Faculty
Cindy Finch - Director
Cindy received her BA in English and Psychology from Austin College (Sherman, TX) and her MA in Education, Emphasis in Early Childhood from BSU in 1983. From 1982-1986 she taught in the 4-5's and Kindergarten classes and facilitated the development of the 3-4's and Parent-Toddler program. Cindy returned to TCS in 1997 as a Primary teacher. In the years between 1986 and 1997 she worked for Head Start, taught CDA classes at BSU and consulted with various early childhood programs. She was the school's Project Director for the Pathways to Competency project during which she collaborated on the creation and development of the Children and Conflict video and companion materials. Cindy was named the Director of TCS during the 2000-2001 school year. Cindy is married to Ken Smith and is the mother of two children who are TCS alumni. Cindy likes to hike, travel with her family and read..
Andrea Laird - Administrative Assistant
Andrea received her BA in Developmental Studies and Justice and Law from the University of Winnipeg, Manitoba and her MA in Psychology from NCOC in San Francisco. She has worked in public school nursery (pre-K) and in preschool in Canada. Andrea also worked in an infant and toddler program in California. She joined the staff of TCS in 1996. Andrea has taught in the All Days, the Primary 5-7's and Toddlers and is now the Administrative Assistant. Andrea is married and has one son. She enjoys reading and travel.
Sherri Lauer - 3-4s Teacher, Parent/Toddler Discussion Facilitator
Sherri is returning for her 9th year as a teacher at TCS. She has taught in the 3-4s class and the Parent/Toddler Program. She has her Masters degree in Developmental Psychology and has been working with children and parents for more than 25 years. Sherri’s experience with TCS began when her own children attended here, 15 years ago. She now has two children in college and one at Boise High. Sherri has lived in Boise for 16 years with her husband and three children.
Mary Griffin - 3-4s Teacher, Parent/Toddler Program Teacher
Mary completed her undergraduate degree in psychology and masters work at the University of Illinois in Urbana. While in central Illinois, she taught at the university lab school supervising student teachers, working with preschoolers and their families and teaching classes. She spent three years at Chicago Child Care Society teaching in a multi-age setting and two years teaching in TCS’s parent toddler program. She has lived in Boise for thirteen years with her husband and three daughters, all TCS alumni. Mary has been an active volunteer and substitute teacher in her children's classes and looks forward to her sixth year teaching in the 3-4s.
Julie Gill - 2-3s Teacher
Julie is beginning her 17th year teaching at TCS. She has taught in the Parent-Toddler class, Young 3s, 3-4s, 4-5s, All Days, and Extended Day Primary program. Before teaching at TCS, Julie was a teacher at Boise Head Start. She has two children, TCS alumni. Julie has her CDA, and has studied Elementary Education and Child Care and Development at BSU and Liberal Arts at Albertson College. She lives with her husband, Al, her two children, and her dog Cinnamon.
Mark Zimmermann - 4-5-6s Teacher
Mark has an AA Degree in Child Care and Development and a BA in Applied Science with Emphasis in Child Care and Development from BSU. He has been a graduate assistant in the Masters Early Childhood Program at the BSU School of Education. Mark is beginning his 22nd year teaching at TCS. Mark is a former president of the local and state chapters of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Mark enjoys camping and travel, and walking.
Betsy Robinson - 4-5s Teacher
Betsy received a BS in Child Development and Family Relationships with a specialty in Early Childhood Education from Colorado State University. She graduated with honors and also studied child development at Iowa State University. Betsy has taught for 26 years. She has taught 3-4s and 4-5s and in the Parent/Toddler program at other schools in Boise. Betsy is in her 14th year at TCS and has taught in the 3-4s, 4-5s and Afternoon Kindergarten. Betsy enjoys travel, reading, gardening, exercise and working with teenagers as well as young children. Betsy has been married to Kerry for 36 years and has two grown children.
Patty Head - 4-5s Teacher
Patty received her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from the University of Idaho and Master of Arts in Education, emphasis in Early Education from the University of Alabama Birmingham and Boise State authoring a thesis on mentorship for administrators, master teachers and first year early childhood teachers. A 20 year veteran, Patty has taught first grade, Kindergarten, preschool, and for two years was the 3-4s teacher at TCS. Patty completed an internship to become a Child Life Specialist at St. Luke's Hospital and is a certified EMT. She has been married for 33 years to Alan and is a mother to two grown children. After a ten year "retirement", Patty is thrilled to be in her fifth year at The Children's School.
Nicole Shadduck - All Day Preschool Teacher
Nicole graduated from BSU in 1997 with a BA in Elementary Education with an endorsement in Early Childhood Education. Nicole has worked with infants and toddlers in an at-risk program for teen mothers and in Kindergarten in a Boise public school. She has started developing and presenting workshops at conferences for early childhood professionals. Nicole joined the TCS staff in January 1998. She is the editor of the school newsletter. She is married and has a teenage son. Nicole enjoys reading, exploring new local restaurants and spending time with family and friends.
Lynn Hanson - All Day Preschool Teacher
Lynn is in her eighth year of teaching at TCS. She has a BA in Child Care and Development and is working towards her MA in Reading. She has taught K-8 in a one room school house in Yellow Pine. She lives with her husband and has four grown children. She enjoys quilting, sewing, and art.
Tonya Palsulich - 2-3s Teacher, All Day Preschool Teacher
Tonya received a BA in Human Development and Child Study from Stephens College in Missouri. She joined the staff of TCS in December 2000. She is married and has two sons. Tonya enjoys music, reading and traveling.
Susan Gardner - Primary Teacher
Susan received her BA in Elementary Education, with a minor in English, from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. She has taken post graduate classes at the University of Minnesota. She has taught public school in grades K through 3 in the Idaho communities of Salmon, Leadore, and Emmett before moving to Boise and working at TCS. Susan is in her 14th year of teaching at TCS. She has a daughter (a former TCS student) and three stepsons with her husband, Dick. Susan enjoys life with her family, traveling, camping, and exploring the West!
Mary Helen May - Primary Teacher
Mary Helen received her BS in Elementary Education with an Emphasis in Early Childhood from Oregon College of Education (Western Oregon University). She taught Kindergarten at Adams, Roosevelt and Garfield Elementary Schools in Boise from 1973-1978. She helped facilitate workshops for the new kindergarten program. Mary Helen taught in K-3 classrooms in Oregon public schools. She then moved to Wyoming and began her preschool teaching career. She taught toddlers, 3-4s and 4-5s. Mary Helen has continued her education, taking classes in early childhood curriculum at a variety of universities. She joined the staff of TCS in 1998 and taught in the 3-4s and 4-5s and toddlers programs. This will be her eighth year teaching Primes. Mary Helen is married and has 3 grown children.
Ruthee Fuentes - Extended Day Primary and All Day Preschool Teacher
Ruthee joined the staff of TCS in May 2005 after completing an internship in the All Days class. She is currently pursuing an Associates in Early Childhood Development at Penn Foster College. Ruthee graduated from Nampa High School with her career pathway also in Early Childhood Development. She has been involved in many camps and youth activities over the past several years. Ruthee taught the infant-toddler class and assisted the preschool class at New Horizon. She enjoys reading, fishing, traveling, volunteering in her community and spending time with her family in her spare time.
Taira Guerrero - 3-4-5s and 4-5-6s Teacher
Taira received her BA from Boise State University in Early Childhood Studies and Early Childhood Special Education in May 2006. Some of her student teaching experiences include working in the Boise School District and with Spanish-speaking families in the Nampa area with the Idaho Health and Welfare Department. In the fall of 2005 she spent eight weeks completing her student teaching in the 3-4-5s and 4-5-6s classes at TCS. While finishing her undergraduate work at Boise State University, she was employed at the BSU Children’s Center for five years and taught in the looping program for infants and toddlers as well as several preschool classes. During the summer months, she spends her time in Erendira, B.C., Mexico on a work project focused on providing an educational opportunity for children living in the poverty of Mexican labor camps. She also enjoys traveling, spending time with friends and family, reading, and exploring the outdoors.
Lisa Wirtanen - 3-4-5s Teacher
Lisa has worked in the field of early childhood education for 25 years as a teacher, staff development coordinator, director, accreditation facilitator, sexuality educator, parent education facilitator, adjunct faculty member and curricula developer. She is the parent of two children, both TCS alumni. Lisa enjoys friends, music, reading, hiking, and traveling.
David Rodenstein - Extended Day Primary Teacher
David began working with children in a volunteer program at Madison Elementary School. He has been involved with TCS since 2003. David has AAS in Child Care and development and is working on a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Studies at BSU. David enjoys gardening, hiking, and collecting vintage vinyl.
Sarah O’Dell - All Day Preschool and Parent/Toddler Program Teacher
Sarah has been involved in the Early Childhood field for 11 years. Before teaching at TCS, she taught all day 3-4-5s and toddlers at a local NAEYC school, where she also participated in the Children and Conflict project as a community participant. At TCS, Sarah has taught Extended Day Primes, Summer Primes, and 3-4-5s. She has a CDA and is continuing to study Elementary Education at BSU. Sarah is excited to be at TCS as a teacher and as a parent.
Shelley McCarl - Art Consultant Teacher
Shelley began teaching at The Children’s School in 2000. She and her husband Bob, who teaches cultural anthropology at BSU, and their two children, have lived in Boise for 20 years. Shelley received her BFA at the University of South Carolina, and previously worked in graphic design and packaging design. She also teaches art to children and adults through the Boise City Parks & Recreation Community Center. In addition to teaching art, Shelley paints in pastel and oil, and her work has been included in a number of national and international shows and publications.
Lilia Byrd - Spanish Consulting Teacher
Lilia was born in Texas and raised in Nampa. She has a BA in Spanish and has had the pleasure of teaching in Boise for over 25 years, and at TCS since 2002. She believes that learning languages is important for all of us, especially our children. Learning a second language helps us appreciate and respect our cultural differences. Being bilingual or multilingual allows us to expand our social awareness and prepares us for working and living with people from diverse backgrounds. Her focus has been to help students develop conversational Spanish skills much the same way as most of them have learned their first language. Usually when learning a language we learn to speak it, before we learn to read and write it. We’ll spend a lot of time using the language and having fun learning about different cultures that use Spanish as their first language. She is excited to have the opportunity to teach your children and meet you.
Jodeen Revere - Creative Movement Consulting Teacher
Jodeen Revere has been teaching yoga and creative movement at TCS since 2002. Her daughter is a TCS alum. Jodeen has also been involved at TCS as an assistant teacher in the Young 3s, 3-4s, Primes and All Days. She has been a yoga practitioner for 12 years and a teacher for 7. She has studied with teachers such as Shiva Rea, Rodney Yee, Micheline Berry and Sean Corne. Her primary teacher and biggest inspiration is Max Strom. She is also a Thai Massage Therapist and teaches adult yoga classes at The Muse Building. She is an actress as well, who does commercials, voice over, industrial films and theater. She has worked with Boise Contemporary Theater, Open Door Productions and Idaho Theater for Youth. Jodeen loves her daughter, her cats, watching movies, reading, traveling, dancing and eating chocolate.
Will Martin - Music Consulting Teacher
Will has been singing and teaching most of his life and has shared his talents with TCS since 2003. He earned a B.A. in Vocal Performance at the University of California at Santa Cruz and earned a Master’s degree in Music Education from the University of Oregon. He has taught in public schools in Oregon and Washington, mostly as an Elementary General Music teacher. Will was a conductor with the Oregon Children’s Choir for 12 years. Over the years, Will has greatly enjoyed collaborating with many teachers on a wide variety of musical and theater projects and performances, and has done many classroom visits and presentations and school assemblies as well. Will has also taught music workshops for Head Start teachers and their students. Will and his wife, Susan have two grown children, and three small grandchildren. Susan and Will served in the Peace Corps in 1995-1996, helping train English teachers in the Philippines. Will loves baseball, hiking, traveling, and swimming. You can often find him at work in his yard, and especially in his vegetable garden. Will is working with the teachers at The Children’s School, and greatly appreciates the opportunity to teach, learn from, and share Music with your children.
Bobby Jardine - Bookkeeper
Bobby joined the TCS staff in September 2008 as bookkeeper. He has a BA in Business with an emphasis in Finance from Cal State in San Bernadino, as well as AA degrees in Firefighting and Paramedics. For the past 12 years he has owned his own bookkeeping and tax business, Foothills Bookkeeping and Taxes. Additionally, he has been a Firefighter and Paramedic in Nampa for the past 10 years. Bobby is married to Stacey and they have two boys. He enjoys living and working in the North End.
Liz Edrich - Capital Campaign Manager
Liz is thrilled to be a part of The Children's School community and to work with TCS on the Capital Campaign. Liz is currently the Development Director at Trey McIntyre Project, a contemporary ballet company. Prior to joining TMP, Liz was the Development Director at Idaho Conservation League and worked at museums in Washington, DC, and California, including the Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler Galleries and the California State Railroad Museum. Liz is on the board of the Boise Contemporary Theater and serves on Boise's Historic Preservation Commission. She provides fundraising advice and support to non-profits throughout the community. Liz is married to Steve B., an electrical engineer, and they have two children.