Our Staff

Rebecca Barker

Rebecca (Becca) has been working at Goldsmith Early Childhood Center since 2011 as a 4’s teacher. She holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in Child, Youth and Community Education with a concentration in Early Childhood Education from Curry College in Milton, MA. During the school year, she loves rocking her TUTU on Tuesdays and you can catch her wearing tie dye any day of the week.  When Becca is not working at Goldsmith, she is crafting away with her side business. Go check out her page on Facebook and Instagram @BeccasCraftyCreations410. Rebecca’s fun hobby is not just crafting but also collecting sunglasses. She has over 100 pairs!

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Michele Berman

Michele has been part of the Goldsmith family for over fifteen years.  Michele has her B.A. from the University of Maryland, College Park with a major in Radio, Television & Film and a minor in Studio Fine Arts.  Michele spent her twenties in Los Angeles, California working in the Film Industry.  She then returned to her hometown, Baltimore to settle down and start a family.  Michele then became certified in Early Childhood and School Age Growth and Development.  She served as the Director of the Afterschool Programs at The Boy’s Latin School and Garrison Forest School.  Shortly thereafter she began teaching at Goldsmith Early Childhood Center.  In her free time, Michele enjoys spending time with her family- her husband, Craig, daughter Cammie and son, DJ.

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Freda-Dale Cohen-Kruger

Freda-Dale was born in Montreal, Quebec.  She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Education from McGill University in Montreal and a Graduate Degree in Early Childhood Education from Concordia University in Montreal.  Freda-Dale has been teaching for over 40 years, 24 of those years have been at Goldsmith Early Childhood Center.  She has two daughters, Sydney and Mekenzie.  Freda-Dale’s goal in life is to be a unique individual who is always creating and recreating herself.  Her favorite quote that influences her teaching philosophy is: “Life is not about finding oneself.  Life is about creating oneself.”

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Orit Fagan

Orit, a native-born Israeli, served as a teacher and mentor in low-income neighborhoods in Ashkelon when she was only eighteen, during her Israel National Service. She started her professional career as a bank-teller and medical secretary, but upon moving to the United States with her family, she decided to embark upon a different career path in education. She comes to us with extensive childcare and toddler experience, having worked in multiple and diverse settings including Oheb Shalom’s Learning Ladder and more recently, the Infant & Toddler Program at Beth El, and the Leo Bernstein Jewish Academy Preschool in Silver Spring. Besides Hebrew and English, she can also converse in French. Orit has a degree in Health Care Administration, four children, two fur babies and her favorite hobby is experimenting in the kitchen and whipping up delicious Israeli dishes. She is thrilled to be part of the Goldsmith family.

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Alison Feldstein

Alison has been teaching at Goldsmith Early Childhood Center for over 15 years.  She has over thirty years of teaching experience.  Alison has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Early Childhood Education from the University of Maryland. Alison takes at least 24 hours of continuing education annually. She is credentialed by the State of Maryland at the highest level.  Alison is married with two children.

 

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Michele Heller

Michele has been living in Baltimore all her life and currently lives in Pikesville with her husband (Andy) and Chesapeake Bay Retriever (Chessa).  She worked for 28 years in the Baltimore County School system before retirement, 22 of those years at Reisterstown Elementary as a Special Education Para Educator. She also spent a year working in the 2’s class at Beth El Preschool. Michele is a proud mom of 3 adult children and 4 grandchildren, Jack, Stella, Grayson, & Camila.  Jack & Stella attend Goldsmith. Michele loves working with children and is excited to be part of the Goldsmith Family.

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Marni Kahn

Marni is originally from Denver, Colorado, and moved to Maryland in 2001. She has a BS in Human Development and Family Studies from Colorado State University, an MS from Towson University in Early Childhood Education and Maryland State certification to teach up to third grade.  Since moving here, she has taught primarily in a pre-kindergarten classroom. Her passion is educating young children. When "the light bulb goes off" in a child's head, when they experience a challenge and are able to problem solve, it is so exciting to see.  Her children are students at KSDS. Marni is excited to continue to be part of the community both as a parent and a teacher.  

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Lauren Kean

Lauren Kean has been at the Goldsmith Early Childhood Center since 2014 as an assistant teacher.  She has a Bachelor’s Degree from Towson University in Psychology and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland School of Social Work.  Lauren was born and raised in Baltimore.  She is married with two wonderful daughters.  Lauren loves working with children to make a positive impact in their lives.

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Sue Korman

Sue Korman was born right here in Baltimore, MD. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Towson State University and is also a Certified Child Life Specialist. She completed her internship in Child Life at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1988, during which time, she met her husband Larry. Sue has been teaching for approximately 45 years, most which have been at Goldsmith Early Childhood Center. For most of that time, she was the Hebrew Specialist. She also taught Kindergarten on a military base in Korea, while she was there with Larry. She has one son, Nadav, who attended Goldsmith and KSDS. Sue loves to swim, walk, cook and spend time with her family.

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Randi Kraus

Randi Kraus worked as a lead preschool teacher of children ages 3-5 at Temple Emanuel Learning Center in Reisterstown, MD for seven years before taking time away from teaching to care for her two daughters with her husband, Eric.  She began in 2015 at Goldsmith Early Childhood Center, upon her return to teaching.  Randi also served as the Specialist for the school’s Imagination Garden and Innovation Lab, developing and adapting ongoing school-wide invitations for child-directed play.  The best thing about teaching for her is getting to support the growth of the whole child at a crucial stage in their development.  Randi holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Brandeis University and has her 90-hour ECE Certification from CCBC.  She is a recipient of the Louise D. & Morton J. Macks Center for Jewish Education’s Early Childhood Teaching Excellence Award.  A native of Baltimore, Randi graduated from Chizuk Amuno’s preschool and religious school.

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Jennifer Lichter

Jennifer was born and raised in Baltimore. She has two children Brandon and Camryn. She earned her Associates degree in General Studies from The Community College of Baltimore County. She has her 90 hour certification in child care. This is her third year teaching at Goldsmith. She is also a graduate of the Hebrew school at Chizuk Amuno where she also became a Bat Mitzvah. 

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Judy Rodman

Judy Rodman is committed to introducing children to Art as a source of creative expression and playfulness, while intertwining the wonder of the natural world. As Goldsmith’s Art and Nature specialist, she’s created and teaches Earth Art, a curriculum integrating art and nature. She has a passion for cultivating imagination and aims to help children discover their creative potential through art, adventure, and activism.  She prides herself in the respect for materials in using recycled and re-purposed art mediums along with traditional art.

Judy was born in New York City and grew up in Owings Mills where she attended Goldsmith and KSDS. She returned to NYC to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from The School of Visual Arts with a focus on painting and bioart.

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Julie Okun

Julie joined the Goldsmith Early Childhood staff over ten years ago.  She studied Early Childhood Education at the University of Maryland, College Park.  Julie enjoys watching children grow and helping them learn.  She is a Baltimore native, proud mother of three and grandmother of six.

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Orly Purrio

Orly was born and raised in Israel and served in the Israeli Army.  She has over twenty years of teaching experience, including eighteen years at the Goldsmith Early Childhood Center.  Additionally, she joined the Rosenbloom Religious School faculty at Chizuk Amuno in 2011.  Orly developed the Hebrew Immersion program at Goldsmith, and has been the Hebrew language teacher with the program since its inception in 2000.  She has a certificate in Early Childhood Hebrew Immersion from the Jewish Theological Seminary Gross Hebrew Language Institute, New York, NY.   Orly is credentialed by the State of Maryland and takes at least twenty-four hours of continued education every year.  Since 2015, Orly has participated in the PJ Ashkelon-Baltimore Connection partnership with the Center of Jewish Education.  She helps facilitate connections between preschool families both in the Hebrew Immersion class and Ashkelon, Israel. Orly and her husband, Dirk, have two children.  According to Orly, “teaching my students is not a job, it’s a calling I am enjoying each day.”

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Adrienne Reicher

Adrienne joined the faculty at Goldsmith in 1987.  She has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland College Park in Early-Childhood Education.  Using her previous experience as a kindergarten teacher and in writing curriculum she worked to develop the K-5 program.  Prior to commencing her teaching role in K-5, Adrienne taught science to the pre-school students and organized programming events for the school.  She has been teaching the K-5 program since its inception.  In 1995, Adrienne was the recipient of the Teacher of the Year award from CJE.  In 2013, she received the Mrs. B honorarium.  Adrienne is credentialed at the highest level by the State of Maryland.  She and her husband, Gary have one son who is a graduate of Goldsmith and Krieger Schechter Day School.

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Elaine Salsbury

Elaine graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park with a major in Consumer Studies.  After beginning her career as the owner of a staffing firm she followed her heart and entered the education field.  She served as an Early Interventionist with Baltimore County Public Schools.  She enjoyed her placement at Goldsmith Early Childhood Center so much that she joined its staff as a Teaching Assistant in K-5.  She continues in that role today.  Elaine loves to spend time with her family, traveling, antiquing, cooking and with her students. 

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Cori Schoeffel

Cori was born and raised in Baltimore, MD, and graduated from James Madison University with a Master's degree in Special Education. After graduating, she stayed in Charlottesville, Virginia where she taught students of all ages with disabilities in an adapted curriculum program. Most recently, she was in the Baltimore County Public School system where she was an inclusion special education teacher. Cori has four boys; Mason, Ryder, Porter, and Boden. Cori looks forward to building new relationships, becoming part of the community, and helping children grow in all aspects of their lives.  

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Paige Schwartz

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Jodie Silverman

Jodie has been a teacher at Goldsmith Early Childhood Center since 2005.  She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in music from New York University’s School of Education.  Jodie began working with children while touring the country performing in children’s theatre productions.  After moving to Baltimore in 2004, Jodie became certified in early childhood education.  She and her husband are the parents of a Krieger Schechter Day graduate.

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Marcy Snow

Marcy was a teacher at Beth Israel Joseph and Corrine Schwartz Preschool for over 23 years.  She received the Center for Jewish Education Sam Kahan Distinguished Educator Award in 2018 and the Samuel Glasner Creative Teaching Award for Creative Quality Jewish Teaching in 2004.  She led Chag and Tot Shabbat services and taught parent-child classes.  She also was a youth advisor for elementary age children at Beth Israel for many years.  She joined Goldsmith Early Childhood Center in 2020 and is excited to be part of the Goldsmith community. 

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Stephanie Weinstein

Stephanie has been a teacher at Goldsmith Early Childhood Center since 2001.  Prior to that she was a three-fours teacher at Bet Yeladim in Columbia, Maryland.  Stephanie attended the University of Maryland, College Park where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Family studies.  However, she felt that her true calling was early childhood education.  After graduation, she pursued a Maryland State Teaching Certificate from Towson University.  Stephanie is a lifelong Chizuk Amuno member and even attended preschool at Chizuk.  Stephanie and her husband, Keith, have two children.  They like to spend time with family at the beach and cheering on the Orioles, Ravens and UMCP teams.

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Susan Witte

Susan been a teacher at Goldsmith Early Childhood Center since 2005.  She loves coming to work each day and is passionate about teaching children.  Susan enjoys applying innovative teaching methods while keeping the traditional educational values and goals make learning exciting.  Susan is just as thrilled to have the chance to share in your child’s growth and development as she was her own son’s. 

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Lisa Yarmis

Lisa has her Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education from Towson University. Upon graduation she worked with infants and toddlers and then became director of a day care center.  Lisa then became a stay home mom for many years to her two beautiful children Jennifer and Benjamin. But her love for teaching called her back and she worked with children ages two through four. Lisa is very happy and excited to be a part of the Goldsmith family.