Michelle Wallick
Director
Mrs. Wallick obtained a B.A. in English with a minor in Math/Computer Science from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul. She has taught preschool aged children for 25 years and in a Montessori environment for 10 years. She earned her Montessori Diploma in 2001. Michelle believes strongly in the Montessori method and was educated in a Montessori environment when she was in preschool. Michelle has always dreamed of starting her own Montessori school where all aspects of a child's development are addressed in a positive, caring and intellectually stimulating environment. This became a reality when Michelle searched for a preschool for her youngest child and couldn't find the "perfect" environment, so she created it herself! Her highest priorities are a well-educated, creative, positive and charismatic staff, a low teacher to student ratio, and an environment and program that addresses and meets all needs of children. Michelle and her husband, Mike, have three children ages 15, 13 and 5, and she is Owner, Director and Teacher at Cyprus.
Over the years, Michelle has noticed a lack of options available to elementary students who have advanced academically or are gifted. She is very excited to offer an
early elementary program
specifically designed for such students. Cyprus offers classical kindergarten through second grade to students of all abilities, with ability based groups for academic subjects and will grow with our students, adding a grade each year! Michelle is currently pursuing certification in Talent Development and Gifted Education through the U of M. Concurrenly, she is pursuing a PhD in Educational Psychology with an emphasis on gifted education.
Karen Gainor
Teacher
Mrs. Karen Gainor found Cyprus when looking for a preschool for her gifted son in 2008. She spent a year as a Cyprus parent and daily volunteer in our classrooms. Beginning in the Fall of 2009, she became a lead teacher in our elementary program. She has a B.A in English and Journalism, an M.A. in English Literature and has nearly completed her PHD in Rhetoric and Technical Communication from the University of MN. She has seven years of experience teaching writing, public speaking, group communication, technical communication and visual design at the college level, but finds some her most gratifying work to be teaching her two young children, ages 2 and 5 years. Karen loves geography and learning about our country and the myriad of places in this world. She has 4 years of experience reporting for and editing a bi-weekly newspaper, loves journalism in all forms and believes that the type of questions good reporters ask can be wonderful guidelines for the type of questions all inquisitive minds should hopefully be asking. Karen is quite accomplished at Sudoku and enjoys baking and writing poetry.
Beyah Tchalim-esse
Aide
Beyah is originally from Togo Africa, and moved with her son to the United States to join her husband. She has worked with children and families for several years. She speaks French fluently as well as several Afrcian languages. She is a great help to our teachers at Cyprus, and is wonderful with the children. She has a son who now attends kindergarten at Cyprus.
Anna Pliner
Ms. Pliner has a BA from Macalester College in German Studies and Theater Arts. She attended one year at the Lee Strassberg Theater Institute in NYC. Her favorite thing to teach is languages, and her favorite language is German, in which she is fluent. She has worked with preschool aged children for several years and loves what she does. She uses her theater background every day in the classroom and likes to incorporate theater into her lessons. She is a Montessori child herself and her inner drive to learn has not lessened over the years. She is the lead preschool teacher for ages 2 - 4 at Cyprus.