Bailey is originally from Kansas City, Missouri and attended college at Washington University in St. Louis. She graduated with a B.A. in Psychology and a minor in Women & Gender Studies, with coursework in child development, educational psychology, developmental psychology, and the psychology of creativity. She started her career in education working with children with autism spectrum disorder and cerebral palsy as a paraprofessional in public elementary schools. She took an interest in Early Childhood Education and joined the field as a PreK teacher in 2012. After a few years, she became an Assistant Director and worked directly with teachers on curriculum development in a Reggio Emilia inspired program. She also created a nature program at the school to encourage outdoor learning and to mentor educators. Bailey became an Executive Director in April 2020, just in time to navigate the school through COVID. Her favorite thing about working in ECE is teaching teachers to truly enjoy their work and showing them the freedom in letting children guide their own learning. In her time away from school, Bailey loves cooking, camping, kayaking, and exploring new places.
Brynn is from the western suburbs of Chicago and studied Early Childhood Education at Columbia College in Chicago where she graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree. During her studies she attended a student-professor study tour in Reggio Emilia Italy where she had the opportunity to learn and explore the Reggio philosophy with great depth. After graduating, she accepted a position at a Reggio-inspired school as a preschool teacher working with 3 and 4 year old students. She worked her way up into a curriculum coordinator role where she supported the developmental understanding of the philosophy for her peers and all new teachers throughout the school. From there she worked her way into an Executive Director role and has done that at an existing school in northern Virginia and for a start-up in Illinois. Brynn is particularly passionate about project based learning and collaborating with peers.
Katey holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from The University of Cincinnati with specialized training in STEM and the Reggio Emilia philosophy. She taught preschool and kindergarten for 6 years while maintaining her school’s NAEYC accreditation, and was then promoted to Executive Director. After 4 years in administration while raising her neurodivergent son, Katey was inspired to start her own company called Thinkateers which creates accessible, open-ended play materials that encourage development for all abilities through play-based learning.
Stephanie comes from Northern Virginia, but moved to Richmond, VA to study at Virginia Commonwealth University (Go Rams!), where she got a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. Soon after graduating, she accepted a position as a Staff Accountant at a multi-site childcare business and worked her way up to Controller. During her 16 years of working in the childcare business, she became interested in HR and got her Certified Professional certificate from the Society of Human Resource Management. Currently, Stephanie is a financial coach to childcare business owners where she focuses on sustainability in all aspects of a childcare business. Stephanie loves dogs and spending time outside.
A Director's Compass 