Staff & Faculty Directory
Every member of our outstanding faculty has been carefully chosen not only on the basis of their field of specialization but also on their commitment to creating a positive educational experience for each child.
Click on a name to see the teacher's biography.
Administration:
Mary Crane, Head of School
mary@lernerschool.org
Jordana Brown, Director of Admissions
admissions@lernerschool.org
Hannah Williams, Preschool Director
hannah@lernerschool.org
Foley Coleman, Office Administratorl
shalom@lernerschool.org
Amy Lippmann, Business Office Administrative Assistant
amy@lernerschool.org
Elizabeth Takla, Business & Facilities Manager
elizabeth@lernerschool.org
Ofra Sheetrit, Director of Hebrew & Judaic Studies
ofra@lernerschool.org
Ivy Wingate, Director of Development
develop@lernerschool.org
Faculty:
Yael Ariel, Judaic Studies Teacher
yael@lernerschool.org
Abbey Benjamin, 1st Grade Teacher
abbey@lernerschool.org
Cheryl Berkus, Preschool Teacher
cheryl@lernerschool.org
Sally Brown, Kindergarten Assistant
sally@lernerschool.org
Wendy Cohen, Preschool Teacher
wendy@lernerschool.org
Barbara Deena, 1st Grade Teacher
barbara@lernerschool.org
Julie Harris, Art Teacher
julie@lernerschool.org
Francie Jacobs-Segal, Preschool Teacher
francie@lernerschool.org
Hinda Lind, Kindergarten Teacher
hinda@lernerschool.org
Tori Morton, 4th Grade Teacher
tori@lernerschool.org
Fiona Mueller, 2nd Grade Teacher
fiona@lernerschool.org
Janice Nicholson, Librarian
janice@lernerschool.org
Marcy Ollis, Reading Specialist
marcy@lernerschool.org
Cecilia Payne, Kindergarten Teacher
cecilia@lernerschool.org
Sam Richards, 5th Grade Teacher
sam@lernerschool.org
Stephanie Rockitter, Hebrew Teacher
stephanier@lernerschool.org
Carolyn Rogers, Preschool Teacher
carolyn@lernerschool.org
Caryn Rosenberg, Preschool Teacher
caryn@lernerschool.org
Jordan Shamp, Physical Education/Afterschool Director
jordan@lernerschool.org
Laurie Siegel, Music Teacher
laurie@lernerschool.org
Maria Siegel, 3rd Grade Teacher
maria@lernerschool.org
Stefanee Statfield, 2nd Grade Teacher
stefanees@lernerschool.org
Michal Unna, Kindergarten Assistant
michal@lernerschool.org
Nitsa Vardy, Preschool Teacher
nitsa@lernerschool.org
Ronit Zahavi, Hebrew Teacher
ronit@lernerschool.org
Faculty & Staff Bios
Elementary School Division
Mary Crane is the Head of School of the Lerner School. Mary holds a BA in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from the University of Dubuque, Iowa and a MA in Elementary Education, with a focus on Reading, from UNC Chapel Hill. She has almost twenty years of teaching experience in Early Childhood, Kindergarten and 1st grade combined. Mary has been at Lerner for eleven years and taught 1st grade at Lerner for five years before moving into a supervisory role. She lives in Chapel Hill with her husband of 36 years and has three grown sons, all of whom she enjoys visiting.
Abbey Benjamin is our new 1st Grade teacher. She received a M.A. degree in Elementary Education from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a B.A. degree in Journalism from the University of Indiana with a Minor in Music. Abbey has spent the past five years in the Washington DC area, and was an elementary school teacher in Chevy Chase, MD. In her free time she loves to relax outdoors and also travel the world, especially to visit family and friends. She lives in Raleigh and enjoys spending time with her husband, their sweet cat Layla Rose, and playful Australian Shepherd, Mystic.
Sally Brown is beginning her fourth year as a Kindergarten Assistant at the Lerner School. She is a graduate of Skidmore College with a BA in Political Economy. Prior to relocating to Chapel Hill, Sally served as the Religious School Principal of her synagogue in Indiana. Before coming to Lerner, Sally was a reading partner for grades K-5 in the Chapel Hill public school system for ten years. She lives in Chapel Hill with her husband and three children. Sally loves to read, take long walks and bake chocolate chip cookies with her family. She looks forward to getting to know the children each school year and loves being a part of the Lerner community.
Barbara Deena is in her fifth year as a 1st Grade Teacher at Lerner. She has a M.Ed. in Special Education with a focus on Early Childhood special education from the University of Florida. Barbara grew up in Durham and returned to North Carolina in 2001 after teaching for almost a decade in Florida. She lives in Durham with her husband and two children. Barbara is excited about to be part of Lerner and to share the joy of learning with her students.
Hinda Lind joined the Lerner School faculty in 1997 and has been teaching Kindergarten since. She is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in Elementary Education. She also pursued graduate studies at Old Dominion University and Tel Aviv University. Prior to coming to Lerner, Hinda taught at Hebrew Academy of Tidewater in Virginia and in the public school system in Norfolk, Virginia. In addition to teaching at Lerner, Hinda is an active participant in the Jewish community, teaching at area Religious Schools and Hebrew Schools. In addition to teaching Kindergarten, Hinda leads our school-wide Shabbat Sing-Along on Friday afternoons.
Tori Morton is Lerner’s new 4th grade teacher. She received an M.A.degree in Teaching from Meredith College in Raleigh and a B.A. in International Development from UCLA. Tori has lived and taught in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Durham. She loves listening to music, traveling, and learning about different cultures. She is looking forward to joining the Lerner School community.
Fiona Mueller is a 2nd Grade Teacher. At Lerner, she has previously taught 4th and 5th grades and 1st and 2nd grade math groups. She was born and raised in the UK, and earned her teaching credentials at Lancaster University, England. She spent five years in public education in England and then enjoyed fourteen wonderful years teaching in American international schools in Italy and France. She moved to the United States twelve years ago with her husband, Thomas (also an educator), and sons Benjamin and Jack. Fiona is currently completing an MA in Education. She loves to spend time outdoors; gardening, canoeing and training her two Labradors.
Cecilia Payne is a Kindergarten Teacher. She is a graduate of the University of Virginia where she majored in Economics and Religion. She is a certified Montessori teacher. Cecilia has been teaching for twenty years. She began her tenure at Lerner in 1998 as a lead teacher in the Preschool program, and moved to Kindergarten in 2007. Cecilia is an avid nature lover and brings this enthusiasm for wildlife to her students. She lives in Durham with her husband and has three sons, Thomas, Daniel, and Michael. Cecilia looks forward to another wonderful school year getting to know the children.
Samantha Richards will teach 5th grade. She is a graduate of the University of Florida and this will be her fifth year teaching. She is licensed to teach K-5 in North Carolina and Florida, and she has also been trained in teaching students with first languages other than English. Samantha loves to travel and has been all over the world – she even taught in Japan for a year. She grew up in South Florida and loves the beach, Miami Heat basketball, and spending time with her family.
Maria Siegel is beginning her second year teaching 3rd Grade at the Lerner School. Maria received an undergraduate degree in International Studies from Michigan State University and a MA in Education from the University of Maryland, College Park. Her focus in graduate school was on how children become writers. Prior to coming to Lerner, Maria taught in the Maryland and Durham public school systems for several years. Maria is also a Lerner parent whose older daughter, Sydney, is in our Preschool program. When she is not teaching, Maria spends time with her husband and two young daughters. She also enjoys running, cooking, biking and reading.
Stefanee Statfield is very excited to be teaching for her second year at the Lerner School. Before coming to Lerner, she spent four years teaching both 4th and 2nd Grades in the Wake County Public Schools. She has also been a 3rd Grade teacher in her home state of Michigan. She grew up in West Bloomfield, Michigan, and graduated from Oakland University in 2003. Outside of work you will find Stefanee with Bella, her pet Yorkie, attached to her side. Being from Detroit, hockey is an absolute favorite of hers (Go Wings!!), and she enjoys spending time with friends, and traveling to Michigan to see visit family.
Michal Unna is beginning her second year as a Kindergarten Assistant at Lerner. Before being a Kindergarten Assistant, Michal was a Hebrew teacher for 1st through 5th Grades. Michal has a BA and teaching certificate from Haifa University in Israel. Michal taught for twelve years in various schools in Israel before moving to the US three years ago. She was raised on Kibbutz Lahav in Israel and has two young sons, both of whom attend Lerner.
Judaic Studies/Hebrew
Ofra Sheetrit is the Director of Hebrew and Judaic Studies. She is a graduate of David Yellin College in Jerusalem, Israel, majoring in Hebrew as a Second Language and Early Childhood Education. Ofra has over twenty years of teaching experience both in the US and Israel. At Lerner, Ofra taught Hebrew and Judaic Studies for four years before becoming the program’s Director. In addition to supervising the program, Ofra is currently teaching 1st Grade Judaic Studies. She has three children: Lee who attends UNC-Charlotte, Aviv who attends UNC-Chapel Hill, and Noam who is in 9th grade. Her hobbies include cooking, reading, and of course, teaching at Lerner!
Yael Ariel Goldschmidt is Lerner’s new Judaic Studies teacher, teaching second to fifth grades. She participated in a postgraduate “kollel” leadership program in Jewish Studies at Matan. Yael studied for her BA in Psychology and Political Science and Yeshiva University in New York and Bar Ilan University in Israel, and attended Nishmat, a women’s yeshiva in Jerusalem. Yael has lived in Chicago, New York, London, and Jerusalem, and has traveled extensively throughout South America. She loves learning Torah, and enjoys reading, vegetarian cooking, making hats, and spending time with her husband Ty, her family, and her friends.
Stephanie Rockitter is beginning her second year teaching Hebrew to 2nd through 5th Grades. Stephanie has a MA in Early Childhood Education as well as Education Administration. This is her ninth year teaching, having taught previously as a Reading Specialist and as a classroom teacher in Kindergarten through 3rd Grade. She also has worked as a Hebrew School teacher for the past eight years. Stephanie lived in Israel for eight years and now resides in Raleigh with her two teenage daughters, four cats and two bunnies.
Ronit Zahavi teachers Hebrew in Kindergarten and First Grade. For the last four years she worked at Lerner as a Hebrew teacher for multiple grades and as a 3rd grade teaching assistant. Prior to joining the Lerner faculty, Ronit taught Hebrew at Atrbut V-Torah in California, and was a Kindergarten teacher’s assistant Temple Bet Shalom. Ronit was raised in Moshav Almagor in the north of Israel and is a certified nurse. She relocated to the USA 13 years ago, lived in southern California and then moved to Raleigh four years ago. Ronit has two children: Noaam, 13 years old and Ben, 10 years old, a dog and 3 cats. She loves sports, gardening and volunteering in her children’s schools.
Preschool Division
Wendy Cohen is a Preschool Teacher. Wendy has a degree from George Washington University and taught preschool for thirteen years before coming to Lerner. At Lerner, Wendy has assisted in the Preschool classes, Kindergarten and 4th and 5th Grades. Wendy and her husband relocated to the area in 2007 from Connecticut. She loves traveling back up north to visit her children.
Cheryl Berkes is beginning her fourth year as a teacher in our Preschool program. She graduated from San Diego University in California with a BS in Psychology and Early Childhood Education. Prior to coming to Lerner, Cheryl had twelve years of experience teaching in preschools both locally and in California as well as in a special education/early intervention program for children up to three years of age. She lives in Durham and has a son who attends the 2nd Grade at Lerner.
Francie Jacobs-Segal has been a teacher in our Preschool program since 2005. She is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in Early Childhood Education. Francie has been teaching in preschool settings for the past twenty years, the last five of which have been at Lerner. She lives in Chapel Hill with her husband and has two sons, Ethan and Jared, who live in NYC and Austin, respectively. Francie loves to read and spend time with her family, and she loves being part of Lerner’s wonderful community.
Carolyn Rogers has been teaching in the Preschool program since 2001. She has a BA from Beloit College in Sociology and Education. Carolyn has her Level III Childcare Administrator Credential as well as a Level 8 Early Educator certificate from the Institute for Early Childhood Professional Development. Carolyn has worked in the field of Early Childhood Education for seventeen years. In addition to her years of experience in the US, Carolyn was an Early Childhood teacher in Israel for five years. She has also taught Religious School at the Chapel Hill Kehillah and participated in various JCC sponsored activities. Carolyn is the mother of four children, two of whom attend local colleges and two who are students at Chapel Hill High School. Her interests include hiking, bike riding, baking, and reading and speaking Hebrew.
Caryn Rosenberg began teaching in our Preschool program in 2002. She is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and has been teaching at Lerner since 2002. Caryn lives in Durham with her husband and two young sons. Each year Caryn looks forward to welcoming our young students into the Preschool program.
Nitsa Vardy is beginning her third year teaching in the Preschool program. She is a graduate of the David Yellin College of Education in Israel with a specialty in Early Childhood Education. Prior to relocating to Durham, Nitsa taught a variety of age groups within the Kibbutz Education system in Israel. She moved to the area two years ago with her husband and daughter Ofek, who is a student in the Preschool program.
Specialists
Julie Harris will teach Art this year. Julie is a certified teacher, having received her multiple subject Teaching Credential from San Diego State University, and Graduate degrees in Jewish Education and Jewish Communal Service from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Julie has taught General and Judaic studies, and has served as Director of Judaic Studies at a day school in Palo Alto, California. She has taken many courses over the years in painting, mixted media, mosaics, photography, quilting, and sewing. Julie and her husband Etan have two children at Lerner: Jayden (2nd grade) and Noam (4th grade). She loves to travel, exercise, bake challah, and work and play in her home art studio.
Janice Nicholson is the Lerner School Librarian. This is Janice’s fourth year at Lerner. She has an MA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MS in Library Science from UNC Chapel Hill. Her prior experience includes teaching high school English in Ohio and Pennsylvania. She is most proud of being a grandmother to her four grandchildren.
Marcie Ollis is the Reading Specialist at the Lerner School. Marcie is a graduate of Scripps College in California and holds a MA in Elementary Education from UC Davis, California. Marcie additionally holds certifications in Montessori Education, the Orton-Gillingham program, and the National Institute for Learning Disabled Education. She also has numerous certifications through the professional development program at the Hill Center in Durham. Marcie has worked in the field of education for thirty years in a variety of school settings. Prior to coming to Lerner, she taught at the Hill Center and in the Special Education program of the Chapel Hill/Carrboro School System. She has also worked as a classroom teacher for Kindergarten and 1st Grade. Marcie has five children, and lives in Chapel Hill with her husband and teenage daughter. She enjoys making the world of language come alive for children.
Jordan Shamp is the Lerner School’s Physical Education Teacher as well as the Director of the After School program for Elementary school students. Jordan is a graduate of Appalachian State University in Boone, NC, with a BS in Physical Education. This is his fourth year teaching at Lerner. In addition to teaching the Elementary School students, Jordan also teaches P.E. in the Preschool program. During the summers Jordan directs local sports camps and he also plays basketball, soccer, and softball in local adult leagues. Jordan recently got engaged and loves to travel, play guitar, and spend time at home with his family and his cats.
Laurie Siegel is the Music Teacher at Lerner. She holds a BA and Master of Music in Music Education from UNC-Greensboro with a voice concentration. She has been teaching elementary music since 1997 in North Carolina public and private schools and at the Lerner School since 2004. Certified in three levels of Orff-Schulwerk training, Laurie believes in incorporating singing, movement, instruments and student creativity into every music lesson. Laurie enjoys performing in the local theater community, both singing and acting. When not teaching or performing, she spends time with her husband, Daryn, and daughter, Danya.
School Administration
Jordana Brown is the Director of Admissions at the Lerner School. She has been in this position since 2004, and at the school as a parent since 2000. Prior to joining the Lerner School staff, Jordana held several positions locally and in the NYC area in the fields of Jewish Education and Social Work. Her local experience includes directing JCC Summer Camps, running JCC children’s after-school programs, teaching Religious School, and coordinating the HIV testing and education program at Duke University’s Student Health Services. Jordana is passionate about Jewish education and loves the opportunity to participate in the growth of our school. She lives in Carrboro with her husband and three children, two of whom are graduates of the Lerner School, and one who is now in Lerner’s 1st Grade.
Foley Coleman is the Office Administrator. This is Foley’s fourth year at Lerner. She is the voice who answers the phone at Lerner and is often the person at the front desk assisting staff, parents, and students alike. Foley truly enjoys her job at Lerner and all her interactions with the students. She lives in Hillsborough with her husband and new son, Grady.
Amy Lippmann is our Administrative Assistant in the Business Office. She is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to moving to this area, she worked for six years at Jewish Vocational Service in Boston, MA. Amy lives in Carrboro with her husband and daughter.
Elizabeth Takla is our Business and Facilities Manager. She is a graduate of Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. This is Elizabeth’s fourth year at Lerner, and she enjoys her interactions with our parents and students. She is recently married and lives in Hillsborough with her husband. Elizabeth enjoys cooking, gardening, and speaking French.
Ivy Wingate has been the Director of Development & Public Relations since February, 2004. Ivy joined the Lerner School with over twenty years’ experience in development, strategic planning and financial stewardship for various local agencies, including the Triangle Community Foundation, Interact, the Chapel Hill YMCA and the Triangle AIDS Service Agency. She has been an active member of the Jewish community for eighteen years, serving as the first director of the JCC Without Walls, teaching at the Beth El Religious School and Midrasha, serving as President of the Beth El Sisterhood and on its Board of Directors, and is currently a member of the Jewish Family Service Advisory Committee and the Burial Society. Ivy lives in Chapel Hill with her husband Vincent and has two children, Jordan and Elise.