teachers
Patty Cotter
Teacher, Pre-K Class
Originally
from Chicago, Patty attended Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois and
received a B.S. in History. After moving to New York City, she worked
for three years as an infant teacher at a Bright Horizons. During this
time, Patty obtained her M.S. from Brooklyn College in Early Childhood
Education. She then became a head teacher in a preschool class at The
Olive Treehouse Group. Patty lived and worked in Brooklyn until her
relocation to San Francisco in 2014. This is Patty’s seventh year at
Lone Mountain.
Deborah Crosby
Teacher, Pre-K
Deborah’s prior teaching experience includes three years at St.
Luke’s Preschool in San Francisco, and fifteen years at the Rosenberg
Center, a full-day, full-year program, where she was the Pre-K teacher
and interim Director for a year. Deborah retired in July 2020 from full-
time teaching after twenty-two years at Lone Mountain, but is looking
forward to being with the Pre-K children for part of each school day.
Cissy Harris
Teacher, M-W-F Class
Cissy
holds a BA degree from UC Berkeley in Art and History, and an
Elementary Teaching Credential from San Francisco State University. She
has taught previously in public and private schools in Marin and San
Francisco. Cissy has taught at Lone Mountain since 1988.
Evalynna Ho
Teacher, M-W-F Class
Evalynna
has a BA in Art History from UC Santa Barbara and has taken several
child development classes to deepen her knowledge in the early childhood
education field. She has been a teacher for over 10 years, working at
St. James Preschool and the Little School. This is Evalynna’s fifth year
at Lone Mountain.
Thuy Huynh
Assistant Teacher, M-W-F Class
Thuy was born in Vietnam and moved to San Francisco in 2003. Thuy
received an AA degree in Art and Humanities in 2012 at City College of
San Francisco. After having her second child, she discovered her love
for working with young children. She finished her ECE Associate Teacher
courses and continues taking Child Development classes. This is her
third year at Lone Mountain.
Sophia Lau Kayasone
Teacher, MWF Class and part-time Admin Assistant
Sophia attended San Jose State University and graduated with a BA
in Child and Adolescent Development in May 2005. As a student at SJSU
she worked as an assistant teacher at their Child Development Center.
Before coming to Lone Mountain Sophia worked as a team teacher at Marin
Day Schools/Bright Horizons in Foster City. This is Sophia’s fourteenth
year at Lone Mountain.
Laura Maxwell
Teacher, Pre-K Class
Laura
grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She attended UNC Chapel Hill
and received her B.A. in Psychology in 2011. During her undergraduate
studies, she taught at a local cooperative preschool where she continued
to teach full time after graduating. After moving to San Francisco in
2013, she taught preschool part-time while pursuing her graduate degree
from San Francisco State University. She was awarded her M.A. In Early
Childhood Education in 2015 and this is her fifth year at Lone Mountain.
Rosemary Medeiros
Teacher, M-W-F Class
Rosemary
is beginning her eighth year at Lone Mountain. She is originally from
Winchester, Virginia. She moved to San Francisco in 2003 where she
attended SFSU and received her BA in Broadcasting. She recently received
her MA in early childhood education at SFSU. She has been working with
young children for nine years. Before teaching at Lone Mountain, she was
a teacher at Little Wonders Montessori Too. Rosemary loves music and
plays guitar and ukulele both with the children and in her spare time.
Bernadette Quattrone
Teacher, M-W-F Class
Bernadette received a B.S. in English from the United States Naval
Academy and a M.A. in Early Childhood Education from New York
University. She is also a certified Music Together teacher with three
years of experience teaching the program. Bernadette has eight years of
experience in the preschool setting as the head teacher at Parker’s
Place Preschool in Brooklyn and the director and head teacher at Skyline
Preschool in Oakland. This is her third year at Lone Mountain.
Arlete Rezende
Assistant Teacher, Pre-K Class
Arlete is originally from Brazil, and moved to San Francisco in
1992. She has a degree in Languages and Literature, and a teaching
permit in Early Childhood Education. Arlete is multilingual in Spanish,
Portuguese and English. Arlete has been at Lone Mountain for seven
years. Before moving to San Francisco she taught 5th and 6th grade and
high school. Some of her favorite things to do are to go for hikes,
walks, reading, watching movies, and traveling around the world with her
husband Steve.
Ella Seibel
Teacher, Pre-K Class
Ella was born and raised in Lawrence, KS. She earned a Bachelor’s
degree in Human Development and Family Life, with an emphasis in Early
Childhood Education from the University of Kansas in 2005. After
receiving her degree, she started her teaching career as a lead teacher
at a Montessori preschool in Lawrence. She stayed in this position for
six years, before going back to school and earning a Master’s in Early
Childhood Education. She has been a preschool teacher for fifteen years.
This is her eighth year at Lone Mountain.
Shaun Spring
Teacher, Pre-K Class
Shaun
was born in Honolulu and was raised in San Jose. He attended San
Francisco State University and graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor's
degree in History. Shaun has completed a number of child development
classes and continues to take more classes to strengthen his skills as a
teacher. Shaun has taught at The Stonestown Family YMCA summer camp, as
an associate teacher for the YMCA preschool, and as an after school
teacher at Commodore Sloat Elementary School. Before coming to Lone
Mountain Shaun taught at Marin Day Schools/Bright Horizons Sherith
Israel Campus in a class of 3-4 year olds. This is Shaun’s eighth year
at Lone Mountain.
weekly teaching specialists
Bhumi B. Patel
Dance Instruction, Pre-K Class
Bhumi B. Patel is a dancer, choreographer, educator, writer, curator,
and historian. She is on faculty at West Valley College for technique
and composition, teaches Creative Movement with the Nancy Karp + Dancers
School Program at Anna Yeats Elementary, and teaches Pre-Ballet,
Ballet, and Modern with the Youth Program at Shawl-Anderson Dance
Center. She is excited to begin her first year as a teaching specialist
at Lone Mountain Children's Center.
Marci Briskin
Gymnastics Teacher, M-W-F Class, My Gym Children's Fitness Center
Marci Briskin is the owner of My Gym Children's Fitness Center. She
holds a BA from University of Wisconsin. She opened My Gym Children’s
Fitness Center eleven years ago. My Gym offers noncompetitive gymnastics
mixed in with movement and dance. Marci has offered weekly movement
instruction at Lone Mountain since 2011.
Playball San Francisco
Outdoor Sports Program, Pre-K Class
Dee Dee Bundy is the owner of Playball San Francisco which teaches the
basic skills for six different sports including soccer, baseball,
volleyball, basketball, hockey, and tennis. The program is
non-competitive in nature and emphasizes the importance of life skills
such as courage, flexibility and persistence. This is Playball’s sixth
year at Lone Mountain.
Maggie Mickaili
Spanish Instructor, Pre-K Class
Maggie is a native San Franciscan, raised in a Spanish speaking home.
She has 16 years of extensive experience teaching in both English and
Spanish to children ages toddler through elementary. She has designed
and implemented Spanish music and movement programs throughout the Bay
Area. Her experience includes having worked as Lead Teacher and
Director/Administrator of a language immersion school. Her goal is for
her students to be excited about speaking another language and have lots
of fun in the process! This is Maggie’s second year at Lone Mountain.
Shun Shifu Eric Mitchell
Martial Arts Instructor, Pre-K Class
Shun Shifu Eric Mitchell began his martial arts training at the age of
10 and discovered his passion for the art of Kung Fu. This combination
of passion and commitment to traditional Chinese Martial Arts (Kung Fu,
Tai Chi, self-defense) is demonstrated in his adherence to teaching for
the benefit of his students of all ages. This is Shun Shifu Eric
Mitchell’s fifth year at Lone Mountain.
Andrew Skewes-Cox
Music Teacher, M-W-F and Pre-K Classes
Andrew is a native San Franciscan. In 2006 he earned his degree in Music
from the University of California Santa Cruz. He has been teaching
music in the Bay Area ever since. This is Andrew's eleventh year at Lone
Mountain.
Tree Frog Treks
Science and Nature Instruction, Pre-K Class
Tree Frog Treks teaches fun interactive in-school science enrichment
programs that introduce kids to concepts in biology, chemistry, physics,
earth sciences and natural history. Tree Frog Treks allows children to
meet live reptiles and amphibians face-to-face. The themed curriculum
cover integrated science topics and reinforces learning through hands-on
science experiments, art projects, movement and song. All the Tree Frog
Treks lead teachers have college degrees, many have Master's degrees,
and all have been thoroughly trained in the curriculum and how to
introduce children to live reptiles and amphibians. This is Tree Frog
Treks sixth year at Lone Mountain.
