Meet the Carrot Patch Teachers!

Kellan Chatelain, B.A., M.A. candidate (Miss Kellan)

Head Classroom Teacher, Toddlers

Miss Kellan has returned to our toddler team after taking time off to work on her Master's Degree in Secondary Education. Though she enjoyed teaching her "big kids," she missed the playfulness and nurturing side of working with the little ones. Previously Kellan worked in our infant program, then as head teacher in the transitional toddler room. She has also worked in public and private schools nearby and in New York City. With a degree in English from the University of Connecticut, she brings her passion for early literacy and language development to the classroom.

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Lauren Henderson, B.S. (Miss Lauren)

Head Classroom Teacher, Toddlers

Lauren joined the toddler program at the Patch last September, having married and moved to Hamden from Tallahassee, Florida. She holds a bachelor's degree in Family and Child Sciences, and has worked with young children for several years in a number of settings, including time spent working with underprivileged kids in Costa Rica.

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Cathryn Martos, B.A., M.A. (Miss Cathryn)

Head Classroom Teacher, Infants

Cathryn joined us in the fall of 2007, having moved from here Arizona along with her husband who is attending Yale Law School. A 2001 graduate of Arizona State University with a B.A. in Early Childhood Education, Cathryn has also completed a Master's in Elementary Education and another in Early Childhood Education. In addition to her in-depth knowledge of child development, Cathryn truly loves and enjoys the babies. We call her "the baby whisperer" and your little ones could not be in better hands!

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Catherine Tranquillo, B.S. (Miss Cat)

CT-Certified K-6 Teacher

Head Classroom Teacher, Pre-School

Catherine received her bachelor's degree in Elementary Education at Southern Connecticut State University, and is certified to teach Pre-Kindergarten through grade 6. Her focus has always been on the younger children, and she had been teaching at the pre-school level at the Community Children's Center when we recruited her to join us at the Carrot Patch.

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Jessica VanDusen, A.A. candidate (Miss Jess)

Head Classroom Teacher, Transitional Toddlers

Jess became hooked on teaching young children when she began working in the laboratory pre-K in her senior year at the Master's School. Since that time she has worked as a private nanny, and as a much-loved member of our infant room teaching staff. She now enthusiastically welcomes the new challenge of heading up the transitional toddler class, just as she begins a more formal program of study in Early Childhood Education.

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Audrey Meyers, B.S. (Miss Audrey)

Assistant Classroom Teacher, Pre-School

Audrey brings her interests in nutrition and children's recreation to the classroom, having received her bachelor's degree from SCSU in these areas. She has served as a senior camp counselor at YMCA camps Mountain Laurel in Hamden and Camp Graylock in Burlington, Vermont. She has also taught rock climbing and other active ventures to special needs children for the Wallingford Parks and Recreation Department. Her energy and enthusiasm are much appreciated by our busy pre-schoolers!

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Kristina Russell, A.A., B.A. candidate (Miss Kristina)

Assistant Classroom Teacher, Toddlers

Kristina received her Associate's Degree in Early Childhood Education at Gateway Community College. Before joining the Carrot Patch, Kristina worked for several years at the School Aged Childcare (SACC) in Branford. After a couple of years as Assistant Teacher in our Pre-School program, she has returned energized from a leave of absence to assist in our Toddler program.

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Caitlin Dell, B.A., M.A. candidate (Miss Caitlin)

Part-Time Assistant Classroom Teacher, Transitional Toddlers

Caitlin holds a degree in Psychology with a concentration in Child Development, and currently attends Albertus Magnus in the Graduate Art Therapy program. She has worked with children in many settings, including as a pre-school assistant at St. Francis Home for Children, as a reading specialist assistant, and as an elementary school psychology intern. Miss Caitlin, former Head Teacher in the Transitional Toddler Class, has agreed to continue in a part-time role as she finishes her internship and Master's thesis.

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Jenny DeNicola, B.S. (Miss Jenny)

CT-certified art teacher, Pre-K through grade 12

Part-Time Assistant Classroom Teacher, Infants

Jenny received her bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts at Southern Connecticut State University, and is certified to teach Art to grades Pre-Kindergarten through grade 12. She has one year teaching experience in New Haven and found she really loves working with the younger age groups. In addition to her degree, Jenny has over ten years experience working with infants and toddlers through babysitting, nannying and afterschool program work.

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Shannon Knudsen, B.A. candidate (Miss Shannon)

Part-Time Assistant Classroom Teacher, Pre-school

Shannon, a former English major at University of Cincinnati and current art therapy student at Albertus Magnus, brings years of teaching experience to The Patch. She has been an After School Instructor at the North Haven elementary school where her two daughters attend, and taught at the Apple Blossom School and the Linden Hill School in Wilton, as well as at the Cincinnati Waldorf School. She brings her calm maturity and positive nature to our pre-school class.

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Meghan McCool, B.A. candidate (Miss Meghan)

Part-Time Assistant Classroom Teacher, Pre-K

Meghan is the younger sister of our amazing former Head Pre-K Teacher, Erin. She has several years of coaching experience in girls volleyball, and brings some of the same chemistry with children and maturity beyond her years that her older sister exhibits.

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Stephanie Perrotti, B.A. candidate(Miss Stephanie)

Part-Time Assistant Classroom Teacher, Transitional Toddlers

Stephanie is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education at SCSU. She loves children and has been a Red Cross certified babysitter since she was 12 years old.

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Lauren Thiele, B.A., M.A. candidate (Miss Lauren)

Part-Time Assistant Classroom Teacher, Toddlers

Lauren has been teaching young children in various early learning programs both in Vermont and Connecticut since 1999. She is currently working toward her Master's Degree in Occupational Therapy at Quinnipiac University so she will have the opportunity to enrich children's lives in an even more profound way.

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JANICE ROMO, B.S., M.S., 6th Year Certificate in Administration (Miss Jan)

Education Consultant & Staff Developer

Jan Romo’s educational career spans over 35 years. Her training background took place at both SCSU in New Haven and Bank Street College of Education in NYC. She received her B.S. & M.S. in Early Childhood Education and later her 6th Year Certification in Administration and Supervision. She has been mentored and inspired by some of our top educational leaders in the field.

Jan began her teaching career in 1970 as a first grade teacher. For nine years she enjoyed teaching both first grade and Kindergarten at the West Hills Magnet School, New Haven's first experimental program bringing Hamden and New Haven children together for instruction.

With its gradual expansion to a K-8 program, Jan’s role shifted to Staff Developer where she became a “teacher of teachers” for 13 years. She was responsible for the development and assessment of the school’s core curriculum. Her active involvement with this "community of learners” brought yet another shift. She became the West Hills K-8 principal and was honored to work even more closely with all the components that affected its 700 children.

After 29 years at West Hills, she was appointed to Supervisor of Early Childhood Education, overseeing 4,000+ New Haven Pre-K and Kindergarten students. Her work broadened, yet brought her back to her Early Childhood roots. Involved with writing curriculum standards and a wide variety of School Readiness & Head Start initiatives, Jan was able to lead the city for three years in truly appreciating how important developmentally-appropriate early learning is, starting with its very youngest students--infants & toddlers.

After "retiring", Jan moved on to an adjunct professorship at SCSU, teaching “Integrated Curriculum for Pre-K & Kindergarten" and working as an educational consultant in area nursery school programs. She recently completed a two-year term as co-president of NHAEYC (the New Haven Chapter of the Association of the Education of Young Children), having formerly served two years as co-chair of the program committee.

We are lucky to have Jan as our Educational Consultant and Staff Developer, where she can work closely with the Carrot Patch staff, parents and management.