Staff & Faculty

Stephanie Beardsley

Administrative Coordinator

Being the Administrative Coordinator at Summerville Nursery School is a challenging and exciting experience. I have been involved with SNS since the 1998-1999 school year when I enrolled my daughter in the 3's program. I did not know at the time how many wonderful people I would meet and how much I would learn from this experience.

After Liza graduated from SNS, I stayed involved by visiting Mrs. Gerardi's class monthly to teach music and movement in the 4's classroom. This program is very successful with the children and continues today.

I am a co-owner of a dance studio, with my sister Christa. In fact, we just celebrated our 23rd year. My career as a dance instructor has kept me in involved with children of all ages, and fostered a strong sense of mentorship. The business aspects of co-owning a dance studio have strengthened my senses of partnership and community involvement. These qualities are welcome assets to my position as Administrative Coordinator at SNS. I enjoy assisting the children and parents as they journey through this early childhood educational experience. I value my relationship with the teachers, supporting them as they guide these children and parents along their journey.

I am a life-long resident of West Irondequoit. I reside here with my husband Rick and our ten year old daughter Liza. I enjoy volunteering at Liza's school and remaining involved in her education. As a parent, I felt that SNS was a wonderful early opportunity to demonstrate the importance of education to our children through parent involvement in a cooperative atmosphere. As a staff member, I know that it is the parent involvement that makes SNS such a special place. I am looking forward to the coming year, working with all SNS families, and helping to make your experience with early childhood education valuable and memorable.

Kim Avery

Educational Director

My name is Kim Avery and I have been in the Early Childhood field for over 20 years. I have a M.Ed. in Education for Young Children and have worked in all aspects of preschool education. I am also a faculty member at Empire State College, consult for private centers and Children's Institute - a non profit program. I conduct trainings and help people complete their Child Development Associate (CDA).

I have been married for 15 years to my very supportive husband, Nick and we have a wonderful 7 year old son, Ian. Together Nick and I are the den leaders to Ian's Cub Scout Den and I also teach 1st grade religious education at our church. In my free time I love to do scrapbooking, crafts, read and go camping with my family.

I love the philosophy at Summerville Nursery School as it matches my approach to education for children. Through play children develop skills to learn, problem solve and reach their full potential. I look forward to working with the staff in moving forward with the current program and developing new ideas to grow with the needs of the children and community.

Alicia Tanck

Two's & Young Three's Teacher

Carole McCarthy

Three's Teacher

I am originally from Bath, NY but have lived in Rochester for over 25 years. I received my Masters in Education from SUNY Brockport and I am permanently Certified for grades N-6. I have taught pre-school and Kindergarten at Holy Cross School for 17 years and taught Universal Pre-School with Head Start for 2 years. I have 4 grown children who live in Boston and 2 grown step-children in Rochester. (a real life "Brady Bunch"!)

Barbara Gerardi

Four-Five's Teacher

Barbara is from Scotia, NY and graduated from the State University College at Oneonta, NY, with a permanent teaching certificate. In Galway, NY, she taught an all day kindergarten, before moving to Rochester, where she taught kindergarten in the West Irondequoit School District.

At Summerville Nursery School, Barbara began as a parent classroom assistant and substitute teacher when her two children were in the school. Then, for about ten years, she began in-home care while her children were growing up, took care of infants, preschoolers and some school-age children. Around 1983, she returned to Summerville Nursery School as a teacher's aide and substitute teacher. In January 1985, she became the teacher of the 4 PM class, then taught two years for a class of three-year-olds. Since then, she teaches the AM and PM 4-5 year-old classes.

She belongs to the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the New York State Association for the Young Children and the local Rochester Association for the Education for Young Children, and attends workshops and conferences. Barbara assisted a past director of SNS in developing and presenting a workshop on infants and toddlers at local and state RAEYC and NAEYC conferences. Now, because of her interest in multicultural learning, Barbara has developed a workshop on that topic, presenting it at RAEYC and NAEYC conferences. In September 2001 Barbara also became the Educational Director for Summerville Nursery School.

In the Spring of 2004, Barbara and the School Board brought a Wolf Trap Artist in Residence to her afternoon class so all of the teachers could learn to use more movement, drama and music within their classes. The implementation of this nationally acclaimed program has already proved to be a great success in the classrooms.

Barbara has a strong interest in Asian culture. To learn more about the Korean culture, she has helped in the classrooms at Korean Day Camp (Camp Chin-Gu), as well as helped write the curriculum for the four to six and a-half year olds. Barbara and her husband, Joe, retired from Eastman Kodak, have two adopted children, Joseph and Anne-Marie, who are grown up. She also has two grandsons, Dustin, who graduated from Summerville Nursery School, and Jacob. Barbara and Joe have recently celebrated the arrival of their new granddaughter, Carissa, to their family. As a family, they enjoy traveling, going to the movies and garage sales. In her spare time, Barbara enjoys reading, photography, learning sign language, doing crafts, sewing, crocheting and knitting.