Whenever I took time out from my tom-boy play outside, I would assemble all my “friends”, and my books and I would play “School” for hours. There was just so much that my school “friends” had to learn!
Following my graduation from Hunter College, I embarked on my early childhood teaching career. I worked in 3 very different teaching positions in New York City. Each position taught me many valuable lessons – about children, how they learn best, what they need to succeed and fee good about themselves, and how to create positive outcomes for children, regardless of their circumstances or environment. In addition, each position continued to reinforce the notion that I had first experienced during my childhood – simply, that teaching was not just a position or career for me, but in fact was a real passion.
When my daughter entered kindergarten, I knew what path lay ahead – a nursery school of my own! Now, fast forward… a Masters in Early Childhood, finding a location in Port Washington, meeting or exceeding all the state regulations. Friends Together Nursery opened in September 1999 with 2 teachers and 3 children. (One of those first group of 3 children is now a junior camp counselor!)
In the last 5 years, we have expanded our traditional nursery program to include enrichment daycare programs starting with 6-month-old children and extending to kindergarten-age children and beyond. Our expansions are designed to create a convenient and flexible educational learning experience for all families. All 3 buildings are bright and airy, large spaces with diverse activity areas. Equally as important is our talented, caring and qualified teaching staff. The past 15 years have just flown by! Not only am I proud of what has been accomplished so far – but now I am really excited about and looking forward to what is coming next.