Ashlyn knew that she wanted to be involved in urban education after spending much of her time as an undergraduate in an under-resourced, low-performing school in Utica, NY. Soon after graduating from Hamilton College with a BA in government and a minor in education, she joined NYC Teaching Fellows and began working at PS 79 in the Bronx where she taught kindergarten, first, and second grade. During this time, she received her masters in urban education. In 2008, following her time at PS 79, she joined Haven Academy as a founding inclusion teacher of grades first, second, and fourth. In 2012, she became Haven Academy’s Assistant Principal.

Ashlyn has her degree in educational leadership from Columbia’s Teachers College and is now the Elementary School Principal at Haven Academy. She holds certification in General and Special Education, as well as School Building Administration.

Eric has wanted to be a teacher for as long as he can remember.  After graduating from Connecticut College with a BA in Child Development he went on to work as a Toddler Teacher at the University of Southern Maine Child and Family Center. After 3 years in Maine he moved to New York City and joined the New York City Teaching Fellows to work towards his Masters in Urban Education. For 3 years he worked at PS 94 as a Special Education Teacher in Grades 1-3.  As a founding team member Eric began teaching Kindergarten at Haven Academy in 2008. He continued to teach Kindergarten for 5 years at Haven until he took a 3 year gap to stay home with his daughter. Eric returned to Haven Academy in 2015 and has continued teaching Kindergarten since then.

Carolina was born and raised in the Bronx, NY. She received her bachelor’s degree in Spanish language at New York University. In 2018, she began her teaching career as a teacher’s assistant at a Bronx Kindergarten classroom for two years.  Her experience in the classroom and passion for education inspired her to become a classroom teacher. She moved to Virginia in 2010 and got her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Marymount University and she also taught in a Kindergarten classroom for 5 years.  Carolina returned to the Bronx in 2015 and began teaching first grade at Haven Academy. She continues to teach first grade at Haven Academy.

Gabriella started her Social Work career working with the OMRDD population at a group home for adults with Profound Mental Retardation. Inspired by the idea of promoting independence and the concept of resiliency, Gabriella decided to commit her life to the field. She returned to school and received her MSW from Columbia University in 2006. Gabriella joined the New York Foundling team after completing her second year internship with the NYF at their group home for pregnant teens in the Child Welfare System. In 2009, Gabriella was thrilled to join the Haven Academy team as a Crisis Intervention Specialist. Gabriella currently oversees the Social Services department for the elementary grades. Gabriella has helped build and develop our trauma sensitive culture and approach by developing our clinical and classroom interventions, supervising the work of core department members and overseeing recruitment and attendance outreach. Gabriella is certified to supervise Social Work students and enjoys leading, training and supporting students at Haven Academy, thereby allowing us to provide preventative counseling to over 90 scholars a year.

Throughout her career, Gabriella has combined her clinical, supervisory and case management skills as well as her ability and commitment to approaching situations with cultural sensitivity and awareness. Gabriella is proud to be a long standing member of the Haven Academy community and enjoys working in close collaboration with all staff, children and families in our community and the Mott Haven community at large. Gabriella is also proud to have led New York Foundling’s Camp Felix for several years and to be serving as an Adjunct Professor at NYU Silver School of Social Work.

Ingrid holds an MA in vocal performance/ Music education from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and a MS in Elementary education/ Literacy from Bank Street College of Education. She served as the music director of Haven Elementary for a significant amount of time before transitioning to being a Kindergarten teacher. Ingrid’s role at Haven also includes providing ELA support for various grades. Using her diverse background, Ingrid looks for opportunities to infuse the arts and dramatic theatrical play as a way to reinforce learning in the curriculum. Ingrid believes that using a multi sensory approach to access content can be powerful. Ingrid enjoys collaborating with other teachers, sharing and learning ideas to formulate best practices for students.

Jessica has wanted to be a teacher for as long as she can remember. Being a lover of math, she graduated from the University of Maryland with a B.S. in Finance in 2002. Jessica worked as a Financial/ Legal Recruiter for three years. While working, Jessica pursued her dream of teaching and began her Special Education Master’s degree program at CUNY Lehman College. In 2009, Jessica embarked on her first teaching position at the Reece School. Reece is a school that specializes in serving students with social, emotional, and learning challenges. During her three years at Reece, Jessica taught students, ranging from second to fifth grade, in a self-contained classroom. This is Jessica’s sixth year at Haven Academy. For the past six years she has been working as a Second Grade teacher in a Collaborative Team Teaching (CTT) classroom. She truly loves being part of the Haven team, and working closely with the Haven scholars and families!

Ashley was born and raised on Long Island. She attended the University of Connecticut, where she received a bachelors in Elementary Education and a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction. While in school, Ashley had the opportunity to study in abroad in London which culminated in a thesis that explored the idea of education for global citizenship. As a result of the work, which largely focused on culture and diversity in education, Ashley developed a deep passion for urban education.

After joining the Haven team in 2012, Ashley decided to go back to school to study best practices in working with exceptional learners. She received her certification to teach Students with Disabilities in 2016. In addition to teaching, Ashley enjoys traveling, cooking, and reading.

MaNeya was born and raised in Harlem New York. At the tender age of 14, MaNeya was employed at the Harlem YMCA as a teen counselor where she learned of, and cultivated her love for children. Although she majored in Marketing at SUNY Old Westbury, every summer and Winter break, MaNeya would volunteer at the Harlem YMCA and/ or hold various positions supervising children. Upon receiving her bachelor’s degree from SUNY Old Westbury in 2004, MaNeya decided to actively pursue her passion of ameliorating the lives of children. She became a substitute teacher working in various elementary, middle and high schools while earning a dual degree in Special Education and General Education from Touro College. MaNeya taught 2nd grade for six years at a charter school in Brooklyn before making the decision to bring her talents to the Bronx at Haven Academy. She is very excited to be part of the Haven team!

Briony has taught in school systems in Paterson, NJ, Philadelphia, PA and New York, NY. As an AmeriCorps member in Paterson, she ran an afternoon preschool program. She then taught middle school in south Philadelphia as a Philadelphia Teaching Fellow and elementary school in the south Bronx as a New York City Teaching Fellow. Then she had the opportunity to become a founding member of a middle school in Harlem, and was a teacher, coach, Assistant Principal and, eventually, Principal. Briony also worked as a selector for the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, helping ensure that quality STEM teachers enter, and remain in, high-need New Jersey schools.

Briony received a B.A. in Political Science from Douglass College, Rutgers University, a M.S. in Elementary Education from Hunter College, The City University of New York, and a Certificate of Advanced Study from the College of Saint Rose. She holds New York State certification in Pre-Kindergarten, Kindergarten and Grades 1-6, School Administrator/Supervisor (SAS) and School District Administrator (SDA). She also holds New Jersey State Grades K-6, School Administrator, and Principal certification.

Bio coming soon!

From early on in her childhood, growing up in Spanish Harlem, attending New York City’s public schools, and living in the Bronx as a teen mother, Gwendy understood the challenges in her surroundings and knew she wanted to serve children who have experienced trauma in underserved communities. As a Social Work Intern with the New York City Board of Education, she provided an array of services to high school teenage mothers who experienced many barriers to their education. Shortly after, she obtained her Bachelors in Social Work from CUNY’s Lehman College.  She also holds a Masters in Social Services from Fordham University.

Committed to her lifelong dream, she has experience with not-for-profit child welfare agencies such as Cardinal McCloskey where she ensured services were provided to children in foster care and The New York Foundling, where she worked closely with families from their Bronx teen prevention program. Some of her work encompassed providing services such as parenting skills, independent living skills, counseling, day care assistance and advocacy to obtain housing, public assistance, special education, medical, legal and immigration services.

Always being aware of the impact traumatic events can have on a child’s learning, Gwendy is excited to be the Director of Middle School Social Services and core member of the Social Emotional Team.  As a founding team member, she assisted with developing and always strives towards Haven’s approach of creating a traumatic sensitive culture by maintaining a safe and  nurturing climate for all of the scholars.  She ensures wrap around services are provided to alleviate any barriers that may get in the way of their academic success.  Gwendy loves music, poetry, zumba  fitness, going on vacations and spending time with her kids.

Johanel Caceres graduated with a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Skidmore College and a Master’s in Biology from Indiana University. During her graduate work she focused her research on how different environments impact animal behavior while also teaching introduction to Biology at the undergraduate level. She also spent two summers working with STEM diversity programs for high school students, in hopes of increasing the number of minority students in STEM fields and majors. Her dedication to Science and to seeing more minority students in STEM fields lead her to become a science teacher at Haven Middle. Johanel  joined Haven August 2017 teaching 5th and 6th grade Science. She hopes that priming students to understand the importance of science at a young age could lead to more scientists of color in the future.

Marsha was born and raised in Westchester County, NY. Marsha obtained her B.S. in Elementary Education, minoring in Spanish at SUNY College at Old Westbury. Marsha has over 20 years experience in the field of education. She has a passion for education, and as a member of the Haven Academy family since 2015, she is eager to provide each scholar with the best education possible. Outside of teaching, she enjoys reading, traveling, and sampling cuisines of many cultures.

Meg is very excited to be a member of the Haven Academy team. Originally from Maryland, Meg moved to New York for college and never left. For the past ten years, Meg has worked in the Bronx as a middle school English teacher, STEM and Grant Coordinator, and teacher leader. Meg is passionate about social-emotional learning, student choice, and use of technology in the classroom. Meg believes that all students deserve equal access to inspiring 21st Century learning opportunities. Meg is also a firm believer in the explicit teaching of social-emotional skills such as reflection, empathy, and never giving up. When she is not teaching, Meg enjoys reading, cooking, and being outside.

Samantha was born and raised in the Bronx, NY. She received a Bachelors degree from the College of Mount Saint Vincent, where she specialized in Psychology and Art. She joined the Haven team in 2012. Since then, she has worked with scholars in grades K-5. Samantha loves being constantly challenged in the Haven community and is very eager to be challenged even more while being an assistant teacher in our newly added Little Haven Pre-K program. She has enjoyed every minute of her journey here at Haven Academy. Her passion for the field as well as our scholars grows more as the years go by. Samantha is also a member of the Futures After School program at Haven Academy. In the Futures program, she is a Group Leader for the 5th grade as well as the Running Club coach for grades K-5. Outside of Haven Academy, she is the Creative Coordinator at Elite Stars Dance Academy in the Bronx, NY. She strongly believes that every child is a star in their own way and spends each day helping them develop their star qualities.

Zennea was born and raised in New York. She taught 1st and 4th grade before moving on to do Professional Development, in the area of technology, for teachers in NY area schools.  Zennea trained hundreds of teachers  on integrating technology into their classroom instruction to foster student learning. Zennea was asked to join the Haven staff to offer teachers the opportunities to integrate technology successfully in their classrooms.

Zennea also brings her data-driven instruction expertise to the Haven team, and works with the instructional staff to use data effectively to drive student instruction. In her free time, Zennea enjoys spending time with her family and cooking.