Faculty

Faculty

2022-2023

TARA CANTY, Executive Director

Tara spent her early years in the Boston area but always knew she wanted to see the world. She lived in Florida and Colorado before settling in NYC where she decided to pursue a BA in Psychology at City College of New York City. For a number of years she worked in the non-profit sector, teaching and managing educational programs for young adults. She returned to school to earn a Masters in Early Childhood Education at Hunter College School of Education. She then worked at TriBeCa Community School, a Reggio Emilia-inspired school. She is a member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children and was proud to be a presenter at the 2015 Dallas conference where she shared her teacher research on supporting autonomy and resilience in preschool-aged children. Tara is a lover of animals and volunteers for a New York City animal rescue group, Ready for Rescue. She is a devoted yoga student and loves to travel. She joined the team at Red Hook Playgroup in the fall of 2016, and after serving in many roles, including classroom teacher, operations, Documentation Specialist, and Education Director, Tara became RHP’s Executive Director in 2022.

KENZIE ROWLETT, Collaborative Classroom Teacher

Kenzie is a native of the central coast of California and comes to Brooklyn by way of Portland, Oregon, where she studied literature and creative writing as well as history and ethnic studies at Lewis & Clark College. Soon after graduating, after a brief time in San Francisco, she returned to Portland and while working as a nanny became an assistant at a magical neighborhood Reggio Emilia preschool where, under the guidance of wonderful mentor teachers, she was immersed in the world of early childhood and has been teaching young children and learning from them ever since. She has worked with children in Oregon, California, and New York in a variety of environments for going on ten years, and holds a graduate degree in Early Childhood Education from Champlain College in Vermont. Kenzie joined the RHP family in 2017.

ANDREA SHUMAN, Collaborative Classroom Teacher

Andrea has been teaching in Brooklyn for 11 years. She grew up in Chicago with her parents and two sisters who loved living in the city as much as escaping it. She learned to love people and food as well as trees and lakes and frogs. Andrea went to school at a small liberal arts college in the midwest, earning a degree in Elementary and Special Education, and during this time she had the opportunity to teach at an international school in her mother's hometown of Guatemala City. She moved to Brooklyn after college and has been teaching here ever since. Prior to teaching at RHP, Andrea taught pre-k and kindergarten in a few different Brooklyn communities including Red Hook, Downtown Brooklyn, and Fort Greene. The opportunity to teach in various settings and communities has led Andrea to a passion for progressive and equity-focused education, and for classrooms full of active, hands-on learners who are exploring nature, stories, friendships, and themselves. When not at school, Andrea loves to spend time with her family, which includes her husband, sisters, nieces, and doggy!

TANISHA MARCELLE, Collaborative Classroom Teacher

Tanisha is a Brooklyn native, born and raised. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Hunter College. While pursuing her degree she worked in a restaurant as a server, eventually becoming assistant manager after graduation. Not too long after, she realized that she wanted to return to school, to become a teacher. From a young age she always had a desire to work with and impact the lives of children. With this dream in mind, she returned to Hunter, where she studied to obtain her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education and simultaneously began teaching at her first school. She has now been teaching for eight years. Tanisha received her degree in June 2019 and became a NY state certified teacher in Early Childhood Education in October 2020.

MERRY SCHOLL, Art & Science Teacher + Extended Day & Summer Program Coordinator

Merry grew up in the Riverdale area of the Bronx. She has an undergraduate degree in Theater from Oberlin, a Master’s in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College, and a Master’s in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from Hunter. She has taught preschool in NYC for six years. Working in school gardens taught her that kids need to learn with their whole bodies and all of their senses. She believes that play, story time, and trial-and-error are essential learning behaviors with lifelong value.

PALOMA MUÑOZ, Extended Day Teacher + Music Teacher

Paloma was born and raised in Argentina. She moved to New York City to pursue a Performing Arts career and graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Manhattan. Since then, she’s worked at renowned venues like the Guggenheim Museum, Princeton University, Spanish Repertory, the New Ohio Theatre, and many more. Paloma has been a teaching musician at Bilingual Birdies, a music and language program for kids, since 2017. There she discovered her love and passion for teaching kids using music, dance and movement, and theater-like games to make learning more dynamic and fun.