Crozet

Ms. Emily has a Bachelors degree in Art Education and a Masters in Education. Throughout college, she worked at summer camps with elementary-age children then went on to teach art for 7 years. She then moved up to administration where she spent the next 8 years. Ms. Emily loves watching children succeed, learning to be confident, and developing creative problem-solving skills.

Ms Emily and her family moved to the area from Maryland in 2017 due to their love of mountain towns.

Fun Facts:

• Her home was built on the TV show “Tiny House Nation”
• Emily is a parent of two young children
• She has also taught evening courses for graduate students, supporting teachers as they worked to implement the arts into the curriculum

Miss Margaret graduated from Walnut Preparatory School in Natic, MA in 1973 and attended Cazenovia College studying Psychology. She later trained as a Physician’s Assistant and worked in biology labs at Syracuse University. Miss Margaret has training in various aspects of early childhood philosophy and parenting including Montessori and Parent Effectiveness training. Margaret has over 20 years of experience having taught in both Head Start as well as a local Montessori school before starting at Bright Beginnings in 2002.

Bright Beginnings Background:

Margaret previously taught pre- kindergarten at our Mill Creek location before being promoted to Program Director at Mill Creek. After taking a sabbatical to help raise her grandson William, she returned to our Crozet location as lead teacher and curriculum director in 2013. Margaret is a wealth of knowledge in regards to children’s literature, easily choosing titles that supplement our award winning curriculum. The quality of her classroom is evident just from standing outside of her door. The entrance to her classroom is constantly decorated and informative and is always enhanced with children’s artwork

What We Love About Margaret:

• She has a great way with words. She is a writer and has an extensive vocabulary
• Her classroom! We want to play and learn there.
• Her sense of humor – such a dry wit, listen carefully to keep up with her.
• Her unique way of giving parents advice in a no-nonsense honest way as well as her ability to use a variety of early childhood techniques to meet the needs of students.
• We love how engaged Margaret is with our developing curriculum and is a children’s literature expert. She is our resident school librarian.

Fun Facts:

• Margaret has two daughters, Anne and Meg and a grandson, William.
• Margaret, Meg and William live together with an elderly cat (Xavier), a ferret named Tucker, a fish named Ponyo and a kitten named Labryinth.
• She moved to Charlottesville from LA in 1984.
• Her favorite scent is sandalwood.
• Margaret loves baking, gardening, films and her favorite season is autumn.

Ms. Genevieve LOVES everything about music! Ms. Genevieve has a degree in Music Therapy from Florida State University. When she is not doing fun music activities with preschoolers, she provides Music Therapy services to adults in Hospice care. Ms. Genevieve lives in Batesville with her husband and two kids and enjoy hiking, baking, and playing in her band. She loves working with Bright Beginnings families and staff, and is excited to continue to share more musical experiences with our Bright Beginnings kids every Wednesday morning!