Our Team of Educators
School Leadership
Eileen is an experienced international school leader who has implemented IB programs in schools in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. She is Montessori trained and a workshop leader and school inspector for the International Baccalaureate. She is uniquely qualified to bring our vision of a global school to life because she grew up overseas, immersed in a classroom of real world cultural experiences.
Emily comes to us from London where she has served as an early childhood teacher for over 5 years. She holds a Master of Education from the University of Cambridge and a bachelor's degree in Childhood Studies from the University of Bristol.
Lauren has an M.Ed in Educational Technology and a B.S. in History Teaching. Since she completed her student teaching in Southern China in 2012, she has been passionate about globally-minded education and how technology can create meaningful, personalized learning experiences for students.
Leigh has been teaching for 21 years and has taught music, kindergarten and first grade in the U.S. and Europe. She holds degrees in both Education and Philosophy and has teacher certification in Canada, Texas and Michigan.
Mexico is her home country and where her love for Spanish comes from. She grew up in Arizona and moved to New York six years ago. Janise obtained her Bachelors in Psychology from The Arizona State University and her Masters in Early Childhood Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Isabelle was born and raised in New York City. She holds NYS Certification in Childhood Education 1-6, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and Initial certification in School Building Leader (SBL) from St. John’s University, Queens, NY.
Early Childhood Teachers
Tahira was born and raised in New York City. She holds a BFA in Art and Design Education from Pratt Institute and a Masters in Early Childhood Education from Hunter College. She has 10 years of experience, including at International Baccalaureate and Reggio Emilia schools.
Kate holds a B.A in Early Childhood/Childhood Education and Spanish, with a minor in music from Nazareth College. One of her favorite experiences during her undergraduate years, was studying abroad in Valencia, Spain for a semester. Kate had the wonderful opportunity of learning how to play several music instruments, specializing in violin and voice as her mother was an elementary music teacher.
Nadia has over 10 years of experience mentoring, educating and caring for children. She joined Green Ivy Schools in 2014. Nadia holds B.A. in English Literature and she completed her Montessori certificate and IB Primary Years Programme Level I training.
Mexico is her home country and where her love for Spanish comes from. She grew up in Arizona and moved to New York six years ago. Janise obtained her Bachelors in Psychology from The Arizona State University and her Masters in Early Childhood Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Muqing holds an M.A. in Early Childhood Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, Initial Certification (birth-grade 2) and Bilingual Extension Certification in Mandarin and a B.A. in International Relations and Political Science from Syracuse University. Most recently, she taught for several years Chinese literacy and cultural studies at The Spence School.
Pooja has been with Green Ivy Schools as a sub for several years now. She holds the 3-6yo Montessori credential from the UK and has worked as a teacher in different countries like India, Singapore, and the United States (New York).
Taryn Klein is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW). She received her BSW from Syracuse University in 2011 and her MSW from Fordham University in 2012. Taryn has known she wanted to work with children since her early babysitting and camp counselor years, which guided her education focus to working with children and families.
Originally from Colombia, Marcela has a B.A. in Spanish education from the College of Staten Island CUNY, where she was the Spanish Club representative. She also obtained a Latin American, Caribbean, and Latina/o studies certification.
Cindy holds a M.A. in International Education Development and Family Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She has 4 years of teaching experience with both children and adults.
Merian has bachelor's degree in Communications and holds a Master's in Teaching Spanish as a Second Language from La Rioja University in Spain. She is originally from Caracas, Venezuela and she has been working as a preschool Spanish teacher for six years.
Berynes previously served as Director of Spanish at the progressive and nationally-respected Blue Oak School in Napa, California. Prior to that, she was a Spanish Immersion Head Teacher at Avenues in New York.
Isabel Tepoz-Robles has been with Green Ivy for 2 years as a teacher assistant. She was born and raised in New York by immigrant parents. She holds a BA in Childhood Education with a bilingual education extension from Brooklyn College and an AS in Childhood Education from Kingsborough.
Leslie received her Early Childhood Education degree in Guatemala, where she grew up. She has worked as a preschool and elementary teacher for more than ten years and taught Spanish to Middle and High School students in the Czech Republic for two years.
She received her master's degree in communication and culture from the University of Seville in Spain in 2013. She is currently enrolled in an IB PYP course and pursuing certification from Child Development Associates (CDA). She has also acquired further training and certificates over the year and spent four years teaching Spanish and Mandarin in Spain.
Kindergarten & Elementary Teachers
Isabelle was born and raised in New York City. She holds NYS Certification in Childhood Education 1-6, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and Initial certification in School Building Leader (SBL) from St. John’s University, Queens, NY.
Caitlin has a B.S. in Elementary Education with ESL certification from The University of Tampa. She has elementary and preschool teaching experience in Belgium, Greece, and the United States. Caitlin joined our Green Ivy Schools family in 2019.
Stephanie was born and raised in Santiago, Chile. She has served as a primary school level bilingual teacher for 7 years, at an inquiry-based learning school. She holds a B.A. in Education with a major in English Language teaching and an M.A. in Creativity and Pedagogical Innovation.
Paige is completing her M.Ed. in Advanced Teaching this fall. She holds a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies for Early Childhood to Grade 6, with ESL certification from Texas State University. In 2011, she accepted her first full-time teaching position in Kunming, China. She continued her career in education in China, Singapore, and Thailand.
Danielle received a B.A. in Elementary Education from Loyola University Maryland in 2016 and an M.S. Ed. in Special Education from The College of Staten Island in 2019. She also holds certification to teach in New York State and Maryland. She has experience teaching in the United States and recently returned from teaching in an IB school in Italy.
A proud Brooklyn and New York City native, Isaiah has taught students across several academic disciplines, and a diverse array of ages. He holds a bachelor's degree in Music Education from LIU Post (2016), and a master's degree in Music Performance form the New England Conservatory Of Music (2018). He has 4 years of classroom teaching experience.
Meg is an experienced educator with more than 15 years teaching in the United States and abroad. Meg has a Master's of Science in Elementary Special Education and an undergraduate degree in Psychology.
Yue holds an M.A. in Bilingual & Bicultural Education from Teachers College Columbia University and a B.S. in Childhood & Early Adolescent Education from Penn State.
Leigh has been teaching for 21 years and has taught music, kindergarten and first grade in the U.S. and Europe. She holds degrees in both Education and Philosophy and has teacher certification in Canada, Texas and Michigan.
Coming soon!
Erika has been a bilingual, biliterate, and bicultural educator for 15 years. She studied at the University of San Diego for her undergraduate studies, studied abroad for graduate school at La Fundación Ortega y Gasset in Spain.
Danielle holds master’s degrees in Teaching from The Relay Graduate School of Education and International Communication from American University. She also completed her Initial Certificate for teaching in New York State. Prior to teaching in NYC, her work focused on global education.
Lindsay graduated from the University of Arizona and received a certificate in elementary education. She then began a nearly decade-long career in teaching first grade in language immersion settings. Most recently, Lindsay worked abroad as a first grade teacher and peer mentor at an international school in Jeju island in South Korea.
Sofia is originally from Chile, where she taught at a bilingual Elementary teacher for over 5 years at an inquiry-based learning school. She holds a B.A. in Elementary education and a diploma in teaching English as a second language.
Marisol is a native of Chile and has lived in Arizona for ten years. She has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and International Relations from Northern Arizona University and a Master’s degree in Elementary Education with certification from Arizona State University.
Jing earned her Master of Education in Early Childhood Special Education from the University of Pittsburgh. She has been teaching young children from early childhood to early elementary level for over a decade and holds New York State certification in childhood education and early childhood special education.
Sirong holds a Master of TESOL from University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Art in English from Hunan University of China. She is also certified In ESL education. Sirong brings several years of IB PYP Mandarin immersion teaching experience in the U.S.
Specialist Educators
Lauren has an M.Ed in Educational Technology and a B.S. in History Teaching. Since she completed her student teaching in Southern China in 2012, she has been passionate about globally-minded education and how technology can create meaningful, personalized learning experiences for students.
Bilingual in Mandarin and English, Qingyan is completing her M.A. in Music Education at Steinhardt, New York University. She holds a bachelors in music education from The Capital Normal University in Beijing.
Pablo was born and grew up in Spain and moved to New York City in 2019. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in Spanish and Basque (an ancient language from the north of Spain) with major in Physical Education from the Public University of Navarre.
Danni is an Educator and Visual Artist from Long Island, NY. She holds a B.S. in Visual Arts Education as well as a B.F.A. in Painting and Drawing from SUNY New Paltz. Danni has taught within NY Public schools, and has been an Educator at cultural and community institutions including the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, the Wassaic Project, FABNYC, and Hootenanny Art Annex.
Green Ivy Schools Team
Dr. Jennifer Jones | Founder
Dr. Jennifer Jones is the founder and visionary behind New York City's Green Ivy Schools network and a lifelong entrepreneur and advocate for evolved learning experiences for children from birth to high school and beyond. She has developed 24 schools and draws from a rich background as school developer, international policy consultant, and teacher.
Erin Miller | Chief Financial Officer
Erin received undergraduate and graduate degrees in Anthropology from Emory University and the University of Chicago, respectively. After leaving academia, she pursued an MBA at UCLA and has been working in Operations and Finance ever since, in a variety of industries ranging from dotcoms, to after-school programs, to independent schools.
Gary Mouton | HR Manager
Gary Mouton joins the Green Ivy Team with 15 years of experience in the education sector. In that time, he's served in the roles of Teacher, Office Manager, HR Generalist, and HR Manager. His goal is to provide the best HR services to all Green Ivy employees so they can focus on being the best in their role.
Rosa Núñez | Admissions Director
Rosa leads Green Ivy School's Nursery 2s to 6th Grade Admissions, building the community by sharing our unique and forward-thinking programming. Prior to Green Ivy, she worked at the Chinese Cultural Studies Program for Children at Columbia University as their Admissions and Operations Lead.
Carina Szabo | Director of International Admissions
Carina relocated to New York 15 years ago from England. She has a BA.HONS in Education and a PGCE in Primary Education. Through her passion for travel, she has been lucky enough to teach elementary students in England, Budapest, as well as New York City. It was in New York City that Carina advanced her career and entered the admissions field.
Austin Lopez | Assistant to the Admissions Director & Social Media Coordinator
Originally from Miami, Austin has enjoyed traveling around the world since he was quite young. Austin has been working in Admissions for over 3 years now and has cultivated over 4 years of social media management. Austin obtained his BA in History and minor in Art History from Manhattanville College in 2018 and acquired his TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certificate last year.
Michael Springthorpe | After School & Summer Camp Coordinator
Michael brings 12 years of experience across camp and school programs, having served as a camp director, program developer and counselor as well as a drama and history teacher. From NYC day camps to outdoor challenge courses in his native state of Florida, he believes that one of the most important things for any child is having a safe, enriching space for play, creativity, exploration and personal expression.
David Castro | Facilities Manager
David is a seasoned Property/Facilities Manager. He loves the problem-solving and hands-on aspects of the field; each day is different and presents various opportunities to exercise his skill set. But most of all, he loves the fact that he's part of a great team that gets to see our future leaders learn and grow at the Green Ivy Schools.
Johnny Gutierrez | Facilities Coordinator
Johnny joined the Pine Street School facilities Team in 2019. Johnny is very passionate at his job as the Pine Street Facility Coordinator. Johnny has a great deal of experience in customer service, asset protection and project management.
Malik LeTellier | Facilities Crew Member
Malik is a native New Yorker, raised in Flatbush, Brooklyn. He was born on a military base, which would set the foundation for his professional life. After his military career, he worked in corporate security with Allied Universal at the World Trade Center. During this time Malik began working at the Browning School and now he's happy to be part of the Pine Street School team!
Eddie Burgess | Facilities Crew Member
Eddie joined GI Facilities in 2019 as a member of the security team and handyman. When he is not keeping the schools beautiful, he is doing beautiful things. For the past 25 years, Eddie has supported people with disabilities, working with groups such as AHRC and The Lighthouse Guild.