Faculty

Cindy Finch, Director

Cindy received her B.A. in English and Psychology from Austin College (Sherman, Texas) and her M.A. in Education, Emphasis in Early Childhood from Boise State University 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. 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 became 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 B.A. in Developmental Studies and Justice and Law from the University of Winnipeg, Manitoba and her M.A. 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 and Parent-Toddler Program Discussion Facilitator

Sherri has taught in the 3-4s class and the Parent/Toddler Program. She earned a 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. Sherri and her husband have three children in college.

Mary Griffin, All Day Preschool 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. Mary and her husband have 3 daughters, all TCS alumni. Mary has been an active volunteer and substitute teacher in her children's classes and looks forward to another year of teaching at TCS and her 1st year in the All Day Class.

Julie Gill, 3-4s Teacher and All Day Preschool 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 who are TCS alumni. Julie has earned a 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, 2-3s Teacher, All Day Preschool Teacher and Woodworking Consulting Teacher

Mark has an A.A. Degree in Child Care and Development and a B.A. in Applied Science with Emphasis in Child Care and Development from Boise State University. He has been a graduate assistant in the Masters Early Childhood Program at the BSU School of Education. Mark has taught at TCS for over 20 years. He 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, PreK-K Teacher

Betsy received a B.S. 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 more than 25 years. She has taught 3-4s and 4-5s and in the Parent/Toddler program at other schools in Boise. Betsy enjoys travel, reading, gardening, exercise and working with teenagers as well as young children. Betsy and her husband have two grown children.

Patty Head, PreK-K Teacher

Patty received her B.S. in Elementary Education from the University of Idaho and M.A. in Education, emphasis in Early Education from the University of Alabama Birmingham and Boise State University, authoring a thesis on mentorship for administrators, master teachers and first year early childhood teachers. In her more than 20 years as a teacher, 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 over 35 years to Alan and is a mother to two grown children. After a 10-year "retirement", Patty is thrilled to be back at The Children's School.

Nicole Shadduck, Primary Teacher and TCS Times Editor

Nicole graduated from Boise State University in 1997 with a B.A. 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, School Librarian and Sewing Consulting Teacher

Lynn is in her ninth year of teaching at TCS. She has a B.A. in Child Care and Development and is working towards her M.A. 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, 3-4-5s Teacher

Tonya received a B.A. 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.

Mary Helen May, Primary Teacher

Mary Helen received her B.S. 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. Mary Helen is married and has 3 grown children.

Taira Guerrero, All Day Preschool Teacher and Spanish Consulting Teacher

Taira received her B.A. 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 student teaching in the 3-4-5s and 4-5-6s classes at TCS. While finishing her undergraduate work at BSU, 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 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.

Ann Hendry, 2-3s Class Teacher

Ann received her B.A. in Psychology from Occidental College and her Masters in Developmental Psychology, with an emphasis in early childhood, from Columbia University, Teachers College. While she was a graduate student in NYC, she spent a semester as a teacher's assistant in the 3-4-5s at Bank Street School for Children. She also worked on a Masters in Special Education at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, and San Francisco State University. Ann enjoys being a student but has found that she has learned even more from being a teacher. Ann has worked with infants through adolescents in a variety of settings since she was 15. She has taught in public and private schools, special education classrooms, a group home, a private residential institution, a state hospital, a children's hospital, and almost a half dozen church nurseries and summer camps. Ann has two kids who graduated from TCS and has been happy that she can remain at TCS as a substitute teacher and feels privileged to now be part of the amazing staff. She enjoys going for walks, playing games with her family, ballroom dancing with her husband and a good cup of coffee.

Lisa Wirtanen, 3-4-5s Teacher, Parent-Toddler Program Discussion Facilitator and Creative Movement Consulting 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, Parent-Toddler Program Teacher and Creative Movement Consulting Teacher

David began working with children in a volunteer program at Madison Elementary School. He has been involved with TCS since 2003. David has A.A.S. in Child Care and development and is working on a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood Studies at Boise State University. David enjoys gardening, hiking, and collecting vintage vinyl.

Sarah O'Dell, Parent-Toddler Program Teacher and Substitute Coordinator

Sarah has been involved in the Early Childhood field for over 10 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 her 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 Boise State University, and their two children, have lived in Boise for over 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 B.A. 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. 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. She is excited to have the opportunity to teach your children and meet you.

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 a Master's degree in Music Education from the University of Oregon. He has taught 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 enjoyed collaborating with many teachers on a variety of musical and theater projects, and has done many classroom visits, presentations and school assemblies. Will has taught music workshops for Head Start teachers and their students. Will and his wife Susan have two grown children and three grandchildren. Susan and Will served in the Peace Corps helping train English teachers in the Philippines. Will loves baseball, hiking, traveling, and swimming. You can often find him at work in his yard, especially his vegetable garden. Will 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 B.A. in Business with an emphasis in Finance from Cal State in San Bernadino, as well as A.A. 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 ovr 12 years. Bobby is married to Stacey and they have three boys. He enjoys living and working in the North End.