Education Division

Timothy Allen, Ed.D., is principal of Birchland Park Middle School in East Longmeadow, Mass. Over the course of his career he has held roles as an urban school principal and an assistant principal. Timothy has also held teaching positions in Boston, Springfield, and the Bronx. His professional focus is on motivating teachers and students alike to utilize innovative and creative teaching strategies to optimize student learning.

Joyce Baker is a retired literacy coach from the Springfield public schools. Her area of interest is content area literacy at the middle/high school level.

Ericka Blais is the technology teacher at Stefanik School, Chicopee. She teaches our technology courses at both the Chicopee and Greenfield Campuses.

Mahera Chiarizio is an independent training consultant in the field of early care and education. She teaches the cultural competency and health/safety/nutrition courses at our Greenfield campus.

Professor Cotter has been a teacher of students with moderate special needs. She has worked in a variety of inclusion settings, and also has experience as a pharmacy technician. Her special interest lies in the area of helping all teachers more effectively accommodate students with special needs into their classrooms.

Joan Daly is a retired teacher of young children with special needs from the Holyoke Public Schools. She is the instructor for the assessment course in the early care and education program in Greenfield.

Dr. Dillard’s career as an educator began in middle schools where she taught a variety of subjects. Her primary interest is in the teaching of mathematics, at all levels. She has extensive experience as a curriculum developer, mentor to student teachers, and faculty member in Western Massachusetts teacher preparation programs.

Melinda Finnerty is an elementary teacher in Hinsdale, with an expertise in educational technology. She teaches the technology and multicultural children’s literature courses at our Pittsfield site.

Carolyn Fitzgerald is a retired foreign language teacher and assistant superintendent from Chicopee. Her area of expertise is in the clinical supervision of student teachers.

Dr. Janeczek is a former elementary bilingual (Spanish) and English as a second language (E.S.L.) teacher. She has also served as western regional administrator for bilingual and E.S.L. programs for the state of Massachusetts. Her interests include language acquisition, E.S.L. methodology, and cross-cultural communication.

Johanna McKenna is the retired principal of Bridge Street School in Northampton and the former director of the Massachusetts Migrant Education Program in Western Massachusetts. She is especially interested in socioemotional intelligence in teachers, students, and parents.

Dr. O’Reilly-McRae is a preschool teacher and early childhood educator at Conway Grammar School. She teaches our mathematics methods course in the ECE program at the Greenfield site.

Jennifer Perchak is an experienced ESL teacher who has taught in both Agawam and Williamsburg. She teaches the ESL Methodology course at the Chicopee campus.

Darbie Pettengill has a long career as an educator, first at a Montessori School working with very young children, and currently as an English-as- a-Second- Language (ESL) elementary teacher in West Springfield. Her areas of expertise include strategies for making content comprehensible to student who have not yet mastered the English language.

Travis Reed is the assistant principal of Central High School in Springfield. He is a former Spanish teacher. He teaches courses related to middle/high school curriculum and instruction at our Chicopee site.

Patricia Regan, M.Ed., CAGS, is a certified Reading Recovery instructor and a reading teacher in Wilbraham, Mass. She teaches the multicultural children’s literature course at our main campus.

Suzanne Rene has taught preschool, special education, and most recently was an elementary Instructional Leadership Specialist for the Springfield Public Schools. Her area of expertise is Literacy. Professor Rene is the Director of the Reading Specialist Master of Arts in Teaching Program, and of its Summer Reading Clinic.

Sarah Sawyer, M.Ed., is a pre-kindergarten teacher in Springfield, Mass. She has extensive experience with children with special needs and teaches the early childhood curriculum and instruction courses at our main campus and off-campus location in Greenfield, Mass.

Ellen Sulzycki is a reference librarian for the City of Springfield. She teaches multicultural children’s literature at our off-campus site in Greenfield, Mass.

Tara Witte, MAT, has been an elementary teacher for the last ten years, teaching both third and fourth grades. She is a licensed reading specialist, and serves as the assistant director of the Elms College Summer Reading Clinic.

Emily Wood, M.Ed., is a preschool teacher for an integrated classroom in Dalton, Mass. She teaches the ECE assessment and methods courses at our off-campus site in Pittsfield, Mass.

Beth Young, Ed.D., has taught at the elementary level, has been a special education teacher at the secondary level, and has been a reading consultant for grades K-12. She is a retired professor from Elms who assists in the clinical supervision of student teachers.