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Aisha
Al-Muid is a 4K teaching assistant at Russell Byers. Mrs. Al-Muid
has an Associate degree in Early Childhood Education from Borough of Manhattan
Community College, a Bachelor's degree in English form Hunter College and
is currently working towards her Master's degree in Elementary Education
with certification in reading specialist at Lincoln University. She is also
pursuing ESL certifications. Aisha has worked as a substitute teacher in
the Philadelphia school district and various Charter schools since 2003.
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Timothy Anzelmo |
| Randy
Berman is the Health and Physical Education teacher. He received
his Bachelor's degree from West Chester University majoring in kinesiology
and minor in health. Prior to joining the staff at RBCS, Randy spent 5 years
working with Outward Bound. |
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Heather
Bowyer is a first grade teacher at Russell Byers. She has a
Bachelor's degree in Anthropology and a Master's degree in Teaching from
the University of Virginia. Heather previously taught 6th grade for two
years in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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Shawn
Brandon is our reading and math specialist. Shawn taught in New
York City for nine years. She has a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education
from Boston University and a Master's degree in Guidance and Counseling
from Hunter College. Shawn also participated in a teacher leadership program
at The Reading and Writing Project at Teachers College, Columbia University.
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Jennifer
Broomell is a 4K teaching fellow at Russell Byers. Miss Broomell
has an Undergraduate degree in Marketing and a Masters degree in Elementary
Education from St. Joseph's University. After she graduated with her undergraduate
degree she spent three years living and working abroad in Australia, the
Caribbean and Europe before going back to school for her Master's in Education.
Prior to coming to Russell Byers Miss Broomell was a pre-kindergarten teacher
in Bala Cynwyd, PA. |
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Beth
Burke teaches 2nd grade at Russell Byers. Beth received a Bachelor's
degree in Sociology with a Concentration in Social Inequality and Diversity
from The University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Beth also has a Master's
degree in Elementary Education from The University of Massachusetts in Amherst. |
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Bethany
Bushner is a Special Education
teacher for 1st through 4th grade Russell Byers. Bethany graduated with
her Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and Special Education from
Lebanon Valley College. She is currently working towards her Master's of
Education with a Reading Specialist certification at Saint Joseph's University.
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Roberto
Carrizales is our facilities manager, and this is his fifth year
at Russell Byers. Roberto was a goal keeper on a city-league soccer team
in Mexico before coming to Philadelphia. |
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Jennifer
Carvalho teaches 4 year old kindergarten at Russell Byers. She graduated
from Eastern University with a Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education.
Before coming to Russell Byers, Jen spent two years teaching at a charter
school in Chester, PA. She is currently pursuing a certificate in Early
Childhood Education at Eastern University. |
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Holly
Chapman teaches 3rd grade. She has a Bachelor's degree from The
College of William and Mary. Holly worked in publishing and association
management before obtaining her Masters in Curriculum and Instruction with
Elementary Certification from Rosemont College. |
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Juliana
Chapman is a 5K teacher at Russell Byers. She received her Bachelor's
degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from Chestnut Hill College
and her Master's degree in Education from Gratz College. Juliana spent seven
years teaching in private schools in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs
prior to coming to Russell Byers. |
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Rebecca
Chase is our special education coordinator. She received her Bachelor's
degree in Early Childhood, Special Education, and Elementary Education from
Temple University and a Master's in Reading from Gwynedd Mercy College.
Rebecca has been a special educator for eight years and has worked in a
variety of settings with elementary, middle and high school students. |
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Jerusa Contee
is the Development Coordinator at the Byerschool Foundation. She received her B.A. in Political Science-International Relations from
Williams College. |
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Jennifer
Coppertino teaches first grade. She began her work at Russell Byers
as a teaching fellow. She has a Bachelor's degree in English from Temple
University and is currently pursuing her Master's Degree in Special Education
from St. Joseph's University. Jennifer is a yoga instructor for both adults
and children. |
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Miriam Filvarof
is the Primary College Coach at RBCS. She received a Bachelor's degree
in Communication from Loyola University New Orleans and a Master's
degree in School Counseling from Wake Forest University. Prior to coming
to Russell Byers, Miriam was an account executive at a full-service
communications firm, and worked in both the middle and high school level
in Title I public schools. |
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Bill
Fitzgerald is a 5th grade teacher at Russell Byers. He received
a Bachelor's degree from Holy Family University and a Master's in Education
from St. Joseph's University. Bill has been teaching in Philadelphia schools
for 18 years. |
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Allen Garner
teaches 4th grade. She has a Bachelor's degree from the University of Mississippi
and a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Memphis.
Allen has taught for 30 years in Memphis, Birmingham and Philadelphia and
has received awards for her excellence in teaching. |
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Vanessa
Gelbaugh is Operations Manager and Executive Assistant to Laurada
Byers. She received her B.A. from Bloomsburg University. Before joining the
Byerschool Foundation in 2006, she worked as an Executive Assistant and
Office Manager for a financial institution. |
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Sonia
Gerena is a teaching assistant for 5K, and she has been at Russell
Byers from its beginning. She attended Temple University and worked in another
Philadelphia charter school for four years before coming to Russell Byers.
Sonia also runs the school's breakfast program. |
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Kareem Goodwin
is Dean of Students and Families. |
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Emmanual Hampton |
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Nora
Hildenbrand is a 5th grade teacher at Russell Byers. She received
a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History from Boston University and a Masters
degree in Elementary Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Nora
taught middle school science for two years in the School District of Philadelphia
before coming to us, and she has also worked as an educator in London, Syracuse
and New Orleans. |
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Linda
Hopkins teaches 5K. She has a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood
Education from West Chester University. Linda taught in The Archdiocese
of Philadelphia for two years before coming to Russell Byers in 2005. |
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Daniel Hyatt
is a teaching fellow for the first grade. He received his Bachelor's degree
in Economics from the The Pennsylvania State University and is currently
finishing up his Elementary Education Certificate at Drexel and plans to
receive his Master's in Teaching, Learning and Curriculum also at Drexel.
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Teron
B. Ivery is a founding 4K teacher. Teron earned a Bachelor's degree
in Elementary Education from Millersville University and a Master's degree
from Holy Family University. He is permanently certified in the fields of
Early Childhood and Elementary Education. Teron has had multiple experiences
with Expeditionary Learning, professional development and Outward Bound
courses. |
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Amy
Jared is the art teacher. She has a Bachelor's degree from Rhodes
College and a Master's degree from The University of the Arts. Amy has over
20 years of experience in the field of art education. Prior to coming to
Russell Byers in 2005, Amy worked in the Division of Education at the Philadelphia
Museum of Art, where she developed award-winning art programs for children,
families, schools, and communities. |
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Delores
Johnson is a teaching assistant for 5K. Delores retired from Verizon
with 31 years of experience in telecommunications and customer service.
She also coached a track team for her church for ten years. |
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Christine
Kapothanasis teaches 2nd grade. She graduated from the College of
the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy.
She also competed as a varsity long-distance runner and coxswain for the
women's rowing teams. While at Holy Cross, she spent a year studying Philosophy
at Oxford University. Christie earned her Master's degree in Elementary
Education from the University of Pennsylvania. |
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John Landis
is the Technology Coordinator, working with teachers and students to integrate
digital and media literacy into the curriculum. He earned a Bachelor's degree
from Indiana University College in Communication and Culture, and helped
to develop the Powerful Voices for Kids media literacy in conjunction with
Temple University. |
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Rebecca
Levenberg is the Clinical Supervisor of our Special Education Team.
She received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Learning Disabilities
from Northwestern University. Rebecca has twenty years of experience in
special education and has worked with preschool, elementary, middle, and
high school students. |
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Judith
Locicero teaches 5th grade at Russell Byers. Judi also taught 4th
and 8th grades for ten years in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. She received
her Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education from Holy Family University,
and she is currently pursuing her Master's degree from Gratz College. |
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John-Carlos
Marino is the 6th grade Science and Social Studies teacher at RBCS.
He received a Bachelor's degree in sculpture from Washington University
in St. Louis and a Master's degree in Elementary education from the University
of Pennsylvania. Prior to coming to Russell Byers, John-Carlos had experience
working as a preschool teacher, faux-finisher, and custom sculpture fabricator. |
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Elizabeth
McGuire is a special education teacher at Russell Byers, working
primarily with the upper grades. She graduated from the University of Delaware
with a Bachelor's degree in Elementary and Special Education. She is currently
pursuing a Master's degree and Reading Specialist certification at Saint
Joseph's University. |
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Sarah Pisano |
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Betsy Ramage is the activities coordinator at RBCS.
She received her Bachelor's degree from New York University and a Master's degree in Nonprofit and
Non Governmental Organizational Leadership from the University of
Pennsylvania. Prior to coming over to the school, Betsy was the
development coordinator for the Byerschool Foundation. Before joining
the Byers organizational family, Betsy was the marketing coordinator at
the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.
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Mary
Sacchetti is the Reading Specialist at Russell Byers. She works
on literacy skills with small groups of students in grades 3 through 6.
Mary has a Bachelor's degree in Special and Elementary Education from Temple
University and a Master's degree and Reading Specialist certification from
Saint Joseph's University. |
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Rafael
Santiago is our Security Officer. He was in the Marine Corps for
10 years, and he spent 17 years working as a police officer for the Philadelphia
Gas Works. Rafael worked for the School District of Philadelphia Police
Department before joining Russell Byers in 2007. He has been involved with
Chinese martial arts for over 25 years. |
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Benjamin Slater
has worked in a variety of educational settings since 2005. Prior to becoming
a teacher Ben attended Masterman, Abington Friends, Bucknell University,
Goldey Beacom, and Arcadia. He is a lifelong learner currently pursuing
education beyond his Master's degree in Education. He works primarily with
the 6th grade in the special education department. Ben is an avid sports
fan of all Philadelphia teams and hopes to continue to bring his knowledge,
expertise, and passion for athletics to the community at Russell Byers Charter
School. |
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Drew
Smith worked for 23 years at Friends School in Mullica Hill, NJ,
prior to joining the Russell Byers team in July 2010. At Friends School
he served as Head of School 11 years. In addition, Mr. Smith worked in numerous
roles at the school, including Associate Head of School, Middle School Principal,
Director of Admissions and middle school teacher and coach. Mr. Smith currently
serves on the Boards of the Westtown School and the Moorestown Friends School.
He earned a B.S. at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, and completed
graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania. |
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Rachel
Smith is our Spanish teacher. Prior to coming to Russell Byers,
Rachel taught for seven years, including four years as an elementary bilingual
teacher in Philadelphia and two years of teaching in Honduras. Rachel has
a Bachelor's degree in Elementary and Special Education from Geneva College
and recently completed her ESL certificate program from the University of
Pennsylvania. |
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Debbie
Sperbeck has been with Russell Byers for eight years. She worked
with Laurada Byers as her Executive Assistant for the first four years and
moved to the school building in 2005. She is now the Director of Enrollment
Services, responsible for new and current enrollment. Prior to joining Laurada
in 2001, Debbie was the Executive Assistant for the General Counsel at Safeguard
Scientifics for 10 years. |
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April
Tomarelli teaches third grade. She came to Russell Byers in 2007
as a teaching fellow for 1st grade. April attended Rosemont College and
received both a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Master's degree in
Elementary Curriculum and Instruction. She is involved in many of the RBCS
extracurricular activities. |
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Kathryn
Walker is a second grade teacher. She came to Russell Byers in 2008
as a Teaching Fellow with the third grade team. She received her Bachelor
of Arts from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia and recently
received masters in Elementary Education from Rosemont College in Pennsylvania.
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Dr.
Erik Westby is our Science and Technology Coordinator. He earned
a Bachelor's degree from Union College in Psychology and Master's and Doctoral
degrees in Educational Psychology from Purdue University. He has 14 years
of teaching experience at the university and graduate level. Erik's primary
area of research focuses on how children develop an understanding of science.
He is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters on science
learning and creativity in education. |
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Sarah
R. Wing teaches 1st grade at Russell Byers. She has a Bachelor's
degree in Psychology and a Master's degree in Education from the University
of Massachusetts at Amherst. Sarah previously taught kindergarten and 1st
grade in Massachusetts and Philadelphia. |
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Shawn
Wright is our Dean of Curriculum and Instruction. Prior to coming to Russell
Byers, Shawn taught 1st grade and 4th grade, and served as an Instructional
Support Teacher and, most recently, as an Assistant Principal. Shawn earned
his bachelor's degree from the University of Central Oklahoma and his Master's
degrees from Villanova and Cabrini. |
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Krista
Yutzy-Burkey teaches music and is a founding teacher. She received
a Bachelor's degree in Music from Goshen College and has over eight years
of teaching experience in Philadelphia. Krista also has a certification
from Eastern University to teach K-12 music. She directs the Horsefeather
Singers, the Russell Byers Charter School Choir. Krista is also a harpist. |
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Dr.
Elvira I. Zuazo-Legido, is our Certified School Psychologist and
is licensed as a Professional Counselor. She has been working in the field
for the past 17 years in New Jersey and in the Philadelphia School District.
Prior to becoming a school psychologist, she worked as a school counselor.
Elvira evaluates students' academic, emotional and behavioral needs and
runs small support groups on a variety of topics. She also works closely
with parents. |