L'Atelier Faculty

Simonetta Cittadini-Medina
Owner and Executive Director
Spoken Languages: English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and French.
Country of Origin: Colombia and Italy
Background in Psychology, Education, and Arts.
Founding Member of NAREA
Co-chair of Professional Development of NAREA
President of the Florida Reggio Collaborative
Simonetta opened L'Atelier as an art workshop in 1995. A year after, the workshop evolved into a preschool inspired by the Reggio Emilia philosophy. 
Simonetta's background in Psychology, Education, and Arts has supported herself and the school in the understanding of the Reggio philosophy. In the last 15 years she has attended several conferences in the USA and abroad, as both a participant and a speaker, where she has built professional relationships with other schools and organizations interested in the study of the Reggio philosophy. She has attended the Reggio Emilia Study Group in five ocassions. 
Simonetta's knowledge and practice of the Reggio Emilia philosophy has become a point of reference for the community. She is the consultant for KLA schools in Miami. She is the partner of aeiotu, a branch of Fundacion Carulla, Colombia, a non-for-profit organization that is investing in early childhood education for all-income population.
One of Simonetta's priorities has always been professional development. She has invested in offering to the faculty the opportunity to study the Reggio philosophy through resources available in the school, such as books, videos, and articles; faculty meetings once a week, conferences, round tables, visit to different schools, and using L'Atelier and its own experience as a tool to support their learning process.
The school has also invested in a direct collaboration with Reggio Children since the year 2000. Amelia Gambetti, the consultant from Reggio, visits the school once a year to collaborate with the faculty in the school's evolution.

Claudia Chaustre
Co-director / Mentor
Spoken Languages: English and Spanish.
Country of origin: Colombia
Claudia is part of L'Atelier since year 2000.
She holds a Degree of Doctor of Medicine, and an AA degree with credits in Early Childhood Education. 
She holds a Director's Credential.
She his a NAREA member.
She is a Florida Reggio Collaborative member. 
She completed the 45 hours of child care training.
Claudia has attended several Reggio-philosophy conferences and study groups in USA - Miami /L'Atelier, NAEYC, Boulder, San Francisco, Santa Monica, St. Paul, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Chicago; Reggio Emilia, Brazil, and Canada, as both a participant and a speaker. 
Claudia has been a teacher for 8 years at L'Atelier. Since the year 2008, and as part of her responsibilities as a Director, she works with the teachers as a mentor.

Jennifer Savino
Office manager 
Spoken languages: English and Spanish.
Country of Origin: USA.
Jennifer is part of L'Atelier since year 2010.
She holds an AA Degree in Business Management.
She is a NAREA member.
She is a Florida Reggio Collaborative member.

Eugenia Hernandez
Housekeeper 
Spoken languages: Spanish
Country of Origin: Cuba
Eugenia is part of L'Atelier since year 2010.

Ana Pineda
Teacher / Mentor
Spoken Languages: English and Spanish.
Country of Origin: El Salvador
Ana is part of L'Atelier since year 2001.
She holds a AA degree in early childhood education.
She is a NAREA member.
She is a Florida Reggio Collaborative member. 
She has completed the 45 hours of child care training.
Ana has attended several Reggio-philosophy conferences and study groups in USA -Miami/L'Atelier, NAEYC, Boulder, Santa Monica, St. Paul, New York, Puerto Rico; Reggio Emilia, Brazil and Canada as both a participant and a speaker.
Ana has been a teacher in all the age groups. She currently teaches in the Class of the 3's.

Isabel Coles
Teacher / Mentor
Languages: English, French and Creole.
Country of Origin: Haiti.
Isabel is part of L'Atelier since year 2002.
She holds a Degree in Early Childhood Education.
She is a NAREA member.
She is a Florida Reggio Collaborative member. 
She has completed the 45 hours of child care training.
Isabel has attended several Reggio-philosophy conferences and study groups in USA -Miami/L'Atelier, NAEYC, Boulder, Santa Monica, St. Paul, Washington D.C.; Reggio Emilia, and Canada, as both a participant and speaker.
Isabel has been a teacher in all the age groups. She currently teaches in the Class of the 4's & 5's.

Cristina Saavedra
Teacher
Languages: Spanish and English.
Country of Origin: Colombia
Cristina is part of L'Atelier since year 2001.
She has completed the CDA.
She is a NAREA member.
She is a Florida Reggio Collaborative member.
She has completed the 45 hours of child care training.
Cristina has attended Reggio-philosophy conferences in USA - Miami/L'Atelier, NAEYC, Boulder, Santa Monica, and Washington D.C. as a participant.
Cristina has been a teacher in the Nido.

Romina Alessandria
Teacher
Languages: English and Spanish.
Country of origin: Argentina
Romina is part of L'Atelier since year 2007.
She holds a Degree in Psycology.
She is a NAREA member.
She is a Florida Reggio Collaborative member.
She has completed the 45 hours of child care training.
She has attended Reggio-philosophy conferences and study groups in USA - Miami/L'Atelier, Boulder; and Reggio Emilia, as a participant.
Romina has been a teacher in the Nido, 2's, and 3's. She currently teaches in the Class of the 2's.

Anel Rodriguez
Teacher
Languages: English and Spanish.
Country of Origin: USA
Anel is part of L'Atelier since year 2010.
She holds a Degree in Elementary Education.
She is a NAREA member.
She is a Florida Reggio Collaborative member.
She has completed the 45 hours of childcare training.  
Anel currently teaches in the Class of the 4's & 5's.

Agustina Lopez
Teacher
Languages: English and Spanish.
Country of Origin: Uruguay
Agustina is part of L'Atelier since year 2008.
She studied Psychomotor Development in Uruguay, and is currently pursuing her Degree in Teaching exceptional students. 
She is a NAREA member. 
She is a Florida Reggio Collaborative member.
She has completed the 45 hours of child care training.
She has attended Reggio-philosophy conferences in Miami/L'Atelier, and Colombia, as a participant.
Agustina has been a teacher in the Class of the 3's. She currently teaches in the Class of the 2's.

Vanessa Mion
Teacher
Languages: English and Spanish.
Country of origin: USA.
Vanessa is part of L'Atelier since year 2009.
She holds a Degree in Early Childhood Education. 
She is a NAREA member.
She is a Florida Reggio Collaborative member.
She has completed the 45 hours of child care training.
SHe has participated in the Reggio-philosophy conferences in Miami/L'Atelier.
Vanessa currently teaches in the Class of the 3's.

Paola Galindo
Teacher assistant
Languages: Spanish and English.
Country of Origin: Bolivia.
Paola is part of L'Atelier since year 2002.
She has completed the CDA.
She has completed the 45 hours of child care training.
She has participated in the Reggio-philosophy conferences in Miami/L'Atelier. 
Paola currently is part of the Class of the 2's.

Ines Rojas
Teacher assistant
Languages: Spanish.
Country of Origin: Colombia.
Ines is part of L'Atelier since year 1995.
She has completed the CDA.
She has completed the 45 hours of child care training.
She has participated in the Reggio-philosophy conferences in Miami/L'Atelier.
Ines has worked in all the age groups. She currently is part of the Nido.

Nancy Sparrow
Teacher assistant - After-care program
Languages: Spanish and English.
Nancy is part of L'Atelier since year 2007.
She is a NAREA member.
She is a Florida Reggio Collaborative member.
She has completed the 45 hours of child care training.
She has participated in the Reggio-philosophy conferences in Miami/L'Atelier.
Nancy has worked in the Class of the 2's. She currently is part of the 3's, and is in charge of the after-care program.

Angela Murcia
Part-time assistant - After-care program.
Languages: English and Spanish.
Country of origin: Colombia.
Part of L'Atelier since year 2007.
She is pursuing an AA Degree in Psychology.
She is a NAREA member.
She is a Florida Reggio Collaborative member.
She has completed the 45 hours of child care training.
Angela currently is part of the Class of the 4's&5's.

Julie Pfeiffer
Support teacher
Spoken languages: English.
Country of Origin: USA. 
Julie is part of L'Atelier since year 2009.
She holds a Degree in Physical Therapy. 
She is a NAREA member.
She is a Florida Reggio Collaborative member.
She has completed the 45 hours of child care training.
Julie has participated in the Reggio-philosophy conferences in Miami/L'Atelier.