Faculty and Staff

Our Team

Josh Kaplan
director, Dad

I am humbled by being part of something so much larger than myself and the opportunity to lead this special school is an honor and privilege.  Since 1963, Randolph’s consistent commitment to childhood  and its timeless mission speak to me as a career educator and also as a parent.  I began working in the field under a fellowship at Fordham University, in partnership with the NYC Department of Education after graduating from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!).  I worked in a variety of roles in Harlem public schools and found my way to a progressive approach through a desire to do it differently.  In many other environments, educators work tirelessly to plan and execute lessons that motivate children to take in information.  Here at Randolph, I am inspired by the careful curation of curricular experiences, facilitated by the most capable and compassionate teachers in the Hudson Valley, that stem from the interests of children.  Here at Randolph, the motivation for learning is built into the experience and it is my role to support all stakeholders in preserving this legacy.  

I bear witness to the restorative and transformative power of the Randolph experience every day, through the experiences of all who participate in it, including my own daughters. I do not take for granted that I have what most parents do not; a window into their child’s world at school, literally and figuratively. An important part of my work is in supporting and strengthening the parent experience here, to give our families the same window into their child’s development and foster a supportive and symbiotic sense of camaraderie amongst the grown-ups. This community embodies in its every breath our “it takes a village” mindset. I trust everyone in it with the care of my own children, and I am so grateful to be a part of it.  

Here at Randolph, there is something from everyone and something for everyone, and I look forward to connecting with you.

josh@randolphschool.org

Tisha Brown-Kavanaugh
Community Steward/Office Manager

Hello Friends, my name is Natisha Brown-Kavanaugh, most call me Tisha, and I am the Community Steward/Office Manager here at Randolph School.  My role here at Randolph is to bridge communications between the school as an administrator and the Randolph community which includes parents, caregivers, and extends to our broader community.

My journey at Randolph began as a curious parent new to Wappingers Falls in search of a school for our kiddo in 2020.

With prior learning experiences for our son with a Forest school program in Queens, NY, and a Reggio Emilia inspired school in the Lower East Side of Manhattan, discovering Randolph was serendipitous.  Our family instantly knew this was the best place to nurture our child’s sense of wonder and love for learning once we entered the campus.
Soon after his enrollment I began volunteering at the school as an active member of the Parent Group. 
I joined the Randolph School administrative team in August of 2022 as the Community Steward/Office Manager with the commitment to implement a supportive system for the teaching staff, the parent group, and outreach to the broader community. 

When I’m not at Randolph School I am joyfully running my handcrafted jewelry business and supporting birthing persons as a birth and postpartum doula.  Proud mother of two children, one adult son and one school age child, and a loving partner in marriage.  As a family we love to gather, cook, play games, knit/crochet, and enjoy all the wonders of nature.

tisha@randolphschool.org

Amy Miklos
Curricular Steward/Lead Teacher

Hello Randolph community. My name is Amy and I am a teacher with 14 years of experience in a variety of progressive educational institutions. I consider myself extremely lucky to have found my way to Randolph School; a place that truly honors childhood. Prior to teaching at the Randolph School I was an educator at the Boston Children's Museum as well as a classroom teacher at New Canaan Country School and Poughkeepsie Day School where I worked with children from PreK through sixth grade. 

As the Curricular Steward, I will seek out connections between our students, faculty, parents and broader community as we strive to live and learn together. Children need opportunities to question the systems in which  they participate. I am committed to incorporating issues of equity, diversity and  justice throughout our curriculum. I am energized by Randolph School’s commitment to creating nature-based authentic learning experiences that allow children to collaborate and solve problems as a community. Through our Links Curriculum, we as teachers, are looking for connections. We are linked to the land, to each other, to the past as we work to build our future.

amy@randolphschool.org

evan Miklos
Environmental Steward/Teacher

I first joined the Randolph community as a five year old in 1987. Many of my most magical and enduring early memories come from my time as a child at Randolph, and when I transitioned into public school I carried with me a playful, adventurous and self-confident attitude towards education that has remained with me ever since.

After completing a biology degree at Williams College I worked as an outdoor educator from New York to California before taking a teaching position in Japan. When I returned to the Hudson Valley to complete a Master of Arts in Teaching at Bard College, I eagerly accepted a part-time assistant position in the pre-Kindergarten and running afterschool and I never looked back. Since 2009 I have enjoyed serving as a lead teacher in the Downstairs while also developing integrated, site-based field science and outdoor education curricula for all  age-groups throughout the school. In my current role I continue to hone the hands-on science and nature-based play curriculum for the entire school while also working to protect, enrich, and highlight the outdoor classroom and natural spaces that are an essential part of life and learning at Randolph. In recent years it has been my pleasure to watch my two sons begin their formal education at Randolph School and collaborate with my wife, Amy, as a colleague and co-teacher.

evan@randolphschool.org

Nina Fyfe
STudio steward/Art Teacher

I am so grateful to be a part of this beautiful Randolph community as an atelierista! I have been teaching and exploring art with children at Randolph School since my family moved to New York from Atlanta in 2019. I am excited to steward our studio and encourage art making and creative thinking among everyone in our school community. I have a background in art, interior design, museum education, and early childhood education, specifically Reggio-inspired. 

In my work, I believe in making all of what we do accessible to all children. I believe in process over product, free exploration of materials, encouraging playful learning, and meeting children where they are. I believe that children have many different ways in which they learn and communicate their ideas and I am grateful to work in a space where they are given ample support to realize what works best for them. 

In addition to being a teacher at Randolph, I am also so grateful to have the privilege of seeing my own two children explore, play, and build connections here at Randolph.

nina@randolphschool.org

Siobhan Glennon
Librarian

When my son started at Randolph as a just-turned 3-year-old in the fall of 2018, it never occurred to me that I would find myself working here. My only hopes were that we could figure out a way for my son to be a student here for as long as possible. But when I embarked on a degree in school librarianship just one year later, Randolph quickly became the only place I could imagine myself working. 

Education has always been a large part of my life. My father was a college professor who founded inclusive Montessori and arts education programs in my hometown. My mother worked as a drama teacher. My road has been a winding one that involved getting two degrees in theatre, playing music in bands, teaching adults at a large nonprofit in Brooklyn, and doing lots of odd jobs to keep things afloat.

I am so happy to have landed as Librarian and Media Specialist at the Randolph School, one of the most joyous, peaceful, and exciting places I have ever been. Working with the incredible team of passionate, curious, and forward-thinking teachers here is an everyday inspiration. And getting to share my love of learning and, of course, my lifelong love of books with these students is a gift I am thankful for everyday.

library@randolphschool.org

Michael Farkas
Music teacher

My name is Michael and I am the music teacher at the Randolph School.  I didn’t begin playing music until I was in my late teens and began playing professionally several years later.  

Although I had a late start with the instruments I would eventually play, I was always listening deeply to the world around me.  I knew if the floor creaked in a certain way, and if a match was struck, the stove was being lit for the morning coffee.  When visiting my grandmother in New York City, I knew it was past midnight if the sounds of the carriage ride horses were clip-clopping back to their stables near Central Park. A sound that conjured the nineteenth century.

These sounds gave me a sense of contentment, a sense of family, and a sense of place.  I loved the tone of voices; the gruff bellow of our mail carrier or the soprano who lived behind our house practicing her scales. I could lose myself in the measured cadences of barn swallows fluttering when making their nests in the spring. I’ve always been a devotee to the sounds of trains.  

 With this attentiveness, I began creating musical stories in my mind, and eventually through songcraft to make sense of the audible world.    To play with it.  So much sound around us!  Whether lovely, harsh, strange, complex or quite simple, the musicality of our environment can inspire deep insights and inspiration.  My hope is to convey this passion of mine to the students at The Randolph School. 

michael@randolphschool.org

Downstairs Teachers

Katie Kunin Downstairs TEAM Captain/Early CHildhood Lead

I am excited to join the Randolph community this year!  This summer, I moved to New York from the Washington, D.C. area, where I have lived for much of my life.  I can’t believe I am beginning my 16th year of teaching.  I started my teaching career in D.C., after graduating with a degree in sociology from Pitzer College in Claremont, California.  At my first school, the National Child Research Center, I worked in play-based inclusion classrooms, with children from ages 2 ½ to 5 years old.  I had always loved working with children, and being in a classroom full-time confirmed my belief that I had found my life path.  I started taking classes at local colleges and universities for professional development and eventually applied to graduate school. 

I moved to Boulder, Colorado for a year in order to attend school, while also working at a local Reggio-inspired preschool, Boulder Journey School.  I earned my master’s degree in Education and Human Development with a concentration in Early Childhood Education.  All my classes were taught through the lens of the Reggio philosophy, with the classroom functioning as a laboratory space for enacting our learning on a daily basis; I was also lucky enough to travel to Reggio Emilia, Italy to visit the schools in action!  Returning to the D.C. area, I joined Sidwell Friends School, an independent Quaker school, to teach pre-kindergarten.  My co-teacher and I fostered a classroom environment that nurtured the whole child through an arts-based emergent curriculum. 
During the pandemic, my school moved from online-only virtual learning to a hybrid model to in-person instruction, with many limitations.  I wished to teach in ways that reflected how children learn best, that built on my own passions and interests, and that supported the development of a caring and collaborative community. 

I began looking outside my immediate environment, exploring schools nearby my extended family living in New York and came across Randolph School.  I visited as a professional colleague in the summer of 2021 and kept in touch throughout the school year as my plans solidified, finally finding alignment between my own goals and the needs of the school in the summer of 2022. 
I feel lucky to be part of such a welcoming and passionate community!

katie@randolphschool.org

SAMANTHA REISCHER

I joined the Randolph School in 2010. I was introduced to The Randolph School through the partnership that Dutchess Community College connects classroom teachers who are interested in mentoring student teachers. While attending Dutchess Community College, I was assigned to do my fieldwork with the Upstairs children.  I was amazed each week by the learning environment and how it benefited all learners in a mixed age group environment.  I observed children making choices that were connected to real- life experiences while given opportunities to inquire meaning by posing questions, ideas and problems they come across. Shortly after my experience as a student teacher ended, my connection with Randolph transformed from teaching summer camps to working childcare during events and being the Head Teacher of the Afterschool program. This led to my current role in the Downstairs program as a classroom teacher to Pre- K students ages 3, 4 & 5 years old. 

I graduated from Dutchess Community College in May of 2012 with an Associates Degree in birth through second grade. I went on to earn my bachelors degree where I graduated SUNY New Paltz with a Bachelor's degree in birth through sixth grade. I am currently enrolled at SUNY Albany where I am working towards my Masters degree in Childhood Education and Literacy. I am delighted to be a part of The Randolph School community. 

Creativity is one of the many endless aspects that delight me daily about working here at the Randolph School. It is central to learning that children are actively participating in opportunities to use their creativity daily. It supports  the emergent curriculum and allows children to explore ideas and material that is unfamiliar to them in a positive way. It is a part of everyone and with the ability to teach and learn through exploration, children discover the world around them. What can be viewed as a bunch of miscellaneous objects to some people is often the start to an ongoing plan that, as an educator at the Randolph School, inspires me to practice being creative myself in how I present opportunities for learning in my classroom.  

samantha@randolphschool.org

Princess lamb

Hi, I'm Princess. I am an assistant teacher in the upstairs neighborhood. 
I am a wife and mother of 3 children and a bonus mom to 2. Straight out of high school I joined the workforce. I was hired at a financial institution where I worked for 7 years and became content. It wasn’t until I had my second child that I realized I was doing something that I did not want to be doing. I decided to partner with my mother and start a before and after school program. Being a parent of 2 boys and having the experience of meeting many different children through my parents being foster care providers  it just seemed natural for me to begin to work in the childcare field.  

The before and after school was a hit! We ran for over 5 years and had the pleasure of working with over 120 different families. I was blessed enough to become the sole owner however soon after we faced some challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and location issues causing us to close.  

I had finally found "my thing" and could not let this go so I decided to use this time to further my education and experience. I saw a posting for an Assistant Teacher position on Indeed. The job description seemed like a perfect match for me. At my second interview I was able to tour the school and I immediately fell in love. I felt like this was a warm and welcoming community that was child led and a place where a kid can be a kid, this is all I had dreamed to be a part of. The bonus was they found a way to LINK it all to education. 

Since I was almost immediately put into a director position with little to no hands-on experience in an actual facility in my previous position. I am excited to be able to work under other great teachers. This gives me the chance to absorb while adding to what I have already known to become an even better educator. I am also currently enrolled at Suny Orange in pursuit of my Associates in Early Childhood Education. I am excited to learn the Randolph way and I can't wait to see what the next few years bring.

princess@randolphschool.org

Upstairs Teachers

Lewis Berns

 My name is Lewis and I’m proud to be a Randolph School teacher. Every time I meet someone new, I look forward to answering the question: “so, what do you do for a living?” Sharing anecdotes about how I’ve lived, learned, thrived and struggled alongside an intrepid cast of young characters on this wild campus has a way of capturing the imagination- mine included . This place is fueled by ideas, from minds of all ages. As a teacher at Randolph, I strive to guide my students as they explore their imaginations, bring ideas to life with hard work and a growth mindset, and actively engage with each other as members of a community. What makes this place so special is that this approach to teaching and learning is the norm, not an exception. 

I should mention - my name is not always Lewis here at Randolph.  Once a week after school, I don a bandana, strap a sword to my belt, sling a bow around my shoulder and I become “Ranger Zero.” As a visual artist and archery fanatic turned educator, I’ve deeply appreciated this community’s support in weaving my passions together into my arts-based archery program: Randolph Rangers. It’s a project that I love dearly, which wouldn’t have been possible without a heavy dose of Randolph magic. Thank you Ranger families! 

• NYS Professional Teaching Certificate: Visual Arts 

• Master’s Degree in Adolescent Special Education (SUNY New Paltz) 

lewis@randolphschool.org

Jackie como

I am grateful that I found my way to Randolph and became a part of this wonderful community in 2021!
I knew from an early age that I wanted to be a teacher. After attending Dutchess Community College and Mount Saint Mary College, I graduated with my Bachelor's degree in Childhood Education.
I went on to complete my Master's degree at Mount Saint Mary College in Literacy and Students with Disabilities. 

After several years working in public schools as a substitute teacher, and filling in for many long term leave replacements, I came to find that I wanted something more than what traditional schools offered. I wanted something different. I worked as an educator at a farm with children of all ages. It was there that I found my passion for connecting children and nature! When the farm was closed down, I knew I did not want to go back to the traditional school setting. Having had the opportunity to work in different educational facilities, I appreciate what Randolph offers and being able to combine my love of teaching and my love of the great outdoors! I love having the ability to branch off of my students' interests in order to make their learning experience authentic. In addition to teaching, I enjoy baking, drawing, painting, gardening and being outside with my dog. It is exciting to be able to connect some of my own interests with those of my students here at Randolph!

jackie@randolphschool.org

Maria de la Peña

My name is Maria de la Peña and I have been a teacher at Randolph since the fall of 2017. I spent three amazing years as a Downstairs teacher, and now teach 5,6,and 7 year old children in the Upstairs Neighborhood. After a few years worth of Randolph experience under my belt, I am convinced more than ever, of the importance of a progressive education. Our nation’s educational pendulum has swung quite far from John Dewey’s original philosophy, that of children learning by doing, and being productive members of a democratic community. I am proud to offer my experience, my fondness for children, and my love of books and nature to help grow these curious youngsters into kind, ever-learning, stewards of our Earth.

My path to becoming a teacher has been nonlinear. After unsatisfactory jobs such as commercial bank loan officer and hard-working caterer, I searched for something more meaningful. I took a part-time assistant teacher position at a nursery school in NYC. I enjoyed working with young children so much, I earned an MA in Childhood Education from Teachers College, Columbia University. I hold NY State and NYC certificates to teach grades N-6.  

I worked for years at The Washington Market School in Tribeca and, later, was Educational Director and teacher at the Old First Nursery School, a parent cooperative in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Upon moving up to the Hudson Valley with my three children, I was a substitute teacher for grades preK through 11th grade (pre-Calculus) at various public and private schools in Dutchess County. In more recent history, I taught for 5 years at Vassar College’s lab school, Wimpfheimer Nursery School and their Infant Toddler Center. 

I love visiting gardens in lieu of having one of my own, taking photos of the beautiful flowers. I enjoy being out in nature, reading, and visiting my adult children in Santa Barbara, CA. I speak Russian, studied Spanish for many years, and lived in Paris and Rome, picking up some French and Italian along the way. I love sharing my love of language with the children and can teach them to count to 10 in at least six languages. I am an amateur baker and enjoy making family requests for birthdays.

I hope to instill confidence, kindness, and a love of science, nature and reading into these beautiful young children of yours! 

Jerome Fearon

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JULES MCGORTY

I became part of the Randolph community as a student teacher from Dutchess Community College in 2011. I was able to watch experienced teachers and practice a hands-on approach to education that can only be found here at Randolph. I took what I learned and finished my Early Childhood Education degree at SUNY Cortland graduating in 2014. I found my way back to Wappingers, having never lost touch with Randolph. Volunteering at Maplefest, doing childcare during conferences, subbing for the various age groups and working the Afterschool program kept me in the loop. 

I became a Downstairs teacher in 2016 and am so happy to work with my colleagues on instilling a love of learning in our students! The most delightful thing about working with this age group and in this environment is the flexibility we have to listen to our children, feed off of their interests and expand their learning through play. While working at Randolph I have come to understand that the most important part of early childhood education is care, as it is a part of everything we do as teachers.  Knowing our students, families and community is the foundation for a loving and trusting experience. In my spare time I enjoy playing sports, gardening, cooking, volunteering at an animal sanctuary and I appreciate the opportunities to share my interests with my young friends. My passion for veganism has influenced the way in which I see the world and I love talking with children about my choices, having discussions with them and sharing my knowledge of animal and environmental advocacy! 

jules@randolphschool.org

Renee Vitale Upstairs Team Captain

For almost a decade now, I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of this magical community we call the Randolph School. I’ve worn many hats during my time here: Substitute teacher, Downstairs Assistant, Afterschool Coordinator, Downstairs Teacher, and Upstairs Teacher. I’ve even had the pleasure of sharing Randolph’s unique approach to education by giving tours of our beautiful campus to prospective families and guiding them through the admissions process. My time teaching at Randolph has been and continues to be full of joys and laughter, challenges and tears, and so much learning and growing as I work to create a safe and loving learning environment -- A space and time full of authentic and meaningful experiences for children to construct their knowledge and understanding of the world and to build the physical, social-emotional, and academic skills needed to navigate it successfully. I particularly love spending time with children building and storytelling in the Block Room, sharing my passion for fiber arts, like sewing, weaving, dyeing and knitting, and engaging with children as they explore their own passions and lines of inquiry.

If you have any questions or would like to come and visit, please email me at renee@randolphschool.org.