About Us : Our Staff
At Kids Cottage, we pride ourselves on providing the highest quality early childhood education available. Our staff is carefully chosen to ensure our students enter Kindergarten with the skills and confidence necessary to excel throughout the remainder of their education. Our teachers all have college degrees and backgrounds in education. To attract the best teachers, Kids Cottage provides significantly higher compensation than other preschools in the area. Our extraordinary staff allows us to prepare our preschool students with a solid Foundation of Excellence.
Both Lori Schell and Taryn Burris are the Chief Administrators/Owners of Kids Cottage. Our staff also includes a Program Director/Manager, Instructors, Tutors, Supervisors, and Assistant Supervisors. View Staff Bios.
Kids Cottage business partners, Lori Schell and Taryn Burris, are native Delawareans and have traveled and lived in various cities. After living in different states, they have both returned to live near their families in Lewes, Delaware. Lori and Taryn are active members of the community. Their combined services and memberships include involvement in the Lewes Yacht Club, Rehoboth Beach Country Club, and the Sussex County Land Trust.
Qualifications
All teachers must have a college degree and a background in education. Many of our teachers and Chief Administrators have a Master's degree in Education and have satisfied the Delaware licensing requirement. All staff members are trained in CPR and First Aid and have successfully passed a Criminal Background Check.
Number of Staff/Ratios
As required by the State of Delaware, the staff child ratio for mixed age groups will be that required for the age group with the largest number of children present in the group.
| Age of Child | Minimum Staff/Child Ratio |
| 2-3 years | 1:10 |
| 3-4 years | 1:12 |
| 4-5 years | 1:15 |
| 5 years and up | 1:25 |
STAFF BIOS
Lori Schell
Chief Administrator
Lori graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Science in Education and was later certified to teach Special Education. She taught third and fourth grade at Rehoboth Elementary School in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Lori later moved to Boston where her husband, Chris, attended Harvard Business School. At HBS, Lori worked as a professor's assistant and worked in the classroom as a scribe. After graduation, Lori and her husband returned to Delaware and have a son, Caden, and a daughter, Cassidy. Lori has always immersed herself in her work within the education field, and is dedicated to creating the most fun, innovative children's center around!
Taryn Burris
Chief Administrator
Taryn graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Science in Education. She received a Master of Education degree for Special Education from the University of Maryland. She taught in Anne Arundel County in Maryland for three years as a special education teacher for grades K-5. In 2003, she returned to Delaware with her husband where she taught sixth grade language arts and reading for one year. Taryn is licensed and certified in Delaware in the areas of Elementary K-6, Middle Level Teacher 5-8 (except 7&8 science/math), Teacher of Early Childhood/Primary K-4, Teacher of Exceptional Children-LD, SED, MH (Elementary 1-8).
Dawn Alt
Infant Program
Dawn graduated from NH Technical Institute in 1995 with an Associates Degree in Human Services. After graduation, she started working with children with learning disabilities and physical handicaps. She worked as a Special Education One-on-One Aide for students in first through eighth grade from 1995-1999. After moving to Delaware in 1999, she started working at the Sussex County YMCA in the after school program and as a camp counselor during the summer. Dawn joined the Kids Cottage family in January 2007. She started as the lead drop-in preschool teacher. For two years she was the lead teacher in the Minnows preschool class and now joins the Infant and Pre Toddler Team. She lives in Milton with her husband Ray, daughter Maddison, and son Jacob.
Sheri Klemkowski
Minnows, 18 to 24 months
Sheri Klemkowski was born and raised in Linthicum, Maryland. She started college as an Early Childhood Education major and worked in a childcare facility in Maryland while in college. She graduated from the University of Baltimore with a Bachelors Degree in Business Management in 2004. Just after college she moved to Delaware. She now lives in Lewes with her husband, Will and 1 year old daughter, Madelyn. She is excited to be teaching the Minnows this year at Kids Cottage.
Christine Falcone
Sandcrabs, 2 year olds
Christine graduated from LeMoyne College in Syracuse, NY with a degree in Psychology. She then obtained her Master's Degree in School Psychology from Alfred University. For 13 years, she worked as a school psychologist in North Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware for students ages 2 to 21 in both regular and special education settings. Christine has worked in Preschool Diagnostic Settings and with Delaware Early Choices. She and her husband welcomed their son, Nathan, into the family in August of 2008. Christine joined the Kids Cottage family in January of 2008 and enjoys watching the children learn and grow.
Tonya Rockemann
Sandcrabs, 2 year olds
Tonya is new to the Kids Cottage Team. She has been a teacher in the Indian River School District for the last 10 years, teaching grades 2nd, 4th, 5th, and Kindergarten. She was a 2003 Walmart Teacher of the Year and the 2006-2007 Teacher of the Year in her school district. Tonya has also been involved in community activities, such as Big Brothers/Big Sisters, Georgetown Chamber of Commerce, volunteer work with seniors, PTO, DSEA, IREA, and the Mentoring and Leadership Committees at North Georgetown Elementary. She has also published two children's books over the last year.
Tonya looks forward to this new beginning with a wonderful foundation for the youth! She thoroughly enjoys working with students of all ages. It is an inspiration for her every morning to wake up and know that she will be making someone smile!
Mandy Ciabattoni
Starfish, 3 year olds
Mandy is entering her third year as part of the Kids Cottage Team. She joined Kids Cottage in the fall of 2008 as an office administrator. In this role, her passion for working with children was realized. Mandy joined the Kids Cottage teaching staff as a Pre-K teaching assistant during the 2009-2010 school year. During this experience her love of teaching flourished. She decided to return to school and further her education. She is currently working towards a Master's Degree in Elementary Education from Wilmington University. She also completed her Bachelor's Degree in Human Nutrition from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Mandy and her husband, Mike, relocated to Lewes in 2007. They have three wonderful children (Bryan, Reagan and Will) and a faithful Bulldog, LuLu.
Melissa Brittingham
Starfish, 3 year olds
Missy was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. She also attended Chatham University, where she completed 48 credits toward a Master’s Degree in Elementary Education. After moving to Delaware in 2005, Missy has focused her work in assisting children and families in crisis through a domestic violence shelter, The Attorney General’s Office, The Department of Corrections, and Delaware Families Inc. Missy has taught in one of the two year old classes at Kids Cottage for three years. She is looking forward to teaching one of the three year old classes this year at Kids Cottage.
Jodie Daminger
Seahorses, Pre-K 4 year olds
Jodie is a Lewes native and alumni of Cape Henlopen School District. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Towson University and a Masters in Education from Wilmington College. She served as Director of a private preschool/childcare center in Maryland as well as a preschool teacher, special education paraprofessional, reading/math/writing instructor, teacher’s assistant, and Maryland Early Childhood Education evaluator. She holds a Maryland Teaching Certificate for Nursery through Third Grade and is currently seeking Delaware certification. Jodie has been the Pre-K teacher at Kids Cottage for five years and is looking forward to the 2010-2011 school year.
Kathy McGovern
Seahorses, Pre-K 4 year olds
Kathy McGovern earned a BA with honors and minored in Elementary Education from the College of New Rochelle in New York. She taught the three year olds preschool classes for twenty years at St. John’s Nursery School in Larchmont, NY where she raised her son and daughter. She received training from the Bereavement Center of Westchester as a facilitator of grief support groups for children ages 4-7 and volunteered at this facility for two years. She moved to Bethesda, MD in 2005 and taught a Pre-K class for two years in Rockville, MD. She also tutored with 5-12 year olds at Learning Rx, a cognitive skills and reading training center. Kathy moved to Lewes, DE two years ago and is very happy to be teaching for her third year at Kids Cottage Preschool!
Kim Rupp
Seahorses, Pre-K 4 year olds
Hello Kids Cottage family! Kim Rupp is very excited to be part of the Pre-K teaching team again, as the afternoon instructor. She is no stranger to Kids Cottage since she taught Pre-K two years ago and is now back after staying at home with her young children. Kim's Kids Cottage accomplishments include instructing morning and afternoon Pre-K, creating and instructing a healthy food and exercise class called "Snack-er-cise," and teaching summer camps. She also tutors children at Kids Cottage for a Maryland-based company named READ, LLC. Kim established a Delaware tutoring program for READ after moving from Maryland to Delaware in 2006. She lives in Milford with her husband and two children.
Kim's education background includes graduating from the University of Maryland with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology, and attending graduate school at Loyola College in Maryland to complete a teacher certification program. She is a Delaware State certified teacher of social studies and special education. She has taught children of all ages, from Pre-K up through high school. Kim is partial to four and five year olds because they love to learn, sing, dance, and do crafts-all of the things that she enjoys!
Kim looks forward to helping your child form the foundations for Kindergarten, from social skills to pre-reading, and everything in between. Together we will imagine, create, experiment and discover. Your child will learn and have great fun! Cheers to a great school year!
