)
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Mrs. Haggerty is in
the midst of her twelfth year at St.
James. She is a loving mom of
twins--a boy and a girl--age 18!
Mrs. Haggerty holds a B.S. in Biology
from Drexel University and a M.A. in
Nutrition from Immaculata
University. After staying home
to raise her children for seven years, Mrs. Haggerty
re-entered the work force asa teacher assistant. She enjoys
watching her students experience and
learn new things and loves the hugs
and love they have to give! In
her free time, Mrs. Haggerty enjoying
playing frisbee with her dog, walking,
and doing yoga. Mrs. Haggerty's calm
and patient manner and nurturing
disposition make her a wonderful
addition to our staff. |
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Dana Kinsey(Young 3s Teacher)
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Mrs. Kinsey is
thrilled to be joining the St. James
Preschool staff this year. She
holds her teaching degree from Ursinus
College in Exercise and Sports Science
and a Masters of Education from Cabrini.
She is proud mom of St. James alumni Mia
and current student Paulie. She
enjoys exercising and going to the beach
and the mountains with her family.
She loves being a teacher, deciding
early on in elementary school that that
was the career for her! She has so
much fun with the students and watching
them grow throughout the school year.
During college she played basketball and
they won the championship her senior
year. Also in college she studied
abroad in Australia for 5 months.
We are so excited to have Mrs. Kinsey
sharing her energy, awesome experiences,
and easygoing demeanor with our youngest
students helping them learn to love
school! |
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Hope Latch
(Pre-K
Teacher)
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Mrs. Latch is
currently in her seventh year of
teaching at our preschool. She is well-qualified
with a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary
Education from Bloomsburg University
and a Master's Degree in Curriculum
Design and Instruction from Penn
State! Mrs. Latch enjoys
physical activities--running, biking,
kayaking and hiking--and all of that
energy is great for ou students! She also enjoys
reading, baking game nights, and traveling with her
family to see new places. She
has two children, Megan, 15, and
Matthew, 13. Mrs. Latch is so
excited to be teaching your children
and is looking forward to singing
songs, playing games and doing crafts
all while learning. It's her
passion to teach and see the wonder in
children's eyes. |
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DeeDee Price (Teacher Assistant)
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Miss Price is so
excited to be starting her first year at
St. James Preschool as a teacher
assistant in the Pre-K class. She
holds a Bachelor of Science in Athletic
Training from East Stroudsburg
University and is currently attending
West Chester University to earn her
teaching certification for early grades
(Pre-K through 5th grade). DeeDee
has lots of experience with this age
group, having both as younger brother
and nephew who are preschool aged!
She enjoys spending time with both of
those little guys (in addition to her
boyfriend), traveling to her family's
cabin in the Adirondacks, and relaxing
with Netflix when she's not working or
doing schoolwork. DeeDee is a
hardworker who has worked throughout
college and is an awesome waitress,
however it was when she worked with
young children at a summer camp that she
shifted her focus from athletic training
to a desire to achieve a career in
teaching. She loves seeing the
children learn and she is great forging
connections with children.
DeeDee's easygoing personality make her
very approachable for the kids and they
love playing with her and working with
her on projects in the classroom.
We are excited to help DeeDee gain
experience so that she can achieve her
dream of being a teacher and are so
lucky to have her as part of the St.
James Preschool family! |
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Maha
Raman (Pre-K Teacher and Teacher Assistant)
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Mrs. Raman has been
at St. James for 13 years, but we have
known her even longer. Her
daughter is a St. James graduate and
while she was here, Mrs. Raman was one
of our most popular parent substitute
teachers! Mrs. Raman currently
is our Tuesday and Thursday Pre-K
teacher, and our Pre-K Assistant on
Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday
mornings. She holds a Master's
Degree in Computer Applications from
Alagappa Chettiar Engineering
College. In her former career,
she trained professionals with the
latest software to meet their
needs--now she is training the future
professionals with the basic skills
needed to become successful
students! She loves working with
young children and her enthusiasm and
love of learning shine through. She
especially loves science and
math. Mrs. Raman is trained in
classical Indian dance and enjoys
yoga, gardening, travel adventures, early morning walks,
riding motorcycles, hiking, and
experimenting with new recipes
especially gourmet cooking She is a loving mom of
son, DJ, who is a Penn
State Mechanical Engineering grad, and daughter,
Medha who is a senior at STEM
Academy.. |
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Emily Tarkington
(Teacher Assistant)
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Mrs. Tarkington is
excited to be joining the St. James
Preschool Staff this year. She
holds a BA degree from Shippensburg
University. Mrs. Tarkington is
proud mom of St. James alum Nora, 6, and
current student Graham, 3. She
loves going to the beach, and building,
sewing, crafting or creating any
project. Mrs. Tarkington is full
of energy, creativity, songs and
positivity. She's a do-er who has
an ability to make good things happen,
and she is such a wonderful asset to our
school. Our youngest students are
going to thrive under her care! |
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Johanna Uggla (Co-Director)
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Mrs. Uggla has been
part of St. James staff for 16 years.
Prior to that she was an active PTO
president and parent of two children at
the preschool, now graduates, Wilkes
University BFA musical theatre student
and aspiring actress Samantha, and
football playing Johns Hopkins
University Neuroscience major, Spencer.
She has a B.A. in History from West
Chester University, and an M.Ed. in
Educational Counseling, also from WCU.
Mrs. Uggla enjoys spending time with her
children and husband, reading,
exercising, and traveling. She keeps
busy attending her children's various
sporting events, musical and theater
performances, and getting to the beach
whenever she can. She is an active
foster parent and volunteer at local
rescues, saving dogs and cats from high
kill shelters in the south and helping
to find them loving forever
homes. She loves helping children learn to love school and working to make
their first school experience a great one. She
treats every child at the preschool as
her own. |
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