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Early Education Program STAFF

Administrative

Teresa Doermer, Education Director

Teresa has her Master’s degree in Elementary and Special Education and enjoyed teaching for over 20 years as a Special Education teacher. After obtaining a School Administration Supervisor degree from Canisius College she is currently the Education Director for the Olmsted Center for Sight’s Early Education Program.

Luann Chambers, Office Administrator

Luann has over 20 years experience and brings a diverse work experience to the Olmsted Center. As office administrator she is responsible for assisting the Director, billing and managing the preschool’s day-to day operations.

Shannon Ayotte, Nurse /Daycare Administrator

Shannon has 13 years of nursing experience working with children. She has been at the preschool for 3 ½ years, not only as a nurse, but assisting the Director in Daycare regulations and other office responsibilities.

Support staff

Mary Anne Whelan, Occupational Therapist/ Therapist Supervisor

Mary Anne is a licensed Occupational Therapist as well as the supervisor of the Therapy Department. Mary Anne works diligently to ensure the therapeutic needs of all students are met. She works closely with parents and classroom teachers to assist them in understanding the unique needs of their children and to provide them with techniques and strategies to better accommodate for each individual child.

Grace Kelley, Occupational Therapist

Grace Kelley is a licensed occupational therapist and earned her Master’s Degree from D’Youville College in 2006. She enjoys working with young children and their families to help them reach their full potential.

Mary Lynne Bisone, Physical Therapist

Mary Lynne Bisone, Physical Therapist- Mary Lynne is a licensed Physical Therapist who graduated from Daemen College in 1984. She has worked in pediatrics since graduation in various venues, and has also provided PT services for the geriatric population through homecare for 12 years. She has just started a full-time position with the Olmsted program on Sept 9 2011. She had previously been a long term sub at the EEP approximately 4 ½ years ago. Mary Lynne never tires of treating children, feeling that she learns something new from them every day, and loves having the opportunity to participate in a closer “team approach” environment that the Olmsted offers.

Kellie Rizzo, Physical Therapist

Kellie is a licensed Physical Therapist and received her Master’s Degree from D’Youville College in 2005. She has been working in pediatrics since graduating and loves working with children from birth to preschool. She has been an Olmsted Center employee since 2007 and also worked at the EEP from 2005-2006 via Diversified Services as a contract therapist. She enjoys working closely with parents, families, and teachers to ensure a comprehensive approach to therapy.

Stephanie Hereth , Speech and Language Therapist

Stephanie has been a speech-language pathologist for over 15 years. She has worked almost exclusively with preschoolers during that time and really enjoys this age group!

Christina Paszkowsky, Speech and Language Therapist

Christina received a Master's Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Rush University. She has experience working in an urban school setting with school aged children in pre-school through 8^th grade. Currently, she enjoys providing diagnostic and therapeutic services to preschool students as well as children in the early intervention program.

Laurie Pollinger, Speech and Language Therapist

Laurie received a Master's Degree in Speech-Language Pathology in 2008 from the Medical University of South Carolina. She has experience working with nonverbal and verbal preschool children with a variety of disorders including Autism, Apraxia, Cleft lip/palate and Auditory Comprehension. Currently, Laurie enjoys working with preschool students in the community/ home setting.

Steve Hagen, Vision Teacher

Steve has been a vision teacher for the Olmsted Center for 3 years and comes from 33 years of TVI experience at the NYS School for the Blind in Batavia. He is a grateful husband and proud father of 3 sons and 3 daughters and a very proud grandfather. Steve enjoys travel to Ireland and learning/speaking Irish Gaelic

April Aumick, Vision Teacher, Special Education Teacher

April currently holds her certification for the Teacher for Students who are Blind or Visually Impaired and continues her Master’s Degree program at Dominican College. She already holds a Master’s Degree is Special Education from Buffalo State College and a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education with a concentration in Science from Buffalo State College as well. April has a passion for teaching and loves working with preschool aged children!

Kim Bandura, Orientation and Mobility Instructor

Kim has a B.S. in Human Services from Medaille College and a M.A. in Orientation and Mobility from Western Michigan University and is certified from ACVREP (the Academy for Certification of Vision Rehabilitation and Education Professionals). Kim has worked at the Olmsted Center for 10 years and loves working with the children as she finds they teach her a lot more than she could ever teach them

Christine Metzger, School Pyschologist

Stacey Morrisey, School Psychologist

Teachers

Wende Essrow, Special Ed. Teacher

Wende graduated with a Master’s Degree in Special Education from S.U.N.Y. College at Buffalo and has been teaching preschoolers with special needs for over 20 years. She has been with the Olmsted Center for Sight-Early Education Program for five years.

Mary Jo Hallett, Special Ed. Teacher

Mary Jo is certified in Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, and has a Master’s degree in Special Education from Daemen College. She has worked for the Olmsted Center in the Preschool Program for three years. Mary Jo has worked primarily with preschoolers, she loves this age group and all aspects of her job!

Susan Prinzbach, Special Education Teacher

Sue graduated from Buffalo State with her bachelor’s in special education and an extension for early childhood. She worked for over 4 years in a group home for adults with developmental disabilities and is currently working on getting her master’s from the Domincan College for Teaching the Visually Impaired. This is Sue’s first year at Olmsted and loves teaching preschool!

Mary Vara, Special Education Teacher

Mary holds a Masters Degree in Exceptional Education and has been teaching children of various ages with different abilities for many years. She is very happy to be returning to a classroom after working over 15 years as an itinerant teacher for preschoolers. Mary spent the last 6 years devoted to infants, toddlers and their families in the Early Intervention Program. Mary understands that a close working relationship with families will facilitate a child's development in school and is very grateful that Olmsted EEP shares this philosophy.

Teachers Assistants

Cynthia Chiarmonte, Teacher Assistant

Cynthia is a New York State Level III Teaching Assistant in the integrated four year old class at the Early Education Program. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Education, having majored in Exceptional Education. She has many years of teaching experience and has worked at the preschool since 1990.

Gina Garippo, Teacher Assistant

Gina is a New York State Level III Teaching Assistant. She works closely with the students and their parents to create a wholesome environment focused on student achievement. Gina incorporates the New York State Fine Arts Standards into her every day classroom activities. She is a talented dancer and uses music to reach all children.

Emily Zeldina, Teacher Assistant

Emily works as a Certified Teacher Assistant in our Integrated class. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Music. She has many years of teaching experience and has worked at the preschool since 2002. Emily loves working in the classroom.

Kellie Zych, Teacher Assistant

Kellie is a Certified Teacher Assistant with MAT training in our centerbased class. She is an enthusiastic and energetic employee who makes the classroom a fun and exciting experience for all students. Kellie works hard to find unique ways to assist all students in participating in the classroom environment.

1:1 Aides

Bob Buckley, 1:1 aide/Daycare Assistant

Bob works as a 1:1 aide and is our afterschool Daycare Assistant. He has worked for the Olmsted Center for 5 years. He has a gift for working with Autistic children. Bob is also the singer/songwrite of The Free Henry Band. Check it out at freehenryband.com

June D'Orazio, 1:1 aide/Daycare Assistant

June works as a 1:1 aide and our daycare assistant. She has been working with students with special needs for over 14 years. June is MAT trained and skilled in educational practices as she contributes daily to the planning and preparation of classroom activities. June brings great humor to the classroom!

Laurie Frears, 1:1 aide

Laurie works as a 1:1 aide. She is MAT certified and works closely with the nursing staff to ensure the health and safety of the students in our school. Laurie is a skilled dancer and has been teaching dance lessons to children with disabilities for over 9 years.

Amy Lindstrom, 1:1 aide

Amy works as a 1:1 aide. She holds a B.S. in Special and Elementary Education from Fredonia State University & Buffalo State College. Amy is NYS certified in Special Education, 1-6. She loves to work with preschoolers and enjoys teaching and leading weekly preschool classes at her church.

Shannon Mack, 1:1 aide/Daycare Assistant

Shannon works as a 1:1 aide and our morning daycare assistant. She attends the University of Buffalo with a focus of Special Education.

Ben Ziller, 1:1 aide

Ben works as a 1:1 aide. He is a graduate of New School University. He is pursuing a Masters in Education.