Staff

Our certified staff has experience in public and private schools, at the elementary and high school levels. The majority of our full-time staff members hold advanced degrees in education with between 20 and 38 years' of experience. Teachers are partners with the children and their parents on the child's path to discovery and achievement.

Jeanine Bakker – 3 rd /4 th Grade Teacher
B.A. Social Work, M.Ed. Education.
25 years' teaching experience at the pre-school through elementary school level. Former director of an early childhood education center. Former Chicago Metro A.E.Y.C board member and N.A.E.Y.C. presenter.

Valerie Beavers – Spanish Teacher
B.A. Spanish.
5 years' teaching experience at the elementary school level. 8 years' teaching experience at the high school level.

Janice Cardella-Koll – Middle School Teacher
B.S. Education.
20 years' multi-age teaching experience at the elementary level, with an emphasis on designing individual educational plans. Cross-categorically certified. Instructor and Teacher Trainer for The JASON Project. Golden Apple Teacher Award nominee. Member: National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Association of Middle School Teachers.

Kenneth Koll – Principal
B.A. Education, M.A. Educational Leadership – Administration/Supervision.
14 years' administrative experience, 16 years' teaching experience at the elementary school level. 2 years' teaching experience at the high school level. Education and Management Consultant with experience in system wide curriculum planning and school evaluation. Member of the Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, Cognitive Neuroscience Society and the Learning and the Brain Society .

Marylou Kolnik – 1 st /2 nd Grade Teacher
B.A. Social Studies and Education, M.A. Education.
22 years' teaching experience at the elementary school level in the USA and abroad ( Australia ). Director/teacher of a multi-cultural pre-school in Australia . ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher and reading specialist. 9 years' experience as a National Reading and Literacy Consultant.

Barbara McMillin – 5 th 6 th Grade Teacher
B.A. Education, M.A. Education.
38 years' teaching experience at the elementary school level. Began and directed a pre-school. Adult education teacher and resource person. Outreach teacher in Mississippi and India .

Jackie Morgan – Art Teacher
M.A. Art.
Practicing artist. Art Director M. Kathleen & Co.

Kerri Strahlman – Physical Education Teacher
B.S. Education.
11 years' teaching experience at the elementary school level.