Our Staff

April

April is the Academic Director at Mt. Elizabeth Academy. She has worked for 25 years in public education in the areas of teaching, counseling, and administration. She has experience working in elementary as a teacher/counselor and secondary as a counselor. April is excited to work with students this age because current research states that the overwhelming determiner of how a child does in school is how much they know before they start pre k. Her favorite time of the day is in the morning when all the kids are getting to school. It is a bright new day full of potential. Unlocking each child’s unique potential, talents, and gifts is her passion.

April’s favorite children’s book: “The Kissing Hand”.

Brittni

Ms. Brittni is our Georgia Pre-K Assistant Teacher. She is married and she is a mother to 3 wonderful girls. Ms. Brittni has worked with multiple age groups, but Pre-K is what she loves. She holds a CDA and has been working in childcare for 6 years, 5 of those years being with a Pre-K group.
She enjoys watching children learn and grow every day and she believes that if children have fun while learning, they will love learning and they will retain more information. She is a big kid at heart and is thankful to have found a career that allows her to have fun while teaching children.

Ms. Brittni has two favorite children’s books: Harold and the Purple Crayon” and “I Love You Stinky Face”.

Cara

Ms. Cara is our Private Pre-K teacher. She was a lead Pre-K teacher in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and is currently a Youth Pastor. While she will continue her role as a youth pastor, she has truly missed the classroom and is extremely excited to be back teaching Pre-K! SheI loves all of the exploring, learning and fun that Pre-K brings to the kids.  She has a Bachelor’s degree in Child Development from the University of Alabama. She was also a summer camp counselor growing up and she was the Director of a summer camp for 3 years. She loves helping her KG friends become explorers and take you on new learning adventures.

She grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and she loves to go back and visit her family often. Her mom and younger sister, Caitlyn, still live there.

Carol

Ms. Carol is part of our support staff team. She has worked in preschool settings for over 9 years, teaching or assisting every age group. She has also set up two curriculums for her church.
Her favorite part about teaching children is seeing that “WOW” expression on a child’s face when they discover something new.
She has lived in Georgia for 31 years. Ms. Carol has two grown children, one granddaughter, and two dogs. She and her husband enjoy helping the environment and walking their dogs.

Ms. Carol’s favorite children’s book is, “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything” by Linda Williams.

Christina

Ms. Christina has over 10 years of experience working in childcare settings with 8 of those years being in a Pre-K environment. This is her 6th year working as a Lead Georgia Pre-K teacher. She has also been an Assistant Director, a Private Pre-K teacher, and a Georgia Pre-K assistant teacher.
Ms. Christina graduated from Kennesaw State University with a degree in Elementary and Early Childhood Education. Her dream has always been to work with children and make an impact on their lives and after starting her own family, she began teaching full time.
Ms. Christina’s personal goal for her classroom is to challenge students and watch them grow to their full potential. She wants to take students who are at different levels and help them develop together. She also wants students to have the freedom that allows for expression and creativity. Students should be able to experiment with likes and dislikes and to realize their strengths and weaknesses.

Ms. Christina’s favorite children’s book is “Green Eggs and Ham” by Dr. Seuss.

Christi

Ms. Christi is the opening receptionist at Mt. Elizabeth Academy. She has worked for many years as a substitute teacher here in Georgia and in her home state of New Jersey. She was also a nanny for several years for three little girls and she has raised 4 daughters of her own. Her own daughters are now grown and living all around the country in Wisconsin, California and New York. Her youngest daughter is currently a senior at Kennesaw Mountain High School.
She started her professional life as a paralegal but feels fortunate to have been able to stay home when her daughters were school age. Through her active volunteering in Girl Scouts and the Home & School League, her daughter’s elementary school came to know her and asked her to become one of their substitute teachers. This is how her career in education began.
Her philosophy in education grew from her own children’s experiences. She has learned that each child learns in their own way and in their own time. All children are unique and should have a stimulating environment where they can grow physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially.

Her favorite book is The Lorax.

Corinne

Corinne teaches PK-3. She has taught PK-4 for 14 years and PK-5 for 3 years at a private Episcopal School in Mobile, AL. She was also the coordinator for Sunday school classes (k-2), children’s chapel and the nursery. Corinne loves working with young children, seeing their faces light up when they “get” a new concept. She also loves their complete, innocent honesty. Her favorite part of the day is small group work. It gives her the chance to spend more time getting to know each student. Corinne recently moved here from Alabama.

Corinne’s favorite children’s book: “Stellaluna by Janell Cannon”.

Emma

Emma is originally from Haiti. She is fluent in English, French and Creole and has joined Mt. Elizabeth Academy as a teacher assistant. Currently, Emma works with the infants and the toddlers during the afternoons. Emma is a sophomore in college and wants to pursue a career in pediatric nursing. Emma has been a babysitter for over 7 years as she loves taking care of kids because they are so joyful and pure. One of her favorite things about taking care of kids is making them feel very special and loved and she believes that all children should feel this way.

Emma’s favorite book is “La Petite Sirène” (The Little Mermaid). Growing up, her mother read it to her every night before she went to sleep.

Jennifer

Jennifer is excited to be joining the Mt. Elizabeth team. She is originally from Pennsylvania, and has lived in Georgia for the past 22 years. She is married and has two grown boys. Jen has always had a great passion for the caring and nurturing of young children. Her background experience is in the medical field. She has also been a personal nanny to several families over the years. Being a mother herself, she understands the importance of a safe, happy and loving environment in which children can grow and develop successfully and to their full potential.

Two of her favorite childhood books are “Love you Forever” and “The Giving Tree.”

Jessica

Ms. Jessica is an afternoon teacher in the Toddler 2 classroom.
She currently pursuing a degree in early childhood education in hopes of one day leading her very own classroom. She has always had a passion for working with children and has known since she was young that she wanted to help be a part of their growth. She has three years of experience working in early childhood, ranging from infants to kindergarten. She also has three years of additional experience working in her church’s nursery and toddler rooms in Florida.
A philosophy she has held on to through her experience in early childhood is, “What children learn is just as important as who they become.” She believes we as educators play an important role in teaching children through nurturing guidance, techniques and skills that they will carry with them into real-life situations from now and into their future.

Ms. Jessica’s favorite book is “I’ve got two dogs” by John Lithgow

Kaetlyn

My name is Ms. Kaetlyn and I am a preschool teacher. I have worked as an assistant pre-k teacher prior to my undergraduate career as well as during. I was involved in the Georgia AmeriCorps Jumpstart program stationed at Georgia State University as a team leader. During this program I worked with pre-k classrooms to help advance them in their reading and writing skills before they entered into Kindergarten. I am a recent graduate of Georgia State University where I received my B.A. in Journalism. During my undergraduate career I participated in numerous clubs and organizations such as becoming a member of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. In this organization I held the position of 2nd V.P., Community Service Chair, and Social Media Chair. I am excited to get to know each child in my classroom and help them grow and learn during the time that we will spend together. My teaching philosophy is always lead with fun. I like to keep my classroom engaged by incorporating one thing that everyone loves, music! Music is a fun way to grab everyone’s attention and also learn something along the way.

My favorite children’s books are anything written by Dr. Seuss. One of my favorites by him is “Green Eggs & Ham.”

Kate

Ms. Kate Ettinger is a Pre-school teacher. She is originally from the state of Utah but moved to Georgia six years ago. In her free time she enjoys reading a good book or being outdoors with her dog, Khaleesi. She also just began volunteering at a therapy horse farm and she is really enjoying her time there as well.
She has always had a huge heart for children and the joy they bring into the lives of those around them. She began regularly babysitting when she was just 13 years old and from then on she knew that she wanted to become an Early Childhood Educator. Two years ago, she began her professional journey as a toddler teacher and absolutely fell in love with the age group. She is very excited to continue to teach the little ones at Mt Elizabeth.
She graduated from Kell High School and hopes to pursue a college degree in Early Childhood Education.

Her favorite children’s book is “You are Special”, by Max Lucado.

La Toya

Ms. La Toya is the closing supervisor at Mt. Elizabeth Academy. She attended high school in Westwood, NJ but moved to Georgia her senior year and graduated from Riverdale High School in Riverdale, GA. She has 5 yrs of center based experience, where she was an infant teacher for a year. She was then asked to join the management team and work in the office. After working in the center She became the personal nanny of two lovely infant boys. La Toya and her husband have 3 children; 2 boys and a girl.
She believes that children learn and thrive when they are in a loving environment, allowed to make mistakes, and use their imaginations to explore.

Her favorite book is Dancing in the Wings!!

Lora

Lora is what we call a ‘floating teacher,’ which means that she rotates trough many of our classes. She is from Cartersville, Georgia and has been working with children since 2012. She served as a camp counselor for the Booth Western Art Museum summer camps, worked as an ambassador for Experience UGA, and has been babysitting for almost 4 years. In December, she graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in  Wildlife Biology. While there, she served as an ambassador for the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources and was a member of several clubs and organizations. She plans on attending graduate school to study Wildlife Ecology (specifically birds – she loves anything with a beak and two wings!) and would like to eventually become an environmental educator. She hopes to foster an appreciation for all aspects of learning in the classroom.

Lora’s favorite children’s book: “Stellaluna” by Janell Cannon.

Olivia

Ms. Olivia works at Mt. Elizabeth Academy as an After School Program teacher.
Ms. Olivia officially began working in childcare after high school when she was nineteen years old. She was caring for children from 3 months to 12 years, however, she has loved working with little ones for as long as she can remember.
She has attended numerous training events in the child care field and hopes to continue learning new ways to cultivate children’s natural spark for life and learning. She believes that every child has unique and special abilities that need the chance to flourish.

Her absolute favorite children’s book has to be “I Like Myself” by Koren Beaumont

Patricia

Originally from Jamaica,  Patricia moved to the USA and became a member of the New Jersey foster parent association working with young children where she developed a passion for working with kids. For more than 15 years Patricia has been working as a lead teacher in early childhood education with children ages 6 weeks to 4 years of age. Patricia says that no matter what the age group, or the location, she just loves teaching kids. She really feels blessed to have the opportunity to work with young children. Patricia loves to encourage the kids to be creative by doing art projects with them. She says having the opportunity to watch children learn and grow is one of the best parts of her life. In her spare time Patricia enjoys reading, playing games and listening to music. She attended Knox College for 2 years in Jamaica where she studied early childhood education. She has also taken a course in business management in adult education. Patricia has attended 120 hours of training classes in early childhood education where she gained her Child Development Associate credential (CDA). Patricia has also attended 40 hours of the early childhood Directors training network.

Patricia’s favorite children’s book: “The Little Engine that Could”.

Raina

Ms. Raina is an afternoon teacher at Mt. Elizabeth Academy. She recently graduated with Honors from Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Florida. In the near future, she plans on going to graduate school for Pediatric Occupational Therapy. Ms. Raina has 6 years of childcare experience varying from infants to teens. While attending school, she worked at the YMCA Kid’s Zone and has had the opportunity to be a camp counselor, mentor and tutor for the past two years. One of her favorite quotes from Maya Angelou is, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” Even from a young age I find that it is important to instill values that will last a lifetime, treat others with kindness and understanding, and remember that every day is a fresh start to do even better!

My favorite childhood books are the Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park.

Regina

Ms. Regina (Ms. Gina) is from a small town in Connecticut. She moved to Georgia after she graduated from high school.  She works as an Assistant Teacher in the Toddler 1 room. She has worked with kids for many years. She has been a dedicated babysitter for several families in Connecticut and was privileged to watch many of the kids grow up into Middle School students. She has also worked as a teacher to third graders for two years, teaching CCD. When she moved to Georgia, she started working as a live-in nanny, taking care of two little boys. Working with kids is been a great passion of hers. She will be soon starting college to work on a psychology degree. One of her main teaching philosophies is to make sure to get to know all the kids, each getting enough attention so they all feel special.

Her favorite books are anything written by Dr. Seuss’s books.  She first learned to read from Dr. Seuss books and they will always hold a special place in her heart.

Shaleea

Shaleea is the teacher for the Toddler I class and she loves teaching this age group. She has worked with children for over 8 years. She started off in a home daycare and she has also taught at her church nursey and a childcare center as a lead infant teacher. She has a Child Development Associate Degree and she has an engaging and enthusiastic environment in her classroom. She appreciates working with this age group and enjoys giving them the love and nurturing they need! She creates a positive environment while planning activities to support the children in every learning aspect as they grow. Her favorite time of the day is reading and circle time with the children.

Her favorite child book is “Oh the Places You’ll Go” by Dr. Suess.

Shequila

Ms. Shequila is from Wisconsin and enjoys teaching awesome little learners. She has been teaching for over five years.  Ms. Shequila has been the lead teacher in toddler classrooms and she loves this age group. Being able to watch children grow and development in so many different ways is a pleasure of hers. She feels that helping to nurture and guide children as they transition each day is rewarding as a caregiver, mom and teacher. In addition, Ms. Shequila loves to be creative in the way she teaches while she introduces new concepts to toddlers. She is currently studying early education and has formerly studied at Marian University of Wisconsin. She has obtained her CDA.

Shequila’s favorite children’s book: “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”