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Our Staff

The teaching staff is made up of dedicated professionals from all over the world, many of whom have taught here for more than three years. Lead teachers have a Master’s degree in early childhood education. Each classroom has a lead teacher, two additional full-time Teachers, and a part-time teacher who works at the end of the day.

Additionally, we have Floater teachers, who are full-time teachers who move between classrooms to provide additional support. The Floater teacher gets to know the children and families so that she or he is not a stranger to the children. Floating teachers may also provide additional fill in for teachers who are absent.

Pamela Stark, Director

Pamela Stark has been with The Rockefeller University Child and Family Center since July 2017. Before becoming Director of the CFC, Pamela worked the previous eighteen years as an Executive Director, early childhood special educator, clinical social worker, and consultant for numerous early childhood schools and programs in Manhattan. She earned a Master’s degree in Early Childhood Special Education from Bank Street College, a Master’s degree in Clinical Social work with Children and Families from Columbia University School of Social Work, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland​. Pamela has been a presenter at conferences hosted by the New York National Association for the Education of Young Children and the Bank Street College Infancy Institute.

In addition to being responsible for the overall direction of the CFC, Pamela directly supervises the preschool kindergarten admissions process, working with families to guide them during the transition to kindergarten.  Pamela also has expertise in early childhood special education and helps families whose children may need extra support.

Esther Kim, Associate Director

Esther brings more than 20 years of experience working with young children and their families having taught preschool children, toddlers, and infants at several progressive New York City early childhood schools including the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church Day School, where she launched their inaugural Infant/Toddler/2s program. As Associate Director of Roosevelt Island Day Nursery, she helped teachers develop documentation practices as a way to share stories of children’s learning with families. Most recently Esther was the Education Director for 3’s and 4’s at the Early Childhood program at Manny Cantor Center in NYC, where she was part of a leadership team that envisioned and created a socio-economically integrated nursery school for children on the Lower East Side. Esther holds a BA in Art History from New York University and an MS Ed degree from Bank Street College of Education in Early Childhood Education with a specialization in Museum Education. Esther will supervise the preschool classrooms.

Sara Seiden, Interim Associate Director

Sara retired from being the Director of the Roosevelt Island Day Nursery for 26 years and since retiring is working as a consultant to a variety of early childhood settings with a primary focus on supporting children’s emotional, social, language, and cognitive development. She also has many years of experience supervising teachers and student-teachers, as well as teaching supervision and staff development to early childhood directors in a graduate program at the City University of NY. At the CFC, Sara will be working with the infant rooms and some toddler rooms.

Abigail Stein, Educational Coordinator

Abby has various roles at the CFC, helping with administrative work as well as working with all the classrooms and teachers.  She has worked at the CFC since 2006, working first as a teacher primarily with Preschool but has experience with all age groups. While working at the CFC she continued her education and received a Master’s degree in Special Education from Hunter College.

Angie BetetaAdministrative Assistant 

Angie started working with the Child & Family Center in February 2021 as the Administrative Assistant. She graduated from Brooklyn College in 2016 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management & Administration.  Angie has worked as a Youth Development Specialist,  the Operations Manager, and  as an Executive Program Associate at a non-profit after school and summer camp program in Queens, NY. She also spent several months teaching English in Inner Mongolia, China, where she worked with children as young as two years of age.

Roselaine Gavidia, Art Specialist

Roselaine Gavidia teaches visual arts to small groups of preschool children (ages 4-5) once a week at the Art Studio class in the CFC. Roselaine has been an early childhood educator for over twenty years. In her home country of Brazil, she studied art education at São Paulo State University (UNESP) and worked at the University of São Paulo’s Paulista Museum (commonly known as Ipiranga Museum), in the education department. She received an associate degree in early childhood education from the Borough of Manhattan Community College and a bachelor’s degree from The City College of New York. Currently, Roselaine is completing a master’s in art education from The City College of New York, participating and assisting in workshops at East Harlem Art Park and Marcus Garvey Park, and has been mentored by accomplished artist + art teacher Susan Stair.

Anne Davidson, Consulting Psychologist 

Anne Davidson, Psy.D. is a New York State Licensed Psychologist and a graduate of Pace University’s Child-Clinical School Psychology program. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Westchester Institute for Human Development (WIHD) and was a Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Fellow. She was formerly the Director of Clinical Services at Edwin Gould Services for Children and Families.

Dr. Davidson has provided clinical services in school, day treatment, residential, and outpatient settings throughout New York. She loves teaching, training, and supervising the next generation of psychologists and mental health professionals. However, most of all, she has a passion for providing psychoeducation, support, and guidance to parents and families. She has been in private practice in North Brooklyn since 2014 where she conducts psychological evaluations for children and adolescents. Within her practice, she works closely with families to advocate for appropriate supports and services for their growing children.

Dr. Davidson is excited to work with the children, families, and staff at the Child and Family Center.  Here, she aims to bring her knowledge of child development and behavior to support the emotional, social, academic and behavioral growth of the young children of The Rockefeller University.

 


The T-shirt Shop

The T-shirt Shop sells Rockefeller University branded clothing and other items such as mugs, backpacks, pens and notebooks.

The proceeds of the T-shirt shop benefit the Rockefeller University Child and Family Center.

Hours:
Tuesdays: 12:00pm–12:30pm
Wednesdays: 12:30pm–1:00pm.
Can also be opened by appointment.

Location:
1st floor of the Rockefeller Research Building

Contact
For questions, to purchase items for an event, to suggest new items, or to volunteer in the shop (CFC parents) please contact:
tshirts@rockefeller.edu