The Little School of Hillsborough, NC
 A 5 Star preschool and child development center offering
a nurturing, exploratory, educational program.
Teachers

Preschool Room

 Laura SuvickLaura Suvick  
 My name is Laura Suvick and I am the lead teacher in the Middler room. I was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. Now I live in Hillsborough with my husband, Brian, and our daughter, Hana. I have worked in the field of child development since 1997 at a center in Chapel Hill, NC. I am currently finishing my Associates Degree in Early Childhood Development. I have an Early Childhood Credential, Infant Toddler Certificate, Child Development Certificate, and Childcare Management and Administration Certificate. I have always loved working with children and am amazed at their creativity at such a young age. I have worked with children ranging from infancy to preschool age. In my spare time, I love to read craft and decorating magazines and gardening in my yard.


Sean Kehoe
Sean is a new resident to North Carolina having moved last year from his home state of Minnesota. Sean began at the Little School in February of 2006 as the go-to-guy helping out wherever needed. When a teaching position became available in the preschool Sean immediately enrolled in the North Carolina-required coursework for teachers and applied for the job. Sean began in the preschool room in August of 2006. To the children, Mr. Sean is the gravel pit builder, playground fixer, story reader and naptime friend. The children and parents adore him and he in turn loves his job at the Little School.

In the past, Sean has worked as a volunteer and as paid staff for 3 years in a Minneapolis-based child care center offering respite care to homeless and impoverished children. Sean has also worked as a babysitter and a nanny. Sean is completing his freshman year of college and looks forward to earning his bachelors and beyond.

 May Spivey
 May Spivey
May Spivey is a recently relocated Atlanta native who has also just returned from several months traveling throughout Europe. Miss May joined the Little School staff in the fall of 2006 as a substitute
teacher. She went on to become the school floater and in January of 2006 she took on the task of helping to open a new room as the Infant Room assistant teacher. May is an accomplished artist who has sold her work locally as well as a life-long learner who loves to study and experience new things. May is a naturally gifted teacher for the Preschool room!

Middler Room

 Mary SwansonMary Swanson My name is Mary Swanson. I have been with The Little School since it was just a hope and dream in the directors’ minds and helped open the school in September 2005. From September 2005 until June 2008, I was the Lead Teacher in the Toddler Room. In July of 2008 I became the Lead Teacher in the Middler Room. Part of our philosophy includes Looping, where teachers move up with large numbers of children when they advance. There are many benefits to looping including the children having a teacher they are comfortable with, the teacher knowing the developmental levels of the children and the parents and teachers having a relationship already in place. So I looped into the Middler Room in July of 2008.

I hold a teaching certificate in Early Childhood Education (4.0 GPA!). I also hold the North Carolina Early Childhood Credentials and have the Infant/Toddler Care Certificate. And I have the Level 1 Early Childhood Administrator Credentials. I continue to take education classes at night and on the weekends.

I have a volunteer spirit and have co-chaired two events for the North Carolina Senior Games for the past 15 years. I love being with the children but I also enjoy and am inspired by the seniors who do cheers, run laps, dance and compete with each other.

A recent project of mine involves helping a dear friend set up a non-profit organization that will assist children with physical disabilities. The organization, Bridge II Sports, hosted our first event in 2007 and it was a wonderful success – a day that allowed children and adults who are limited to wheelchairs participate in tennis, basketball, hand cycling and cardiovascular training. Bridge II Sports plans several events throughout the year to allow wheelchair bound individuals experience different sports. We recently have become a partner with the US Olympics and are a Paralympic club – we hosted our first Junior Olympics in May of 2008.

In my free time I enjoy yard sales, fishing, watching old movies, taking naps, making baby quilts and putting my feet in water.

Denny Wilkerson
My name is Denny Wilkerson. I came to The Little School in January of 2007 after leaving Lakewood Avenue Children's School in Durham, where I was a floater. In May of 2005, I graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill, where I got a BA in philosophy and psychology. Now, I am taking education classes at Alamance Community College. I am almost a local - I don't know Hillsborough well, but I grew up in Durham and moved to Chapel Hill in 2001 for college. I've worked with kids ever since I was a kid myself. I started baby-sitting in middle school and worked my way through college baby-sitting, plus I have worked at Camp New Hope and volunteered at the Durham Arts Council camp.

Since August of 2002, I've been working at University Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill taking care of the children during the church services. Though I've always lived around here, I have traveled to Mexico, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic to volunteer doing building work and working in orphanages or children's homes, and I've traveled to Italy as a tourist. I'm a fan of UNC basketball and will confess to teaching your children to say "Go Tar Heels!" or sing Carolina's alma mater. I like to swim, hike, and read and can occasionally be found being craftsy, especially making paper. I enjoy going to the Really Really Free Market in Carrboro and being a pack rat. In the summer, I spend much of my free time picking blackberries wherever I can find them.

I love being at The Little School. I especially love that children have many opportunities to be creative and that the activities are more child-centered than teacher-centered or schedule-centered. I enjoy reading about educational philosophy and have especially enjoyed reading John Holt's books and A S. Neill's book "Summerhill." My last school was also a Reggio-inspired school, and I look forward to continuing to learn about this philosophy and to seeing your children grow!

 Brandie Hayes
Miss Brandie came to the Little School from the Tiny Tots center in Hillsborough in January of 2008. As an assistant teacher in the Middler Classroom, Miss Brandie is the leader of a care group as well as a very vibrant member of the Middler Team. Miss Brandie has worked in childcare for seven years in a variety of capacities while she is simultaneously pursuing her degree in teaching. In her spare time, Miss Brandie is a very active member of the youth group at her church and a devoted aunt to her nieces and nephews. In the future, Miss Brandie hopes to transition to elementary school teaching.
 
Toddler Room
 Silva StumpfSilva Stumpf  
Silva joined The Little School team as our Pre-School Lead in the Spring of '07. She came to us from Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute where she was an Infant and Toddler lead teacher. Silva has a bachelor's degree from UNC at Chapel Hill in German and received her 4 year Early Childhood training in her second favorite town of Freiburg, Germany, where she lived from 1990-98. Before returning to the U.S. she taught as lead teacher in pre-school (= German Kindergarten). Silva is passionate about Reggio programming and improving educational outcomes for all the Little School children.



Alexis Moss
 

 

 

 

 


Jessica Page
I have been working with children for about ten years. I started baby sitting when I was twelve years old until I moved away for college. I am originally from Rochester NY but in the past four years I have lived in Ohio ,then New York , and now North Carolina. I began my undergrad at Kent State University and then transferred to the University at Buffalo. I graduated in May of 2008 with a BA in psychology, and a BA in philosophy. While attending school in NY, I participated in three years of research and in clinical and social psychology. I was also fortunate enough to work at Summit Educational Resources in Amherst NY. I started out as an intern and was then employed to collect data on children from three different classrooms. I enjoy working with children because they have young developing minds and can be impacted upon so easily. In January I will begin taking classes towards my PhD in philosophy at UNC at Chapel Hill. I love going to school and cannot imagine my life without belonging to a school. I have always had great teachers that made a difference in my education which truly inspires me to encourage and educate others.

Infant Room
 Shannon BorlandShannon Borland
Shannon Borland has been with the Little School since it opened its doors in 2005. Originally an assistant teacher in the Middler Room, Miss Shannon is now the Infant Room lead teacher. Shannon has worked with children in many capacities in the past including running a home-based child care center, working as a para-professional with children with autism, and as an assistant teacher in another local center. Shannon is a very creative person who can tackle nearly any task from building furniture, to sewing, to wedding cake creation. In her spare time, Shannon likes to be at home with her family and her dogs!


 Christel Reese
Miss Christel joined The Little School in March 2008 as a toddler teacher. Christel is attending Vance Granville Community College and has almost completed her Associates Degree in Early Childhood. She has completed Credentials and is an Infant Toddler Care Specialist. Christel has worked in childcare for 5 years and enjoys working with children and watching them learn and experience new things. In her
spare time she enjoys shopping and spending time with her family.

Chelsea Gates


 


 

Special Friends
 Ms. Mimi
Miss Mary (also known as Miss Mimi to the children) has been a very special friend of the Little School since its inception in 2005. In fact, Miss Mary was here as a helper on our very first day!

Miss Mary is a former speech therapist working with the Urban League in Colorado where she resided until re-locating to North Carolina in 2005. Miss Mary has also worked as a caterer in the past., a fact that is obvious to all of us at the Little School as she often arrives in the morning carrying something delicious for the entire staff to eat.

Miss Mary is also a master gardener, working behind the scenes with the children to expand the Little School gardens. According to Miss Mary, working in the garden fosters a sense of the importance of caring for things, nurturing their growth and seeing things come to fruition that is particularly significant in early childhood. Her love of working with children in the garden is a tradition carried over from her time at the Urban League where the children were very poor and their gardens together were often the only gardens in the children's lives.

Miss Mary is also Miss Jennifer's mother-in-law and Bryan and Collin's grandmother. We are very grateful that Miss Mary is such a dear friend and we look forward to having her at the school for many years to come.

 Jessica Jeffries
Miss Jessica came to the Little School in 2006 as an afternoon floater. Since that time, Miss Jessica has worked in all of the Little School classrooms as our floater, our substitute, and our friend. Miss Jessica is a student of psychology at Durham Technical College with the dream of being a counselor someday. In her spare time Miss Jessica enjoys shopping and traveling to the beach.