Oi Ling Hu

Interim Educational Director

At BFS since 2017. Curriculum Coordinator 2021-2022. Lead Teacher 2017-2020.

Oi has a Masters Degree in Early Childhood Education.

Oi has worked with infants, toddlers and preschoolers as well as children from low income backgrounds during her 12 years of teaching. Her experience teaching with children as young as infants has played an influential role in how she approaches learning and development in the classroom. She views children and educators as co-creators of their own learning. Using this approach, each year of teaching has been a new adventure.

Oi believes in supporting the social emotional development of young children and seeks to celebrate what makes each child unique.

 
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Deidre Santos

Finance and Operations Director

At BFS since 2019.

Deidre has a BS degree in Business Management and Finance from Brooklyn College and has over 17 years experience working in operations and management.

Deidre is an enthusiastic person who loves taking on new challenges. She is an integral part of the team and enjoys working behind the scenes to help keep things running like a well-oiled machine. Deidre has strong leadership skills with the tenacity needed to get the most demanding of jobs done.

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Daniela

Lead Teacher

At BFS since 1988, Assistant Director 2008-2020.

Masters in Elementary School Education, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, 1987

Daniela believes children learn best through play to discover the world around them. Looking at a whole child, she enjoys meeting each child on their individual level of development and scaffolding their learning harmoniously through a variety of interests - in nature, music, art, story telling, science and physical movement challenges. Daniela loves to build a kind and loving community among the children, teachers and the families in the classroom - the Jitterbug Family!

Aida

Co-Teacher

At BFS since 1992.

Child Development Associate Certification

Aida is renowned for her gift of helping children to develop emotional self-awareness and empathy while they explore the world around them. With her gentle, wise guidance, children learn to pay attention to, and articulate their own feelings, and those of others, something which enriches and expands the classroom learning environment as a whole. Aida believes that children want to be loved and understood, and that they learn best with open-ended questions and hands-on activities.

Ramona

Assistant Teacher, Afterschool Teacher

At BFS since 2018.

Ramona has a B.A. in Art History.

She has worked in classroom settings as a Montessori preschool teacher, an Art History teacher and Visuals Arts teacher, as well as an outreach art instructor. She was a volunteer for the education department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art working with teaching artists and she is currently a senior educator at the New York Transit Museum.

Ramona is happy to share creativity and all of her passions with the Jitterbugs! She loves teaching them about various subjects and most importantly, socioemotional development like empathy.

She wants to pursue her Masters in Art Education.

 Dragonfly

Lead Teacher

At BFS since 2012

BA In Psychology, and MS in Early Childhood and Special Education

Angel believes that children learn best in a loving and nurturing environment, and that children who are given the freedom to express themselves develop into strong and independent individuals. She loves helping children understand their environment, friends and themselves. She strongly believes that teachers are responsible for shaping the positive growth of kids and, in order to aid that, they must be good listeners. What she loves most about children is their innocence, their singular personalities and their way of thinking and looking at the world. She sees each child as unique, and treasures that uniqueness.

Angel

Assistant Teacher

At BFS since 2013.

Nycol has worked as an After School Teacher and Substitute. We welcome her to the Rainbow team!

Nycol has a love of science and exploration that motivates the children to investigate the world around them. She is curious and engaged, often inspired by the questions and ideas of the children. She has been working in our school in many capacities and we are thrilled she is moving forward in her career to pursue her degree in Education. 

Nycol

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Bob

Lead Teacher

At BFS since 2018. 

Bob has a California Site Supervisor Credential and is pursuing his Masters in Early Childhood Education.

Bob is a recent transplant to Brooklyn from the west coast and is dad to two college-age boys. After teaching for 9 years in Berkeley, CA , he is delighted to be in the Sunshine Room at Brooklyn Free Space.

Bob believes that Preschool children are thoughtful, capable and full of surprises. He believes in the value of taking time to discover the uniqueness and budding interests of each child and in using this knowledge to build relationships and a foundation for learning. Bob feels fortunate and grateful that he gets to spend most mornings in the presence of young children.

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Camille

Assistant Teacher

At BFS since 2004.

For Camille, an important part of teaching young children is to help them accept their friends and themselves. She wants them to feel comfortable with and happy about who they are, to get along with one another, and to know there is more good than bad in the world. Watching the children grow and become more independent, and contributing to their development, has been a source of great satisfaction and excitement for Camille. She is warm and funny, and greets students cheerily with lines like, "Where's my wink?"

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Katherine

Kathy

Lead Teacher

At BFS since 2009.

Kathy has her B.A. in Early Childhood Education.

Every year Kathy is very enthusiastic to begin a fun-filled journey along with the families and teachers at BFS. She sincerely feels that it is amazing and beautiful to watch children as they discover and learn new things. She loves to see the joy and pride in their eyes when they realize that they could do things that they could not do before. To be a part of that is wonderful. She hopes to help children believe that anything is possible.

Yakara

Assistant Teacher

At BFS since 2018

Yakara has been working with children, from toddlers to school-age children, for over 20 years. She believes that with patience, love and a sense of comfort all children can learn at any age level. And that the learning goes both ways: A child can teach an adult how to be happy and how to always be curious.

Malado

Coming soon

Staff

Laura

Substitute Teacher

At BFS since 1994.

Honorary Degree in Early Childhood Education from Brooklyn Free Space Preschool.

Laura believes that her first responsibility is to guide the children and help them establish confidence and, at the same time, give them all the tender loving care they need. Fun fact: Sometimes when she reads to the children, she changes her voice to match the characters in the book and becomes a little animated and goofy. The kids love it, shouting, “more, more!” It's hysterical for everybody.

Gabi

Atelierista

At BFS since 2008.

Gabi is an artist and educator living in Windsor Terrace. Before joining Brooklyn Free Space, Gabi taught children and their caregivers and all ages classes at the Smithtown Township Arts Council, was a teaching artist at the Brooklyn museum, and volunteered with the Whitney’s Learning Through Art program. Gabi holds a Master’s Degree in Studio Art from Stony Brook University and a B.F.A. in Fine Art from Hunter College. While creating installations for all ages & parenting her then toddler, Gabi wrote her thesis on Community and Creativity with a strong focus on Skill Sharing and Collaborative art. Gabi has focused that enthusiasm for children, art, and community in Park Slope for the past 15 years.

Joane

Coming soon